Investors

OptiBiotix Health Plc (AIM: OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, announces the registration of five new microbial strains under the Budapest Treaty. This increases the number of strain registrations from three to eight.

The Budapest Treaty is an international treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation which enables the deposition of micro-organisms for the purposes of patent protection. This provides a reference point for filing and defending patents and establishing title during commercial discussions. Registration of these strains protects the advances made in developing novel sugars using OptiBiotix's proprietary OptiBiotic® platform technology.

The five strains have been identified as having the potential to generate novel oligosaccharides (carbohydrates that consist of a small number of sugars). As announced on 9 July 2015, oligosaccharides from strains showing commercial potential are being scaled up, purified, and tested for their organoleptic (taste, texture, aftertaste) and microbiome modulating properties. This work is the final stages of the laboratory programme which will enable OptiBiotix to progress its pipeline of novel oligosaccharides to testing in human studies.

Stephen O'Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: "We are pleased to announce the registration of these strains which will protect the recent advances we have made in developing novel sugars. With our cholesterol product moving to pilot manufacture and our sugar development programmes moving towards clinical studies, we are making good progress in multiple product and partnering opportunities for compounds which modify the human microbiome to improve human health."

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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.