Investors

OptiBiotix Health Plc (AIM: OPTI), a Life Sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, announces the appointment of Dr Sofia Kolida as Head of Research.

Dr Kolida's career has focused on the investigation of the role of the gut microbiome in human health and disease. She has a PhD from Reading University and has been employed as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in The Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences of Reading University for over 10 years. Dr Kolida is widely published in the microbiome field and having carried out contract work for major corporates including GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, and Tate & Lyle, she has established industry credibility, and an ability to communicate science at both academic and a commercial level.

Dr Kolida's key area of expertise is in using novel sugars to modulate the human microbiome to prevent, manage, and treat disease, and their application as food ingredients. Recent publications include studies of novel oligosaccharides (a carbohydrate that consists of a relatively small number of sugars) to help manage weight in obesity. Sofia has extensive experience in running human clinical studies and the evaluation of in vitro (laboratory based) nutritional approaches in modulating the human microbiome.

Stephen O'Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: "Dr Kolida's specialist expertise in novel sugars which modulate the human microbiome and her experience of running numerous human nutritional studies builds OptiBiotix's in house capability in this exciting field. Sofia's expertise and scientific understanding will support the development of products with the scientific understanding and evidence base to demonstrate health benefits for our customers".

For further information, please contact:

About OptiBiotix - www.optibiotix.com

OptiBiotix was formed in March 2012 to develop compounds which modify the human microbiome - the collective genome of the microbes in the body - to prevent and manage human disease.

The aim of OptiBiotix is to discover and develop microbial strains, compounds and formulations, which modulate the human microbiome and can be used as food ingredients and supplements or active compounds for the prevention and management of human metabolic diseases, examples of which include obesity, cholesterol and lipid distribution and diabetes.

OptiBiotix has established a pipeline of microbiome modulators that can impact on lipid and cholesterol management, energy harvest and appetite suppression. The development pipeline is fuelled by its proprietary OptiScreen® and OptiBiotic® platform technologies designed to identify metabolic pathways and compounds that impact on human physiology and bring potential health benefits. These platforms are applicable across a wider range of other human diseases.