How Pharmacist-Founded Auro Wellness Reached $4 Million in 4 Years Via Consumer Education and Longevity-Geared Influencers

Why it matters:

• The market for longevity-geared products and services that seek to keep us healthy as we age, like longevity centers and clinical beauty brands, is one of the fastest growing parts of the $5.6 billion global wellness economy, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
• U.S. sales of skincare brands backed by dermatologists, pharmacists, and scientists are outselling legacy brands in the prestige skincare category, as savvy consumers place a premium on the expertise of health care professionals.
• Against that backdrop, pharmacist-founded startup Auro Wellness has built a $4 million–plus business in four years. The brand’s skincare and supplements, whose hero ingredient is the antioxidant glutathione,
  have gained a consumer following via licensed health care professionals and as testimonials on the products from biohackers—a rising breed of wellness influencers—have gone viral.

It was at the Grammy Awards this year that Dr. Nayan Patel realized how, unlike its buzzy antioxidant cousin vitamin C, glutathione, the hero ingredient in his Auro Wellness products from skincare to supplements, is virtually unknown by everyday consumers.

Celebrities are no exception. Patel, Founder and CEO of the startup and a board-certified pharmacist, told CO— that in his one-on-one meetings with about 100 music execs and artists, he found that most had never heard of the reported immunity boosting antioxidant or Auro Wellness’ glutathione-based creams and serums tucked in their Grammy swag bags.

Low brand awareness notwithstanding, Auro Wellness has managed to build a $4 million–plus business in four years via distribution in the offices of licensed health care providers from MDs to dentists, as well as independent pharmacists. Since its 2020 launch, Auro’s sales have doubled every year.

But it’s the viral testimonials of biohackers, a rising breed of influencers that chase premium health outcomes via diet, lifestyle, and tech, who the Global Wellness Institute dubs “the new pioneers of wellness,” that proved to be word of mouth on steroids for the brand.

“These so-called biohackers like Gary Brecka, Nat Niddam, and Ben Greenfield, who are in the space of helping themselves by getting in a healthier state, started talking about their self-journey with these products,” Patel said. By sharing their success stories on podcasts and social media, “[they] triggered a whole tsunami of consumers wanting to try these products,” Patel said.

Tapping into the longevity movement: ‘The idea today is, how can I stay disease-free?’

That tsunami of interest in glutathione, which the National Institute of Health dubs “the mother of all antioxidants,” reflects growing consumer education on its reported disease-fighting properties and potential benefits, such as increased energy and improved skin texture, Patel said. He’s not wrong about consumer awareness ticking upwards: Globally, products that mention the antioxidant, which is naturally produced in the body, have surged 86.7% from 2019 to 2023, according to business intelligence firm Mintel.

It also comes as consumers’ pursuit of longevity heats up the $5.6 trillion global wellness economy.

The surging market for longevity-geared products and services—from longevity centers to the food-as-medicine trend to the boom in clinical skincare brands—marks the quest to extend one’s health span, the years spent in good health, which holds heightened appeal in a wellness-obsessed post-pandemic landscape.

“Longevity comes into play when you’re disease-free,” Patel said. “The idea today is, how can I stay disease-free?”

The longevity trend finds the medical and wellness worlds “working side by side to bring more solutions to people attempting to eat better, move smarter, and tap into the latest testing, interventions, and technology,” according to the Global Wellness Institute’s 2024 Wellness Trends report.

Technology plays an integral role in Auro Wellness’ brand story. For one, its signature product, the supplement Glutaryl, a topical spray, leverages patented technology that was 20 years in the making in order to optimize the antioxidant’s absorption into the skin, Patel said.

That Auro Wellness’ hero product is a supplement is in keeping with the growing trend of consumers seeking out vitamins, minerals, and supplement products that offer both beauty and health benefits, Clare Hennigan, Senior Beauty Analyst at Mintel, told CO—. Indeed, “53% of U.S. beauty consumers have consumed a regular vitamin, mineral, or supplement to enhance their appearance,” Hennigan said, citing Mintel research.

[Read more: Emotional Rescue: (Unexpected) Brands Are Building Wellness Into Marketing Plans]

The clinical edge: ‘Consumers are gravitating to these brands because of the expertise and validation that they get from health care professionals’

Auro Wellness controls the manufacturing and production of its supplements and skincare products, from the Reset + Repair Overnight Regenerative Crème to the Antioxidant Revitalizing Serum. All its profits now go towards funding research, which is the lifeblood of the business, Patel said.

“We have a lot of inquiries from angel investors to take [the company] national, but we want to control the money that comes in to fund the research,” he said. “We want to fund so much research, so [consumers] can feel good that they’re buying something that is research-backed.”

As a pharmacist-founded startup, Auro Wellness reflects a post-pandemic shift among beauty consumers, many of whom are now on a path to holistic health and are seeking out clinical brands to help get them there, Larissa Jensen, Senior Vice President and Global Beauty Industry Advisor for market research firm Circana, told CO—.

In turn, U.S. sales of clinical skincare brands backed by medical professionals like dermatologists, pharmacists, and scientists are outpacing legacy brands in the prestige skincare category, according to Circana research. Consumers—savvier than ever from the deluge of digital data available on the efficacy of products and services—“are gravitating to these brands because of the expertise and validation that they get from health care professionals,” Jensen said.

And now there’s something else at play. Beauty products have long served to “cover my imperfections and appealed to a particular aspiration to meet a certain beauty ideal,” Jensen said. But as personal health and wellness moves center stage, “consumers are looking to skincare as a way to make them feel good,” she said. Indeed, 39% of U.S. women are devoting time to skincare as part of their overall wellness routine, she said, citing Circana research. “If you’re going to live a long time, you have to take care of your largest organ.”

[Read more: The Business Opportunities (and Challenges) Weight-Loss Drugs Hold For Food, Fitness, and Fashion Brands]

Aiming for the toothpaste aisle at retail and ‘every toiletry bag’

Patel sees Auro Wellness’ growth in the preventative health space, eyeing nationwide retail placement for items like its signature antioxidant spray, for one, at specialty chains such as Whole Foods.

Patel also envisions the products as daily essentials tucked into “every toiletry bag,” he said. “Why can’t this be like brushing your teeth every day?”

But patient education must come first, Patel said. That’s why over the next two to three years, Auro Wellness is pursuing a disciplined growth strategy, reserving distribution to its own e-commerce site; the offices of licensed health care providers, more than 1,000 of which already offer Auro products; and independent pharmacies—platforms where experts can impart product knowledge. “I don’t want [consumers] to get disinformation from lay people,” he said.

“It’s a grassroots effort now,” but as consumer awareness of glutathione mounts, much like vitamin C and D gained exposure before it, Auro Wellness sees a huge runway for growth, Patel said. People are craving the gift of health, he said. And “beauty is from the inside out.”

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