TIDMOPTI
RNS Number : 6245H
OptiBiotix Health PLC
05 August 2021
OptiBiotix Health plc
("OptiBiotix" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Trading and commercial update
OptiBiotix Health plc, a life sciences busi ness d eveloping
compou n ds to tackle obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes,
provides the following unaudited preliminary revenue figures for
the first six months ended 30 June 2021 , a commercial update, and
an outlook for the rest of 2021.
Financial update
This update reports on the first six months of this financial
year to 30 June 2021. These figures are unaudited and based on
invoiced sales from divisional sales reports. They are provided to
give investors an insight into the commercial progress of the
Company in the current financial year and may differ from reported
half year results.
Total invoiced sales of LP(LDL) (R) and SlimBiome(R) as
ingredient or final product were GBP1.074m, representing a 44.3%
increase over the H1 period last year and ahead of the Company's
expectations for the first six months of the year. The Company
believes it is in a strong position to meet or exceed its full year
sales forecast.
Each division continues to make progress growing sales with
invoiced sales in ProBiotix of GBP536,998, up 57.7% (H1 2020:
GBP340,429) and PreBiotics sales of GBP537,850, up 35% (H1 2020:
GBP398,271) compared to the same period last year. As in previous
years, there was no substantive contribution in this period from
license or royalty payments which tend to be received in the second
half of the year.
The Company received GBP900,936 (H1 2020: GBP746,751) from the
disposal of shares in SkinBioTherapeutics plc ('SBTX') (AIM: SBTX),
which is not included in these figures.
This figure does not include any change in the value of the
Company's SBTX investment which has increased from GBP8,962,564 as
of 30 December 2020, to GBP22,948,048 as of June 30 2021.
Commercial update
The Company is making strong progress against the aims it set
out in the first half of the year:-
1. Growing sales of first-generation products: The Company
continues to grow sales with a number of partners launching new
products and others extending their product range and
territories.
a. Arrotex Pharmaceutials, Australia's largest privately owned
pharmaceutical company launched a Very Low-Calorie Diet (VLCD)
weight management product, Bioslim VCLD https://bioslim.net.au/
featuring our SlimBiome product, in July 2021. This is a new
product range offered through pharmacies and online in
Australia.
b. Our existing customer Optipharm expanded their portfolio of
SlimBiome containing products with the Optiman brand in July 2021,
aimed at men who want to lose weight, sold exclusively through the
Chemist Warehouse. Both Bioslim and Optiman will increase our
market penetration and brand recognition in Australia and New
Zealand.
c. The launch of SlimBiome Metablic Support on TMall in Taiwan
with MaxCare in May 2021. TMall, is part of the Alibaba group, an
online platform which allows both Chinese and international
companies to sell their products in mainland China, Hong Kong,
Macau, and Taiwan. Tmall.com was the 3(rd) most visited website in
the world and the 1(st) most visited website in China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tmall and opens up the potential for
cross border e-commerce trading in China from multiple
locations.
d. Holland & Barrett extending their SlimExpert own brand
range of SlimBiome containing weight loss products from three to
eight in March 2021. The range now contains powdered beverages,
shakes and porridge with further line extensions planned for the
remainder of the year.
e. The Company signed a number of agreements with partners in
2019 and 2020 in territories which have high regulatory hurdles
(e.g. South America, Japan), require country specific stability
studies (e.g. India, Philippines) or require submission of
scientific studies for health claims (e.g. Canada). These are
traditionally difficult markets to enter, but once accessed can
provide high growth opportunities with limited competition (due to
the high barriers to entry) for many years. A number of these
agreements are now starting to generate early revenues which we
expect to grow as products gain commercial traction in the
territory.
We anticipate the launch of these products, new products
entering the market, and the extension of territories with existing
partners will contribute to revenue growth in H2 2021 and
beyond.
2. Commercialising second generation products
a. SweetBiotix: The Company is progressing industrial scale up
of a number of its innovative SweetBiotix products with its US
partner and working with a number of corporates with leading
positions in the Food & Beverages markets who have signed
Material Transfer Agreements to develop applications. The Company
is also working with one of the world's leading companies in taste
and sweetness on jointly scaling up and commercialising another
group of SweetBiotix products.
b. MicroBiome Modulators: OptiBiotix has made significant
progress with its microbiome modulators and believes it has
succeeded in developing an approach which allows us to manufacture
these at scale. The next stage of this process is to ensure the
functionality of the product produced by the new approach is the
same as the original laboratory scale product. If successful, the
Company believes this will be a major value enhancing step as it
creates the potential to create precision prebiotics which can
engineer the gut microbiome to prevent, manage and treat many human
diseases.
Outlook
The Company is currently working in a number of areas of which a
number have the potential to significantly impact on shareholder
value. These include:-
1. The publication of a placebo-controlled human study which
shows that LP(LDL) (R) can achieve similar reductions in total
cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol) to statins, with no reported
side effects. This has been with the editorial board of a peer
reviewed journal for a number of months. COVID publications are
currently being prioritised by editors but we expect this to be
published in H2. Publications on how a product works, its safety
and efficacy, are important to pharmaceutical partners who may wish
to sell LP(LDL) (R) as a drug, or Over the Counter (OTC) in high
value hospital, GP, and pharmacy channels.
2. The publication of a study demonstrating prebiotic activity
and superior taste profile of a number of SweetBiotix products. The
aim is to try to time the release of this publication with our
partner announcing news on the manufacturing scale up of
SweetBiotix(R) to maximise market interest.
3. The Company is in discussion with a number of corporate
partners who want to acquire rights for its first-generation
products in key strategic markets. If successful any one of these
has the potential to significantly impact on revenues. Whilst there
are no guarantees, we believe that at least one, possibly two, are
likely to reach final agreement in H2.
4. The Company currently has a number of Material Transfer
Agreements in place with corporate partners who are evaluating the
use of different types of SweetBiotix in their products. This work
was impacted in H2 2020 and H1 2021 as companies were unable to
carry out development work in their laboratories with home working
due to COVID. This work has now recommenced and we should expect
news in H2.
5. The Company succeeded in developing an approach which allows
us to manufacture microbiome modulators at scale in H1. This was a
significant technical challenge. Whilst current work is focused on
developing prebiotics which selectively enhance the growth and
effect of the most commercially successful probiotics, it is likely
to be applicable across a broad range of bacteria present in the
microbiome. This creates the potential to manufacture prebiotic
products to scale which can change the relative abundance of
specific microbial species linked to disease, in essence precision
engineering the microbiome. If proven, this has the potential to
create microbiome based products across multiple therapeutic
areas.
6. The success of a number of products launches has led to
requests for new products and extension of territories with a
number of existing partners. Discussions are ongoing and further
news will be announced when these are completed.
The Company has a clear direction of travel in its two-stage
strategy of building brand presence and early sales of its first
generation LP(LDL) (R) and SlimBiome(R) products whilst parallel
tracking the development of its more innovative second-generation
products offering potentially larger returns. The strategy has been
designed with the divisions acting as the trading arms of the
Company led by commercial industry leads focused on commercialising
products whilst the Company acquires and develops its own
technologies to build the product pipeline providing the scientific
and clinical studies, publications and regulatory approvals. Having
two separate wholly owned product legal entities within the Group
plc (OptiBiotix Limited and Probiotix Health Ltd) and a substantive
investment in a third, SBTX, gives OptiBiotix shareholders a
position in multiple opportunities within the emerging microbiome
space. Whilst this takes longer than a single technology solution,
the strategy is designed to reduce investment risk and create the
potential for multiple returns. This strategy of developing
separate legal entities with the potential for a trade sale or
separate public listing, as with SBTX, has delivered a significant
return on investment and a valuable asset to OptiBiotix
shareholders.
The continued strong growth in our revenues in H1 is
encouraging. D espite the challenging trading environment created
by COVID-19 limiting the ability to innovate, formulate and launch
new products we have seen a number of partners launch new products,
albeit in the latter stages of H1. We believe these product
launches, the extension of territories with existing partners, the
prospect of agreements with corporate partners in key strategic
markets, the continuing flow of new agreements and product
launches, and the growing realisation of the development pipeline,
allow us to look forward with confidence to the further progress of
the Company in the current year and beyond.
Stephen O'Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: "We have continued
to make progress since the beginning of the current financial year
with strong sales growth from a recurring revenue base which is
increasing as partners launch new products, extend territories, and
build brand presence. This provides a solid base for a sustainable
business which will contribute to revenue growth in H2 and beyond.
Our focus is now on growing sales of first-generation products with
a smaller number of larger partners in key strategic markets and
commercialising our pipeline of second-generation products.
"The Company is now in the strongest position it has ever been
in with a large and valuable intellectual property portfolio in the
microbiome space, multiple clinical studies showing product safety
and efficacy, recurring orders, and a valuable asset in
OptiBiotix's holding in SBTX.
"We are also pleased to report progress with our pipeline of
second-generation products with the industrial scale up of a range
of our innovative SweetBiotix products with one partner,
collaborative work with a second partner on jointly scaling up and
commercialising another group of SweetBiotix products, and a number
of large corporates signing Material Transfer Agreements as they
develop applications containing SweetBiotix. Of particular note is
the recent progress with our microbiome modulators in developing an
approach which allows us to manufacture these at scale. This has
been a major technical challenge which was limiting commercial
progress. This has the potential to be a significant value
enhancing step as it creates the opportunity to precision engineer
the gut and skin microbiome to prevent, manage and treat many human
diseases.
"With industry and consumer interest in the microbiome and gut
health growing OptiBiotix's portfolio of award winning first
generation and industry disruptive second-generation products
places it in a strong position for future growth in this exciting
area of healthcare."
This announcement contains information which, prior to its
disclosure, was considered inside information for the purposes of
the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are
responsible for the release of this announcement.
For further information, please contact:
OptiBiotix Health plc www.optibiotix.com
Neil Davidson, Chairman Contact via Walbrook
below
Stephen O'Hara, Chief Executive
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP (NOMAD) Tel: 020 7213 0880
Liam Murray / Jo Turner / Ludovico Lazzaretti
Cenkos Securities plc (Broker) Tel: 020 7397 8900
Callum Davidson / Neil McDonald
Michael Johnson / Russell Kerr (Sales)
Walbrook PR Ltd Mob: 07876 741 001
Anna Dunphy
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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 re ect the Directors' current beliefs
and assumptions and are based on information currently available to
the Directors.
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END
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