Omnibalm Touts Growth In Walmart Stores

Ominbalm Daily Foot Therapy has expanded its footprint – pardon the pun.

The start-up company that evolved from research at UAMS continues to grow as a success story.

On Monday (Dec. 2), Omnibalm announced that it has expanded its reach to 121 Walmart stores across seven states.

The company manufactures a cream for general and diabetic foot care. It was created by Bill Gurley, Ph.D., a UAMS College of Pharmacy pharmaceutical sciences professor who was interested in a treatment for his severe sunburn 27 years ago. His research led him to tea tree oil, which comes from Australia’s Melaleuca tree and has a long history as an effective treatment for many skin maladies.

Omnibalm Daily Foot Therapy is a non-greasy formula that softens and helps repair dry, cracked skin. It also soothes a wide variety of skin conditions on contact, such as sunburn, bug bites, minor burns, cold sores, poison ivy, shingles, and more.

It is marketed by Balm Innovations LLC, a UAMS BioVentures startup company licensed to take UAMS inventions from laboratories to the marketplace.

Lydia Carson, president and CEO of Balm Innovations, learned of the cream while enrolled in UALR’s Executive M.B.A. program. Her own experience with the cream and the testimonials of others convinced her that it was a good business opportunity.

“We gave it to our friends and it worked on everybody; everybody loved it,” Carson said. “Even the skeptical people loved it. That’s when we realized it had to be out there in stores.”

As a UAMS BioVentures startup company, Balm Innovations has a license to market the cream, while a percentage of profits go back to UAMS and the inventor.

Omnibalm is undergoing a clinical trial for use in preventing recurrent diabetic foot ulcers.