Investors

Chief Executive’s Report

Since the restructuring of our senior management team in Spring 2023, the Group has focused on restoring sales growth and working towards profitability through the more active management of existing accounts, broadening its partner base, and investing in ecommerce channels, while reducing costs. This is all part of a plan to take multiple products in the microbiome space to a global marketplace. Our first-generation products now enjoy widespread acceptance in international markets, helping us to reach new agreements with a number of well-known corporate partners and to launch new products in more territories expanding our customer base. Our online sales are growing strongly, particularly in China and we are looking to replicate this approach in other high growth territories such as India in 2024. We have also reached an exciting stage in the commercialisation of our second-generation products SweetBiotix® as a bulk sugar replacement and in finished products and seeing growing interest in our microbiome modulators. The Group remains financially robust with a strong balance sheet (circa £9.4m at 31 December 2023) and no debt. We believe that the Group is now at a strategic inflection point having made strong progress in 2023 and early 2024 on its stated aims of establishing sales in major international markets like the USA, China, and India. As partner and ecommerce sales in these territories grow, we launch new products like WellBiome® with existing partners, add new partners in the USA and India, and bring our second generation products to market, we have a number of opportunities, any one of which would be transformational for the Company and shareholders alike, and collectively change the future of the business.

Strategic overview

OptiBiotix Health PLC (OPTI) is a life sciences business founded on the development of prebiotic and probiotic compounds to tackle obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and skincare: all markets offering strong growth potential in every part of the world.  The Company has built an extensive portfolio of microbiome assets in this field including prebiotic products like SlimBiome®, WellBiome®, SweetBiotix® and Microbiome modulators within its core business, skincare through SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (SBTX) and probiotics through ProBiotix Health plc (PBX). These are both separately listed companies in which OptiBiotix has a shareholding. These create a diverse portfolio of opportunities in an emerging area of healthcare which is of growing interest to consumer markets around the world.

Our strategic approach has been to target global markets with highly differentiated, clinically proven and patented products. Whilst ambitious, more costly and time consuming than commercialising in local markets it recognises the potential scale of the opportunity. The strategy has been designed to reduce risk and maximise opportunities for investors by recognising the challenges inherent in bringing new technologies and products to a naturally conservative global food market, where consistency and risk avoidance are key, and the acceptance of new products is notoriously slow.

In addition to founding and developing three distinct companies, we have layered our development portfolio by creating both first-generation products (SlimBiome® and WellBiome® in prebiotics and LP_LDL® in probiotics) and second-generation products (SweetBiotix® and Microbiome modulators). This has allowed us initially to build sales and awareness of the Company and its functional ingredients through its first-generation products while developing the riskier and more innovative second-generation products that offer potentially greater upside for investors.

The development of three distinct companies (OPTI, SBTX and PBX) with similar fundamental science but different applications and markets provides investors with multiple plays in the emerging microbiome market, both reducing their risk and providing significant potential gains if one or more new products is successfully brought to market.

Placing these companies separately on public markets creates tangible assets which can potentially be disposed of to pay shareholders an ad hoc dividend, as with the £10.25m dividend issue to OPTI shareholders on the listing of PBX in March 2022, or the £5.4m of share sales in SBTX by OPTI since its listing in 2017, which has reduced the need to fundraise for the continued development of OPTI and avoided dilution for our own shareholders.

As a result, OPTI today has a strong balance sheet (circa £9.4m at 31 December 2023) with no debt, and multiple plays providing scope for profitable development in different areas of the emerging microbiome space.

The annual accounts for 2020 and 2021 showed that each of OPTI’s businesses was profitable at the EBITDA level, with the Group as a whole attaining profitability by virtue of the increased value of its SBTX asset. In 2022 we faced a most challenging year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic uncertainty that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and increased costs and reduced sales following the appointment of a new CEO.

We took decisive action to address this through the departure of the CEO of the prebiotic business under OptiBiotix Ltd in Spring 2023 and a series of measures to reduce Board, management and advisory costs. Since implementing these measures and under the renewed leadership of Stephen O’Hara as CEO, we have enjoyed three quarters of increased sales.  This growth has continued into 2024.

Action has also been taken to reduce commercial risk in the business by increasing the number of large partners in key strategic markets, particularly the USA and Asia Pacific, with new relationships with Brenntag, Tata, Iovate/Muscletech, and in 2024 an agreement with Morepen.

Equally importantly, we have made significant investments in our ecommerce business to drive our direct-to-consumer sales, reducing reliance on retail partners and increase our profit margins. While sales through retail partners offer potential benefits in generating volume, and increase the awareness and credibility of OPTI products, margins are lower and the uniqueness of our formulations and their functional benefits are often lost to retail staff and consumers among the many competing brands on offer.

With our first generation products gaining traction in the USA, China, and India and the upcoming launch of our second-generation products, OPTI is well placed to become a major player in the expanding microbiome market.

Commercial and scientific overview

During the year we have focused on driving sales growth through the more active management of existing key accounts; increasing the number of partners in key strategic markets, particularly the USA, China, and India; and investing to increase direct sales to customers through ecommerce channels in the UK and subsequently internationally.

Key developments during the financial year included:

Active management of existing key accounts:

• An increase in sales of LeanBiome® to The Hut Group for inclusion in its Myprotein range.

• An increase in sales to Holland & Barrett health and wellbeing retail and online business in the UK, albeit from a very low base in 2022.

• An increase in sales of SlimBiome® to Paradise Fruits, a German company producing gummies for Walmart and for sale online in China.

• Increased sales of our OptiBiome® prebiotic fibre (an alternative trademark to SlimBiome®) to Optipharm in Australia following the launch online of their Optislim and Optiman ready meal ranges incorporating a ready meal OptiBiome sprinkle and a significant new investment in marketing.

• An increase in the number of Apollo pharmacies in India and Nahdi pharmacies in Saudi Arabia selling GoFigure^® products.

• A reduction in SlimBiome^® stock held by partners: there was 13.9 metric tonnes of SlimBiome^® taken from stock held by two partners (Maxum and Cambridge Commodities) in 2023 compared to 2022 (up 39%) representing a value of approximately £417K based on retail price of £30 per kg. The Company has commenced manufacture of replacement stock for Cambridge Commodities as it anticipates most of this stock will be used for existing orders planned for delivery in the first half of 2024.

Increasing the number of new partners, particularly in the USA and India:

• Recruiting four new partners for SlimBiome^® in Asia through our partnership with Nutraconnect Pte, all of which placed initial orders before the end of 2023 and which we expect to contribute revenues of £125,000 to £150,000 in 2024.

• Securing a license agreement with Tata Chemicals – part of the $300bn turnover Tata Group – to incorporate its proprietary Fossence^® into our SlimBiome^® and WellBiome^® products for the Indian market. This brings the assurance and familiarity of a branded ingredient from a well-known and trusted local source to the attention of Indian consumers

• Reaching a new distribution agreement for SlimBiome^® in Australia and New Zealand with Ravenswood Ingredients, part of the Brenntag group which is a global leader in specialised food ingredients.

• One of our partners, Optipharm, securing an international listing for products containing SlimBiome^® with CostCo, the fifth largest retailer in the world.

• Ongoing discussions with a leading US corporate on a global launch of SlimBiome^® in 2025 in multiple territories.

Investing in ecommerce channels:

• The Company has made significant investments in new ecommerce channels, including Amazon in the UK, Walmart in the USA, and Tmall.com in China, to increase the proportion of our sales made direct to consumers. This has generated strong growth in turnover, with total ecommerce sales up approximately threefold in 2023 from 2022 and continued growth in Q1 2024 which we hope will continue as more channels come on line.

• Successfully launching new products including our reformulated gut and digestive health WellBiome^® functional fibre and mineral blend, which has been selling strongly through both our own website and Amazon UK.

Other developments:

• A shift in our commercial focus to selling SlimBiome^® Medical sachets in Europe and SlimBiome^® shots in India and the Gulf states. These have been developed to help users manage their weight by reducing hunger and food cravings. This is a highly differentiated product which leverages growing market interest in anti-obesity GLP-agonist drugs like Semaglutide which work by reducing appetite.  SlimBiome^® compares favourably with these drugs and offers a healthy, natural and safe approach to weight management, with no observed side effects in multiple human studies. GLP-agonists have a number of reported common adverse effects and potentially serious side effects in some groups. SlimBiome® can be used with any weight management or calorie restriction plan and so complements rather than competes in a crowded marketplace. The product enjoys high margins and became a top-selling line within its market segment on Amazon UK in 2023.

• Roehampton University submitting the results of a third human study on SlimBiome® for publication, which demonstrated statistically significant benefits to appetite and hunger regulation with no safety, compliance or tolerance issues reported by the participating volunteers. This study underlined the effectiveness of a single dose of SlimBiome® in delivering hunger-free weight loss by non-invasive means, and was timely in view of the growing consumer, media and pharmaceutical interest in this field.

• Securing a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council to fund a research project by the University of Leeds into the impact of WellBiome^® on the gut microbiome throughout the digestive tract. This is expected to provide further substantiation of existing health claims for WellBiome^® in international markets.

• Hull University securing NHS Ethics approval as part of a large programme grant (£2.7 million) amongst which is the proposal to explore WellBiome® impact post-surgery. This is a project independent of OptiBiotix in which Hull University have purchased WellBiome^® to explore its impact on post-surgical recovery times.

North America

We have a strong sales pipeline in North America and the USA made up of small, medium size, and a number of large US corporates (including a £9bn Multi-Level Marketing company -MLM) that offer opportunities for sales growth in 2024 and beyond.  The Company was pleased to receive a first order of £116k from Muscletech in 2023, a leading weight management and sports nutrition brand in the USA.  This is a major sports nutrition brand who are making a significant investment in LeanBiome® as a key differentiator in the protein market and, if successful on launch could have a material impact on future revenues.

The Company reported at the start of 2024 the launch of LeanBiome® in MuscleTech’s Nitro Tech Ripped range, a premium protein powder designed to support athletes who want to lose fat and build lean muscle. LeanBiome^® is now included in two leading sports nutrition brands, Myprotein and MuscleTech, across the world, a market worth $45.2bn in 2023, and expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.5% pa to 2030, (Grand View Research, 2023). The Company sees the sports nutrition market as an area of growing interest and opportunity for its LeanBiome^® brand with the scientific evidence increasingly showing that optimising an athletes gut microbiome could improve an athletes’ stamina, lower inflammation, and support physical fitness (Frontiers | Editorial: Nutrition to support gut health and the microbiome in athletes (frontiersin.org). Having two major global sports nutrition brands making a significant investment in LeanBiome® highlighting it as a key science based differentiator should provide investors a good indication to the potential opportunity developing within the sports nutrition market. If successful, this could have a material impact on future revenues and open up further opportunities in sports nutrition around the world. The Company continued to advance projects and expand the pipeline of opportunities with large North American companies and exhibited its SlimBiome®, LeanBiome®, and Wellbiome® products at Supply Side West, USA, in November 2023. Our focus is on companies committed to science and strong storytelling, especially in weight management, wellness, and sports nutrition with a special emphasis on e-commerce, direct selling, and retail brands. 

The Company is hopeful that further announcements with corporate partners in the USA and Canada in 2024 will be made in due course.

OptiBiotix Health India

OptiBiotix Health India (OHI) was formed in November 2021 as a mid- to long-term strategic investment in the world’s most populous nation of 1.4bn consumers, forecast to have a middle-class population of 475 million by 2030 and the world’s largest cohort of medium to high level income customers by 2035. With obesity prevalence currently measured at 40.3%, India represents a huge area of opportunity for weight management products.

The formation of OHI has helped OPTI to avoid high import taxes and to control the purchase and sale of both ingredients (SlimBiome®) and finished product (GoFigure®, Morepen) manufactured and sold in India.

After a slow start following the launch of products with Apollo Pharmacies in September 2022, momentum built during the year resulting in GoFigure® products being sold through approximately 1,000 stores by the year-end.

Apollo’s own consumer survey showed an 87% customer return rate among purchasers of GoFigure^® products and 23% of new customers visiting their pharmacies who just bought GoFigure^® products. This feedback is consistent with that from THG, who gained 40% new customers with the introduction of LeanBiome^® to their Myprotein range. Such results create a positive platform for commercial discussions with potential new partners, demonstrating the consumer appeal of our products and their ability to attract both new and returning customers.

The licence agreement we secured with Tata Chemicals in October 2023 to incorporate its proprietary Fossence^® into our SlimBiome^® and WellBiome^® products for the Indian market which is anticipated to increase their appeal to Indian consumers. In Q1 2024 we announced a major new partnership agreement to sell products containing SlimBiome^® under the well-known and trusted Dr Morepen brand. This is an established, well known, and trusted brand in the Indian market and represents a material step forward for our products in the Indian market. OptiBiotix will receive revenue for both the ingredient and BTB product sales with first orders placed for launch in Q3 2024. Based on Morepens current forecasts this agreement could contribute in the region of £6-7 million revenue per annum to OptiBiotix  in the next four to five years (see announcement  March 2024).

Thanks to the work of the Department of Business and Trade and our Business Development Director, Dr Taru Jain, we have high industry awareness of OptiBiotix and its products throughput India. This has created a strong pipeline of opportunities with emerging and leading players in weight management and sports nutrition in India, where we expect to build a substantial business in the years ahead.

Consumer Health and Ecommerce

The Consumer Health division grew rapidly during the year, with our total Ecommerce sales increasing threefold in 2023 compared to 2022.  This was driven by strong growth in the sale of gummies in China and large increases in Amazon Prime subscriptions.

Gummy sales in China during the year varied widely per month, increasing rapidly in October and November with the aid of local key opinion leader influencers and new sales through the TikTok platform. Marketing on TikTok can increase sales rapidly but at a high cost and tend to be impulse buys with lower repeat purchases. Our TikTok account is managed by a Chinese agency with sales reconciled against costs some time after revenue is received. They are only then included in our accounts. We see TikTok as a means of increasing product and brand awareness providing early sales growth with Tmall (Alibaba) a more appropriate platform for sustainable growth. 

In the UK we significantly increased our Amazon customer base by successfully moving to the Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) model that allowed customers to receive faster deliveries through Prime accounts. SlimBiome® is consistently among Amazon’s top sellers for appetite suppressants, and achieved record sales during Prime month in July 2023 and was awarded Amazon choice in Q1 2024.

We are extending our customer reach through new Amazon channels in Germany, the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, with Amazon India to follow in H2 2024. We have also broadened our offer to consumers with the launch of new products such as soups and indulgence bars, initially through our own website with Amazon to follow. Such additions to our range help to increase our average order value online and to compensate for the usual seasonal peaks and troughs in the weight management cycle.

Competitor analysis of our WellBiome^® range indicated a need to increase awareness of the product through social channels. Competitors such as Symprove have annual sales of around £20-£25m and are exploring a £250m sale later this year (see  Gut health supplement maker Symprove plots £250m sale | Business News | Sky News).  They have a heavy reliance on promotion through influencers and social media. In adopting a similar approach, we believe we can demonstrate competitive advantage on both price and product efficacy, including on-pack health claims, and build similar sales and value.

Competitor analysis of WellBiome^® also indicated value in a change in positioning from healthy ageing to boosting gut and digestive health which should allow us to attract more customers through more easily understood messaging and benefits for the consumer. We have targeted competitors with keywords/ads and successfully listed with Amazon UK FBA.

The Consumer Health division has the advantage of receiving online sales income immediately and allows more control of our brands and messaging, while reducing our reliance on distributors to grow our brands.

Results

The Group’s results for 2023 reflect its new structure following the listing of ProBiotix Health (PBX) on the AQSE Growth Market on 31 March 2022.  When making comparisons with 2022, it should be noted that the prior year accounts included revenues and costs for the combined Group (OPTI and PBX) up to the end of March 2022.

Revenue for the year of £644,000 showed a pleasing 41% increase over 2022’s £457,000, with the move forward close to 50% once 2022’s first quarter PBX sales are adjusted for. The change of CEO in March 2023 resulted in a significant improvement in revenue impetus following only £16K of sales in the first two months of the year. Orders from our wholesale business customers increased significantly year-on-year, although delays setting up logistics with new partners meant that some deliveries were delayed into 2024 with sales reportable in 2024. Our investment in online direct to consumer business began to pay dividends as sales exceed £100,000 for the first time, a three fold increase on 2022.

Administrative expenses (excluding non-cash items such as share-based payments and amortisation) were reduced by almost 30% to £1,778K (2022: £2,498K), reflecting cost saving measures, the removal of PBX’s costs after March 2022 and recovery of some of the doubtful debt provided in the 2022 accounts. Actions to reduce 2023’s costs included the removal of Cavendish as joint broker, announced in December 2022, the departure of Rene Kamminga as CEO in March 2023, a 20% reduction in all directors’ remuneration from January 2023 and the retirement of two non-executive directors in July 2023. The former CEO’s termination agreement saw us incur a one-off cost of £153K.

With gross margins in percentage terms remaining steady year on year, the combination of improved sales and good control of administrative expenses saw operating losses reduce to £1,664K from £2,489K. Overall the Group recorded a loss before tax for the year of £2.08m, compared with a profit of £2.59m in 2022. The prior year benefitted from a significant gain on its investment in PBX offset by a loss on revaluation of its shareholding in SBTX, whilst the current year’s results suffered from the inclusion of a very disappointing £323K share of the total loss for the year of PBX. On the plus side we netted a £487K accounting gain from the disposal of further shares in SBTX that realised £1.1m in cash in 2023.

The Company retains a relatively healthy balance sheet with gross assets of £9.4m (2022: £11.6m) and cash at the year-end of £0.6m (2022: £1.1m). Since the year end a share placing and further sales of SBTX shares have raised over £1.4m of additional funding to support the Group going forward.

The Board, senior management and advisers

We took decisive action in December 2022 and the first half of 2023 to reduce Board, management and advisory costs in order to move the Group to operational profitability as soon as possible.

As noted in the last annual report Rene Kamminga, who was appointed CEO of OptiBiotix Ltd in March 2021, left the business on 28 February 2023 when Stephen O’Hara resumed the role of CEO of OptiBiotix Health Limited. All directors voluntarily accepted a 20% reduction in their salaries from 1 January 2023 and, with non-executive directors now outnumbering executive directors by two to one, Stephen Hammond and Chris Brinsmead agreed to step down as non-executive directors at our AGM in July 2023, with our thanks for their contribution to the business.

Graham Myers joined the Board on 1 December 2023 as Finance Director, a part-time role in which he will work closely with the OptiBiotix team to focus on driving each business unit to profitability. Graham brings to us extensive experience in optimising financial controls, managing budgets, building profitable businesses and delivering mergers and acquisitions, all gained in a career of almost 30 years with Croda International Plc; he remains Chair of Croda Pension Trustees Limited.

On 28 December 2022 we served three months’ notice to terminate the joint brokership of Cavendish Securities plc, with Peterhouse Capital continuing as the Company’s sole broker. During the year we also secured a 50% reduction in the fees charged by our corporate PR adviser.

Outlook

The Company set out a strategy of developing first generation products using existing technology and highly innovative step change second generation products in parallel and commercialising these in global markets.  Whist ambitious, costly and more time consuming, this strategy gave shareholders exposure to multiple opportunities within the emerging global human microbiome space and the potential for multiple upside. This strategy is now coming to fruition.

Whilst this strategy has taken longer to deliver than anticipated the Company is now at a tipping point with first generation products gaining widespread international acceptance with growing sales in multiple territories and the upcoming launch of our second generation products generating industry interest.  This creates a range of opportunities to support future sales growth and value creation.

SlimBiome^®/OptiBiome^®/LeanBiome^®

The Company has four human studies on SlimBiome which consistently demonstrate it reduces hunger and cravings leading to changes in the amount of food and type of food people eat and sustainable weight loss.  The studies have allowed the Company to gain on pack health claims in major markets (Europe, Australia, USA, and Asia) leading to agreements with major international and national companies like Iovate (Muscletech), TheHutGroup (Myprotein), Apollo, and Morepen.  The partnership with Morepen and first order of over £175K plus ingredient sales of £27K in H1 2024 is the first step in an agreement in a major market and based on Morepen’s forecast could contribute in the region of £6-7 million revenue per annum in the next four to five years.  We believe these agreements, plus other deals in the pipeline, and our focus on selling finished products via e-commerce in multiple channels have the potential to achieve sales of £30m+ in the future. 

WellBiome^®

WellBiome^® is a patented food supplement, designed to support gut health for wellbeing with health claims for improving gut health, brain and cognitive health, and improve immune function.  Research studies have shown that a combination of fibres like WellBiome^® can increase gut microbiome diversity more than single fibres.  The Company has a number of human studies ongoing with WellBiome^® including exploring its impact on post surgical recovery times with Hull University and a study on the impact on stress, anxiety, and sleep with Southampton University.  Gut Health is a large and growing area in consumer health with companies like Symprove with single products reporting  annual sales of around £20-£25m and a valuation of approximately £250m (see Gut health supplement maker Symprove plots £250m sale | Business News | Sky News).  We believe WellBiome^® has a number of significant advantages over Symprove including cost, shelf life, user convenience (sachet rather than bottle), and health claims and see this as an area of high future growth with the potential for similar sales and value.

Second generation products (SweetBiotix and MicroBiome Modulators/Synbiotics)

As with any step change innovation this has been a long and difficult path with significant challenges, particularly on scale up, and during the two years of COVID when development stopped.  These challenges have now been overcome and we have been pleased that the scale of the opportunity and uniqueness of our patented approach has attracted the interest of major global partners both in the manufacture (e.g DSM-Firmenich) and application of these products (e.g Coca Cola, Nestle, Arla etc).  These partners bring scale and global networks albeit time consuming and with stringent confidentiality conditions.  We have been pleased with the progress made by DSM-Firmenich and its preliminary forecast for SweetBiotix^® of >100,000 metric tonne per annum, demonstrating its intent and potential scale of the opportunity. If this forecast materialises at an expected price of £30 per kg this would represent substantial sales revenue.  Experience tells us that partner forecasts tend to be optimistic, increases in volume often take longer, and over time the sales price is likely to be eroded to £18-£20 per kg, however this gives an indication of the potential scale of the opportunity.  We are currently working with a manufacturer who supplies products to major corporates and uses 10,000 metric tonnes of sugar per annum. We are progressing incrementally and have included SweetBiotix^® in a finished product for a large global partner with a view for an upcoming launch.  The Company is also working on including SweetBiotix^® in our own products and launching a bulk sugar replacement product with the aim of seeing SweetBiotix^® in an increasing number of products in 2024 and beyond.

Whilst SweetBiotix^® has captured investors interest, the Company has another group of products which it believes create comparable opportunities for revenue growth and value creation. OptiBiotix has developed a number of unique, patented technologies, which allow it to create dietary ingredients and/or therapeutic products to precision engineer the microbiome.  This is achieved by technologies which allow us to examine a microbe’s genome to identify its ability to utilise specific substrates. With this information protein synthesis techniques can be used for large-scale production of unique substrates specific for the optimum growth of that microbe.  This allows the creation of substrates which boost the growth of specific genera or species of microbes that have been connected with cancer, improving drug treatments, the development of chronic diseases, or even the ageing process Healthy longevity: The role of the gut microbiome (medicalnewstoday.com).  This ability to identify and create products which selectively enhance the growth and activity of specific microbes is a new concept but has the potential to revolutionise microbiome-based products and therapies.  Microbiome modulating approaches are a largely unexplored area of opportunity for both the food and pharmaceutical industry but have the potential to transform healthcare. If the microbiome is the future of healthcare, having an approach to precision engineer the microbiome to enhance those microbes that deliver health benefits is the pathway to achieving that aim.

As would be expected the Company has a high level of corporate interest in its second-generation products. The Company is in discussion with a wide range of industry partners over product application and launch timescales, some already announced and some with new potential partners, across a wide range of areas and will make announcements once these have been concluded. Given previous experience with some investors contacting partners pretending to be employed or representing OptiBiotix and damaging relationships, the Company wishes to maintain confidentiality in this area to protect the best interests of shareholders.

The focus for 2023 has been on recovering sales and moving the business to profitability by a reduction in costs, a focus on existing partners returning to forecast, bringing in new partners particularly in the USA and Asia, and expanding ecommerce channels to increase margins and reduce partner dependency. Good progress has been made in each of these areas which has led to a recovery of growth in 2023 which has carried forward into 2024 with sales orders in H1 approaching FY 2023.  In the last year and into 2024 we have been particularly pleased with the pipeline of high-quality partners like Iovate, Dr Morepen, TheHutGroup, the high conversion rate of interest to new accounts, and the progress we are making with online sales, particularly in China.  These all have the potential to bring in significant future revenues. 

The fundamentals of our marketplace remain very exciting, with appetite suppression, gut health, sugar alternatives, and modulation of the human microbiome attracting ever-increasing interest as the potential solution to a wide and growing range of lifestyle-related health challenges. OptiBiotix has patented products with clinical studies in many of these areas. Our unique, innovative products are based on strong science, proven in clinical studies, comprehensively protected by our global portfolio of patents and trademarks, and are achieving growing international recognition through both industry awards and positive customer reviews and growing sales.

We look to the future with a high degree of confidence in our products, a growing online presence in international markets and the excitement of bringing our industry changing second-generation products to market.

We have achieved with minimal shareholder dilution, no debt, a strong balance sheet, and significant exposure to the considerable growth potential of the microbiome through our shareholdings in PBX and SBTX. 

We would like to thank shareholders for their patience and support and look forward to growing the business and shareholder value in the years ahead.

Stephen  O’Hara
Chief Executive
28 June  2024