RNS & Investor News

Half Year Report

24 September 2020

OptiBiotix Health plc (AIM: OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2020.

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Highlights

  • First half revenue growth of £744,821, a five times increase in revenues from H1 2019 (2019: £148,818)
  • A 15.5% reduction in other administration costs and a 50% reduction in loss compared to the same period last year
  • A scalable business model delivering a growing number of deals with larger partners, pharmaceutical specialists, and established retailers building brand presence
  • Valuable global intellectual property portfolio of over 70 overlapping patents and 68 trademarks providing strong commercial protection to the group’s science and brands
  • Launch of a branded SlimBiome® product range with Holland & Barrett, the first agreement with a major retailer to market our proprietary weight management technology
  • Completion of a successful human study in partnership with Nutrilinea Srl, demonstrating that a new food supplement formulation containing LPLDL® can reduce high blood pressure (hypertension)
  • The launch in Italy by ALFASIGMA S.p.A. of a food supplement containing the cholesterol reducing LPLDL® probiotic strain providing an entry into Italy, the largest and fastest growing probiotic market in Europe
  • Extension of the existing terms and territories for our partners CTC Group and Cambridge Commodities for the distribution of SlimBiome®, SlimBiome® Medical and GoFigure
  • The launch of SlimBiome® in the North American market by Agropur
  • An agreement with Optipharm, whose flagship brand Optislim is Australia’s leading weight management brand, for the exclusive use of our OptiBiome® weight management ingredient in over 20 countries including Australia, parts of Asia, New Zealand, Middle East, Gulf States and North America
  • The launch of SlimBiome® containing products in Walmart and Costco in the USA and Canada
  • Signing a three-year distribution agreement with a subsidiary of Pierce Group Asia granting it exclusive rights to import and commercialise OptiBiotix's SlimBiome® and LPLDL® to China and Hong Kong
  • Granting MAXCARE Inc exclusive rights to commercialise OptiBiotix's SlimBiome® proprietary weight management technology in Taiwan
  • Granting Cambridge Commodities Ltd, one of the UK’s leading speciality ingredients suppliers, a non-exclusive licence to distribute ProBiotix's specialty ingredient LPLDL® as well as our finished dietary supplement CholBiome®x3 for cholesterol and blood pressure reduction in the UK
  • The launch of WellBiome®, a patented supplement to improve gut health, in response to partner interest arising from increased consumer awareness of the human microbiome and the growing trend in health and wellbeing

Post-period end highlights

  • Extension of our existing terms to include the new WellBiome® product with Draco Ingredients GmbH in Germany; Agropur MSI LLC in the USA Canada and Mexico; Maxum Foods in Australia and New Zealand; and CTC Holdings BV in the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala
  • A non-exclusive distribution agreement with Actial Farmaceutica Srl for the distribution of CholBiome® and CholBiome®X3 in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand as a product line extension of its VSL#3® brand
  • Extension of the terms, territories, and products covered by our existing distribution with CTC Holding BV for the sale of CholBiomeX3 to include LPLDL® as a bulk ingredient and three additional products: CholBiome, CholBiomeBP  and CholBiome VH,, and to extend coverage from the Philippines to include non-exclusive distribution rights for Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala
  • Extending the terms of our original exclusive licence agreement for OptiBiome® with OptiPharm Pty Ltd. ("OptiPharm") to include Europe in addition to Australia, parts of Asia, New Zealand, Middle East, Gulf States and North America
  • An exclusive agreement with a US company for the large-scale manufacture and commercialisation of a number of SweetBiotix® products in return for upfront, milestone, launch, and royalty payments

Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: “This has been another period of exciting progress for OptiBiotix with a 400% increase in sales and a large reduction in costs compared to the same period last year. Our divisions are now making strong progress towards profitability with more agreements generating revenues, existing partners increasing sales, and more retail partners launching successful new products. Our products are now being commercialised with large retail and pharmaceutical partners boosting consumer awareness and confidence in our brands with OptiBiotix now being identified as a key player in the microbiome space within industry.

“The Company is now in a pivotal position of having a scalable business model growing sales from proven products with partners in multiple international territories in the human microbiome market, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.60% between 2020 and 2025*. This presents us with a large and expanding market opportunity on which we are well placed to capitalise by increasing our range of applications, products and territories.

“Whilst uncertainty within the global economic environment will create challenges, we believe that our proven strategy of working with multiple partners, across different application areas and geographies within the healthcare sector, will limit the risk related to any individual deal, product, or geography, and we look forward to continued further progress over the year as a whole.”

*Mordor Intelligence 2019

This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was considered inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR).

 

For further information, please contact:

 

OptiBiotix Health plc www.optibiotix.com
Stephen O’Hara, Chief Executive Contact via Walbrook below
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD)  
Liam Murray / Jo Turner / Ludovico Lazzaretti Tel: 020 7213 0880
finnCap (Broker)  
Geoff Nash / Kate Bannatyne (Corporate Finance) Tel: 020 7220 0500
Walbrook PR Ltd  
Anna Dunphy Mob: 07876 741 001

 

Caution regarding forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'', ''could'', "should" ''envisage'', ''estimate'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''potentially'', "expect", ''will'' or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities. Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.