Investors

OptiBiotix Health plc (AIM: OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skin care, announces that it has entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Seed Health ('Seed™') to produce, promote, market, and commercialise products containing LP-LDL® in the USA. OptiBiotix previously announced (RNS: 1 May 2018) that it was in commercial discussions with Seed™ in response to media reports on the launch of its LP-LDL® product in the USA. This announcement confirms the successful conclusion of those discussions.

Seed™ (seed.com) was cofounded and is led by Raja Dhir and Ara Katz to pioneer the application of microbiome science to improve human and planetary health. In collaboration with leading microbiome scientists and a global network of partners and experts in biofermentation, stabilisation and testing, Seed™ state they have developed a new standard for a pipeline of effective, scientifically-validated probiotics that target the human microbiome.

This agreement is a strategic step by OptiBiotix to access the US probiotic supplement market. The US is one of the largest and fastest growing probiotic markets in the world, with supplements alone accounting for $2.06 billion sales, with a projected 55% growth to $3.3 billion by 2021*.

LP-LDL® will be commercialised by Seed™ in an innovative product concept which combines multiple strains of different probiotics which have been selected because of strong clinical trial data. OptiBiotix's LP-LDL® strain has published human data demonstrating statistical and clinical significant reductions in cholesterol and blood pressure, won best scientific abstracts at both ProBiota 2017 and ProBiota 2018, and was finalist as ProBiotic of the year at Vitafoods 2018.

*Market data from 'TRENDS, INNOVATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES DRIVING THE GLOBAL PROBIOTICS MARKET' (Euromonitor International June 2017).

Stephen O'Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: "We are pleased to announce this agreement with Seed™ which extends the sale of LP-LDL® into the USA, the world's largest and fastest growing probiotic market. We chose Seed™ due to our shared vision of commercialising products with strong scientific and clinical data, their innovative product concept, and their ability to access the large USA consumer goods market. We are pleased that our strong science, successful human studies and international awards at major scientific conferences has attracted international interest in our products leading to continued regular deal flow as we build multiple revenue streams from partners across the world."

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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.