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OptiBiotix has opened an online store on Tmall, a cross-border online marketplace through which OptiBiotix has launched a range of GoFigure shakes direct to Chinese consumers. OptiBiotix has partnered with a Tmall agency, InReady, to promote and operate its Tmall store. Momentum has been building at OptiBiotix in recent months, with the company launching GoFigure products in the sizeable Indian and Chinese markets, as well as receiving approval for a third: Saudi Arabia. We believe these new product launches, as well as an uplift in the proportion of these that include direct-to-consumer (D2C) products, will support the company's positive growth trajectory in 2023 and beyond.
OptiBiotix Health PLC
OptiBiotix has issued its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022. In line with the company's August trading update, revenues have fallen to £0.12m as delays to customer restocking and new product launches impacted the top-line. Whilst the operating loss grew to £1.11m, as the company invested in key management personnel, OptiBiotix delivered over £10.2m in value to shareholders through a dividend in specie following the listing of ProBiotix Health (PBX) in March 2022. Post-period, the company has seen a good recovery in trading and continued commercial progress through the launch of new products in attractive markets.
OptiBiotix has launched its GoFigure weight management range in India through its commercial partner Apollo Hospitals (Apollo). Apollo owns and operates the largest pharmacy network across India and will initially stock the GoFigure range in key stores in major Indian cities, as well as online. Apollo is one of three large partners which entered commercial agreements with OptiBiotix in late-2021. The launch demonstrates OptiBiotix' strategic shift towards selling a greater proportion of finished, direct-to-consumer (D2C) products with larger partners, a trend we expect to continue with the Nahdi Medical launch before year end.
OptiBiotix has issued a trading update ahead of the group's half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2022. Results will be affected by the new accounting treatment of recently spun-out ProBiotix Health (PBX), as well as the timing of several larger customer orders. As such, OptiBiotix expects total revenues of c£120k for the period, resulting in revenues being materially behind market expectations. OptiBiotix expects to return to growth by 2023; however, given the ongoing uncertainty around the timing of future orders, we have withdrawn our forecasts and moved to a HOLD rating.
OptiBiotix has issued a commercial and scientific update, highlighting the significant progress made across its range of prebiotic ingredients and products. The update further demonstrates OptiBiotix' ability to grow its product range, expand applications for existing products and extend its reach into new territories. OptiBiotix, is also conducting further clinical work to increase the body of evidence supporting its products to help drive future growth. We maintain our Buy rating.
OptiBiotix has reported final results for the year to December 2021, with revenues growing 45% to £2.2m and the EBITDA loss increasing to £1.0m, reflecting the increased investment in the business. Post-period end, OptiBiotix has continued to return value to shareholders through the successful spin-out and listing of its ProBiotix Health division. Future growth of the company is supported by commercial agreements with large partners and a substantial pipeline of opportunities through its 2nd generation development programmes. We maintain our Buy rating.
ProBiotix, OptiBiotix' former subsidiary in which it holds a 44% shareholding, has announced the launch of a probiotic functional yoghurt brand containing the proprietary cholesterol reducing functional ingredient LPLDL. We see this as a significant milestone for ProBiotix, having overcome several technical hurdles during the 2.5-year development process, extending the use of LPLDL into functional dairy foods and offering the potential to replicate the development in other geographies and functional foods. ProBiotix believes this is the first time a cholesterol reducing probiotic has been launched in a commercial yoghurt with a pack claim stating: ‘helps reduce cholesterol'. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix recently announced a trading update for the 12-months to Dec-21 and its intention to list its ProBiotix Health division. The company expects revenues of £2.2m, in-line with our forecast, while operational investment suggests a group level EBITDA loss of c£0.9m, driven by one off recruitment and consultancy costs, versus our previous £0.3m loss forecast. Both divisions saw revenue and EBITDA (pre-central costs) growth during the year, building on the 2020 progress. Supporting future growth, the company notes seven new commercial agreements signed during 2021. Year-end cash was c£2m. Additionally, the company has announced its intention to list its ProBiotix Health division with an anticipated on-market value of £25m. We maintain our Buy rating.
OptiBiotix has carried out a consumer study in users of the company's probiotic, Lactobacillus plantarum (LPLDL) containing formulation, CholBiome. The findings of this consumer study support the human clinical study of LPLDL, published 18 January 2022, which demonstrated the statistically significant effect of LPLDL on reducing total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and APO-B. The survey found 96% of consumers reported reductions in total cholesterol (17% reported a >30% reduction) and 88% reported a fall in LDL-cholesterol. OptiBiotix now has an extensive body of real-world and clinical data which demonstrates the efficacy of LPLDL, which we believe support the on-going marketing and commercialisation strategy. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix has published a third human volunteer study on the cholesterol lowering effects of the company's proprietary probiotic Lactobacilus plantarum, branded as LPLDL. We believe the study clearly demonstrates the cholesterol lowering effect of LPLDL which we expect to support the on-going commercialisation of the probiotic. Key results were the statistically significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol of 34.2% and 28.4%, respectively over a six-week treatment period. Following a previous study in volunteers with normal to mild hypercholesterolaemia, we believe this study further expands the population of individuals who could benefit from this product. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
We note the two recent partnership announcements from OptiBiotix demonstrating progress on the company's strategy of growing sales with larger partners in key strategic markets. Such agreements are expected to support OptiBiotix' sales growth through increased volume sales and international reach, while enhancing brand credibility. As exemplified by the LeanBiome RNS (1 Dec 21), we believe these larger partner deals could each deliver +£1m of annual recurring revenues as they develop, and by targeting larger international partners, could potentially deliver greater revenues in the future. OptiBiotix' aim is to establish eight to ten such partners, from its current base of six. We maintain our Buy rating.
OptiBiotix has announced the launch of a new sports nutrition product range, LeanBiome, which has been licensed to a leading global player in the beauty & nutrition market. The partner's new product line, containing LeanBiome, is scheduled to be rolled out from January 2022 in Europe and Asia and could be introduced in North America in due course. First orders worth £200k have been placed and the agreement is expected to generate a minimum of £1m in annualised recurring revenues to OptiBiotix. This new partnership reflects the company's strategy to generate increased product sales and to partner with larger, global DTC companies. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix Health has reported its results for the six-months to June 2021. We believe the results demonstrate the strong performance the company has made during the period, expanding its commercial footprint for its first-generation platforms while continuing to develop its potentially higher-value second generation platforms. Notably, the company has evolved its board and management team to reflect its transition to an increasingly commercial business. For the six-months, revenues increased c45% to £1.076m and gross profit increased c60%. Increased levels of investment saw the operating loss remain in-line YoY. We see significant upside in OptiBiotix and maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix operates in the human microbiome market and we see the company at an interesting strategic inflection point, with developing revenues generated from its lead products and showing commercial traction with the next generation of products. We expect the company to generate value from both sets of products and see additional upside from its holding in SkinBioTherapeutics. Our valuation analysis suggests the market is attributing little value to the company's second-generation platform leading us to conclude that there is significant upside in OptiBiotix shares. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix has announced a trading and commercial update for H1/21E, demonstrating continued progression of its two-stage strategy. Unaudited revenues of £1.074m represent a 44.3% increase over the comparable period H1/20A. This was driven by an increase in the number of revenue generating partnerships entered into over the past 12 months, accessing new regions and bringing new products to market. Despite the impact of COVID-19, the company has made strong progress with its second-generation portfolio and its balance sheet has been strengthened by an uplift in its SkinBioTherapeutics holding, now held at £23m. Given this performance, the company believes it is in a strong position to meet or exceed our forecasts and we maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix has reported its final results for the year to December 2020, which are largely in-line with the financials reported with the recent ‘Strategy and commercial update'. 2020 was a strong year for the company as its two operational divisions achieved EBITDA profitability supported by increased commercialisation of the group's product range. This commercial moment has continued into 2021, as the company looks to scale its first-generation product sales with new product lines and new territories. OptiBiotix continues to work towards commercialising its second-generation products, which potentially open larger opportunities. We maintain our Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix operates in the human microbiome market and we see the company at an interesting strategic inflection point, with developing revenues generated from its lead products and showing commercial traction with the next generation of products. We expect the company to generate value from both sets of products and see additional upside from its holding in SkinBioTherapeutics. With increasing interest being shown in targeting the human microbiome to improve health, OptiBiotix is well positioned in the market and initiate coverage with a Buy recommendation.
OptiBiotix ("OPTI") recently announced a number of new commercial agreements for marketed functional food ingredients SlimBiome and LP-LDL. These new agreements take the number of commercial deals for both products to 57 and include a mixture of new distribution and manufacturing agreements, not only increasing the number of countries where products containing OPTI's ingredients are sold to over 70, but are also anticipated to improve profitability through the renegotiation of manufacture deals which provide OPTI with greater control over the value chain. OPTI's ability to continue to sign commercial agreements despite the ongoing disruption related to the COVID-19 crisis is impressive, in our opinion, and the company continues to build momentum in a year when we expect existing agreements to start generating substantial revenue streams. We maintain our OUTPERFORM recommendation, trimming our target price to GBp 93 (from GBp 97).
OptiBiotix ("OPTI") has had a strong start to 2020, with partners Agropur (US), Holland & Barrett (UK) and most recently Alfasigma (Italy) launching new products containing the company's microbiome-modulating functional ingredients. As an increasing number of products move to market, we remain positive as to the commercial potential of OPTI's functional ingredients as consumer awareness grows. The recent launches indicate growing momentum into 2020, when we expect existing agreements to start delivering substantial revenue streams and further demand for OPTI's products. We reiterate both our OUTPERFORM recommendation and 97p target price, based on our view that OPTI is at the beginning of a long-term revenue growth cycle.
OptiBiotix ("OPTI") has announced that Holland & Barrett, a global nutritional food and supplement retailer, has launched a new product range under the SlimBiome brand. The weight management products, which contain OPTI's proprietary weight management formulation, will initially be available on the Holland & Barrett website and physical stores in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden. The deal marks the 22nd commercial partnership for SlimBiome and the first with a major retailer, further validating SlimBiome's potential in the c.$25bn dietary weight management market. We note the significance of the SlimBiome brand being marketed by a global market player, further enhancing brand awareness among both consumers and other potential partners.
OptiBiotix announced that it had signed three commercialisation deals for its weight loss ingredient SlimBiome, one of its two marketed functional food ingredients. These take the total number of commercial deals for SlimBiome to 20 and are an important step towards further expanding the product's geographical reach and hence sales. We expect revenues from SlimBiome to reach nearly £1m in FY2020E, which we believe is conservative, and >£11m by 2024E, driven by growing sales of existing deals and new deals. OPTI is also generating revenues from its cholesterol-lowering probiotic LP-LDL and we expect two further products, SweetBiotix (calorie-free fibre for sugar replacement) and LP-GOS (prebiotic that enhances the effect of LP-LDL) to start generating first sales in 2020E, yielding combined portfolio sales of >£40m in 2024E. We maintain our OUTPERFORM recommendation, based on our view that OPTI is at the beginning of a long-term revenue growth cycle.
Last week, OPTI announced two major milestones for marketed ingredient LP-LDL, currently sold as a probiotic in foods and food supplements for the reduction of cholesterol: (1) achievement of process validation under good manufacturing practices ("GMP"), a necessary step in developing LP-LDL as a pharmaceutical drug; (2) confirmation of generally regarded as safe ("GRAS") status by the FDA. Both milestones reflect OPTI's commitment to improving the quality of the science and manufacturing conditions for probiotics to bring them closer to pharmaceutical standards. They should increase LP-LDL's attractiveness to both food companies looking to differentiate their products with evidence-backed ingredients and pharma companies looking to target the microbiome with live bacteria. With both events taking OPTI closer to achieving our forecasts and hence valuation expectations, we reiterate our OUTPERFORM recommendation and target price of GBp97 per share.
We initiate coverage on life sciences company OptiBiotix Health plc (“OPTI”) with an OUTPERFORM recommendation and a target price ("TP") of GBp97 per share. OPTI discovers and develops targeted microbiome-modulating probiotics, prebiotics and other functional food ingredients backed by scientific and clinical evidence. Since its founding in 2014, the company has developed four products for cardiovascular lifestyle diseases and entered >45 commercial deals with corporate partners through which it generates revenues throughout the value chain. The first two ingredients, LPLDL for cholesterol reduction and SlimBiome for weight loss were launched in May 2017 and are already generating revenues. We expect total revenues including those of latestage assets SweetBiotix (calorie-free sweet fibres for sugar replacement) and LPGOS (prebiotic that enhances the effect of LPLDL) to exceed £50m by 2025E.
OptiBiotix (OPTI): Corp ProBiotix raises £1.025m ahead of potential IPO
OptiBiotix (OPTI): Corp Distribution agreement – Trigen Pharma
OptiBiotix Health Plc (LON:OPTI) focuses on managing and treating widespread, chronic medical conditions, such as obesity and high cholesterol, through the modulation of the human microbiome.
City law firm Rosenblatt reported in the press to be considering a London listing. The commercial firm had a reported revenue of £16m in 2017 VR Education Holdings—a virtual reality software and technology company. Raising £6m at 10p, mkt cap £19.3. Due 12 March SimplyBiz, a Financial Services Firm, reported to be considering an IPO targeting a market capitalisation of between £140m and £155m in a listing that would raise £30m of new money. Bacanora Lithium—Readmission. No new money. Mkt cap £140m. Due 21 March. the new holding company for Bacanora Minerals Ltd Core Industrial REIT—established to invest in Irish-based industrial properties, predominantly located in the Greater Dublin Area. Vendor placing and new funds to a total of €225m, Target gross proceeds €207m. Expected Mid March Polarean - Medical drug-device combination company operating in the high resolution medical imaging market. Offer TBC. Due Early March Block Energy—a NEX Listed UK based oil exploration and production company whose main country of operation is the Republic of Georgia, looks to join AIM end of February 2018. Offer TBC
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OptiBiotix (OPTI): Corp European licence agreement for LP-LDL
Preventing and treating diseases through the modulation of the microbiome is one of the most exciting frontiers of healthcare, and a fast growing market OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI), an innovative life sciences company focused on human microbiome, is rapidly transitioning from product development to the commercial stage with early revenues and commercial deals with major corporates including Tata and DSM Underpinned by a strong scientific rationale and clinical studies, OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI) products help managing significant health problems as weight loss, high cholesterol and hypertension OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI) commercial push is currently directed towards the rapidly growing consumer health market A rich deal pipeline is likely to translate in material revenue growth (£1mln+) within 12 months
OptiBiotix* (OPTI): LP-LDL supply agreement (CORP) | Victoria* (VCP): Acquisition of Serra (CORP) | Shoe Zone (SHOE): Trading update (BUY) | Altitude Group* (ALT): Further enterprise partnership (CORP) | GB Group (GBG): H1 in line boosted by licence fee (BUY)
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Keywords Studios (KWS): Ticking every box (except valuation) (HOLD) | OptiBiotix* (OPTI): SlimBiome commercial update (CORP) | Surface Transforms* (SCE): Steady progress (CORP) | Gem Diamonds (GEMD): Recovery of high quality 115 carat diamond (BUY) | ClearStar* (CLSU): Record H1 driven by direct sales and medical business (CORP)
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OptiBiotix (OPTI) has this morning published FY17 interims (Nov16-May17) that highlight the continuing commercial development being made by management for both SweetBiotix and LP-LDL. Reported income was broadly flat at £0.1m (1H16 +£0.1m) with adj. loss of £0.9m (+£3.1m profit when including a £4.1m non-cash profit on revaluation of its investment in Skin Biotherapeutics – SBTX revaluation). Adj. LPS was 1.3p compared with 0.8p (1H16 LfL) and is due to increased marketing costs and preparations for SBTX’s listing. Strong commercial development has been, made with agreements signed by Sacco, Tata Chemicals and Nutrilinea. We remain positive on OPTI’s long-term prospects, expecting further agreements going forward. Forecasts and target price remain under review.
OptiBiotix* (OPTI): LP-LDL agreement for US and ROW (CORP) | Proactis* (PHD): Strong trading update (CORP)
OptiBiotix Health PLC PROACTIS Holdings PLC
OptiBiotix* (OPTI): LP-LDL supply agreement for NZ / Australia (CORP) | Elecosoft* (ELCO): H1 in line with expectations (CORP)
OptiBiotix Health PLC Eleco Plc
OptiBiotix* (OPTI): Supply agreement with HLH (CORP) | Seeing Machines* (SEE): Guardian arrives in the UK (CORP)
OptiBiotix Health PLC Seeing Machines Limited
Alliance Pharma (APH): Diclectin to drive double-digit growth (BUY) | OptiBiotix* (OPTI): LP-LDL European licence agreement (CORP) | Intercede* (IGP): Contract wins (CORP) | Cello (CLL): Trading well, enhancement to come (BUY) | 4imprint (FOUR): Encouraging start to the year (BUY)
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OptiBiotix (OPTI) has this morning announced FY16 results in line with our expectations with early revenues of £0.3m, adj. LBT of £1.2m and adj. LPS of 1.3p. Significant commercial progress this year sees OPTI developing from a R&D company into a product company with a wide suite of products across multiple potential indications. Considerable commercial development has been achieved since our initiation note (24 Jan 2017) which includes the upcoming LP-LDL launch at Vitafoods next month. Net cash of £3.1m (£1.2m cash burn) allows for further commercial progress in both FY17 and FY18, and we remain encouraged by management’s delivery on key commercial milestones to date.
We note the first day of dealing this morning for SkinBioTherapeutics (SBTX), a previous OptiBiotix (OPTI) division created by the acquisition of exclusive rights to IP developed by the University of Manchester. SBTX will focus on specific markets (e.g. cosmetics, infection control and dermatology) and in turn could operate in large multi-billion-dollar markets, which include skincare ($122bn), psoriasis ($7bn) and eczema ($4bn). As of this morning, OPTI retains a 41.9% holding of SkinBioTherapeutics, valued at £11m (c.7% of OPTI’s current market cap). We continue to be encouraged by OPTI’s adherence to the timelines first discussed in our initiation note published on 24/01/17.
OptiBiotix* (OPTI): European manufacturing agreement signed (CORP) |4imprint (FOUR): EPS up 13%, dividend up 35%, prospects undiminished (BUY) |Europa Oil & Gas* (EOG): Farm out of LO 16/19 to Cairn Energy (CORP)
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OptiBiotix is an early-stage, revenue-generating life sciences business with novel IP surrounding the modulation of the human microbiome. Its technology is focused on tackling worldwide health issues (e.g. obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and microbial infections), exploiting these large market segments via the c.£200bn functional foods market by partnering with food, health, wellbeing and pharmaceutical companies that have established routes to market. With the microbiome fast becoming a rapidly growing area of interest, OptiBiotix is well positioned to be one of the leaders in this field – a lower-risk entry into the microbiome space compared with pharma plays with higher regulatory and development risk profiles.
OptiBiotix* (OPTI): Go with your gut (CORP) | Scientific Digital Imaging* (SDI): Interims results – reassuringly positive (CORP) | Ideagen* (IDEA): More customers, more IP, more recurring revenue (CORP) | Maintel* (MAI): Trading update – treble top (CORP)
OPTI SDI IDEA MAI
The Life Sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes has reported another half (to May 2016) of strong scientific and commercial progress. Operational prudence has kept losses in check (£0.6m from £0.5m) and the balance sheet remains robust after continued investor support with period end cash of £3.55m.
OptiBiotix Health * (OPTI.L) | Vitesse Media (VIS.L) | Wey Education (WEY.L) | Thor Mining (THR.L) | Hayward Tyler Group (HAYT.L) | Cyprotex (CRX.L) | Bellzone Mining (BZM.L) | MXC Capital (MXCP.L) | Coral Products (CRU.L) | Taihua (TAIH.L)
OPTI HAYT CRX BZM MXCP CRU
AQUATIC FOODS GROUP PLC (AFG LN) | FAROE PETROLEUM PLC (FPM LN) | GLI FINANCE LTD (GLIF LN) | HARGREAVES SERVICES (HSP LN) | HIGHLAND GOLD MINING (HGM LN) | MOTIF BIO PLC (MTFB LN) | OPTIBIOTIX HEALTH PLC (OPTI LN) | STM GROUP PLC (STM LN) | UTILITYWISE PLC (UTW LN)
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OptiBiotix Health* (OPTI.L) | Hutchison China Medi (HCM.L) | FairFX Group (FFX.L) | Amino Technologies (AMO.L) | Provexis (PXS.L) | APC Technology Group (APC.L) | Ithaca Energy (IAE.L) Avingtrans (AVG.L) | Flowtech Fluidpower (FLO.L)
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Opti Biotix Health * (OPTI.L) | Hutchison China Medi (HCM.L) | FairFX Group (FFX.L) | Amino Technologies (AMO.L) | Provexis (PXS.L) | APC Technology Group (APC.L) | Ithaca Energy (IAE.L) | Defenx (DFX.L) | Avingtrans (AVG.L) | Flowtech Fluidpower (FLO.L)
OPTI AFRN PXS APC IAE DFX PXS AVG FLO HCM 2FX
The Life Sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes has announced the successful completion of a trial launch for its Slimbiome® ingredients in a range of meal replacement shakes and natural snack bars, and its investment to create a majority owned joint venture with The Healthy Weight Loss Company of which OptiBiotix now owns 51%. The constituents of the patented combination which comprise Slimbiome® have been shown to reduce calorie intake by over 20% and reduce cravings. The range of range of meal replacement shakes and natural snack bars are branded as GoFigure® and we understand management of the Healthy Weight Loss Company has a strong following in the slimming community and that the products are positioned as nutritious plant based without the colourings, fillers and binders etc that some competing products contain
The Life Sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes has released final results for the year ending November 2015. The company has achieved and continues to achieve rapid progress against its strategic goals, on a modest and well funded budget. The company has signed six commercial agreements since December 2014 including deals with a large US multinational, KSF (Slimfast), and most recently Royal DSM, one of the world’s leading food ingredient suppliers. The company is making the scientific headway required to bring its products to market. This has been demonstrated by the strong efficacy seen in the company’s first human study of its microbial anti-cholesterol product, and by the multiple partnerships and research programs for calorie free sugars, microbiome modulators, and synergistic combined pre and probiotics branded as ‘OptiBiotic®’.
Last week saw two significant announcements from the life sciences business developing products to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes. The first was a joint development agreement with one of the world’s leading suppliers of food ingredients such as vitamins and nutritional lipids. Total revenues for Netherlands based Royal DSM in 2015 were €8.9bn. The agreement will allow for collaboration between both parties to develop new products using OptiBiotix's OptiBiotic® novel sugar technology platform. This is the second such programme to focus on this platform which can produce sugars to help boost the natural growth of individual species of microbes residing within human beings and engender specific health benefits. These products are therefore an asset in terms of OptiBiotix’s own product development but importantly can also be marketed as a product enhancer to any producer of probiotics, a market expected to be worth $46.5m by 2020 according to Markets and Markets.
And by that we mean both senses of the word for the developer of an increasingly broad range of products which can modify the human microbiome with a view to generating specific health benefits.
Within OptiBiotix’s development pipeline SlimBiome® and the Cholesterol product have been stealing the headlines of late. This is not surprising given commercial agreements with the likes of the owners of the SlimFast brand rights in the UK, Ireland and Germany and progression from first human trials in the cholesterol product, through to pilot manufacturing studies as well as expanding the remit of this product to cover hypertension.
OptiBiotix has entered into a commercial agreement with KSF Acquisition UK who will fund the assessment of OptiBiotix’s SlimBiome® weight management product alongside its own products and have an option to commercialise SlimBiome®.
The company developing products to modulate the human microbiome to prevent, manage, and treat human disease has last week announced a £1.5m placing at 75p which will help to drive development and commercialisation in its existing programmes but also to pursue opportunities in new application areas. As part of the placing directors of the company subscribed for £110k worth of shares.
Our August edition of the life sciences review ‘The Biotech Feast - after the party comes the hangover’ warned that those at the top of the life sciences tree were showing signs of calling the end of a valuation bubble, and that we had seen something of a hiatus in deal activity particularly in terms of licensing deals. What we could not foresee however was the proximity and ferocity of the impending ‘correction’. Indeed the story of the quarter can be seen in the sector charts, with the life sciences indices significantly underperforming the wider market. Over the last 3 months the FTSE350 Pharma & Biotech Index is down some 9%, although the slump has been more pronounced stateside, perhaps reflective of the punchier valuations we have seen across the pond, and consequently a bigger distance to fall when sentiment moves the other way. Over the same period the S&P Pharmaceuticals Select Index was down an astonishing 27%.
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The life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes has this week announced that it has registered an additional five proprietary microbial strains (now a total of eight) under the Budapest treaty. The five strains have been identified as having the potential to generate novel oligosaccharides (carbohydrates that consist of a small number of sugars). As OptiBiotix advances its programmes towards commercialisation it is vital that its know-how, microbial strains and processes are protected, thereby strengthening the negotiating position with partners. The oligosaccharides programme is being progressed in conjunction with the Spanish National Research Council and is moving towards the commencement of human studies in 2016.
The Life Sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes yesterday reported results for the six months to May 2015. During and after the period, the company has made significant progress on its strategy of developing compounds which modify the human microbiome and commercialising these through partnering with food, health, and wellbeing companies. The commercial agreements signed, and expected ongoing scientific progress, leads us to expect that revenues from royalties or licensing agreements are not far away. The company continues to strengthen its intellectual property protection with the filing of four patents in the period. This progress is being achieved at a conservative rate of cash burn which equated to approximately £80k per month during the period. Whilst this may accelerate, with £2.5m in cash as at May 2015 the company is well funded.
The life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, this week moved a step closer to commercialisation of one of its key research programmes, with the announcement that the clinical studies on its capsular food supplement to reduce cholesterol, had been completed by researchers at Reading University.
The life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, has recently announced that it has signed an agreement with the Instituto de Química Orgánica General ("IQOG") of the Spanish National Research Council based in Madrid. IQCG will carry out work on Optibiotix’s oiligosaccharride programme, with a view to human studies commencing in 2016. This propels OptiBiotix’s earliest stage programme a step further towards commercialisation, with all three programmes now on a pathway to monitisation subject to further scientific validation.
The life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes today released its annual report for the year ending November 2014. The results themselves are not reflective of the value being built within the company, covering only four months of trading in the underlying business, which is still in the development phase. However net losses totaled £0.8m of which £365k related to admission expenses. Following the £3.3m placing the year end cash balance stood at £2.87m and we understand that April 2015 cash balances stood at £2.65m demonstrating prudent cash management. The company is satisfied that this is sufficient to fund its existing research and development programmes and initiate commercialisation.
The life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes today provided a research update on its research and development programmes.
In August 2014, OptiBiotix went public via the reverse takeover of AIM listed investment company Ducat Ventures plc. This transaction brought to market a company active in one of the most progressive areas of biotechnological research, the human microbiome, the collective genome of the microbes in the body, a metabolically active, rapidly renewable ecosystem which is being increasingly linked to host immunity, metabolism and physiology. Advances in our understanding of this enormous gene pool have been labelled by MoneyWeek as possibly the most important scientific breakthrough in our lifetime, whilst 2015 has been hailed by Fortune magazine as the ‘year of the microbiome’.
