Evolving life sciences business Optibiotix hails “significant progress”
The chief executive of Yorkshire-based Optibiotix has said the company has made “significant progress” in 2016 evolving from a technology company to a product company, following the flotation of its skincare-focused subsidiary and investment in a weight loss business.
OpitBiotix was founded in March 2012 to develop compounds which modify the human microbiome to combat diseases. It has been moving towards the commercialisation of products as part of its R&D programme.
During the year, it saw the flotation of its skincare-focused subsidiary SkinBiotix, formed from the acquisition of IP rights developed at the University of Manchester.
It created a majority-owned joint venture, which it committed to an IPO in March 2017.
Optibiotix said that while the skincare market was relatively low risk, some of its more innovative technology, which was at an earlier stage of development, was not being developed as a result of the focus on skincare.
The company also acquired 51% of The Healthy Weight Loss Company as a platform “to incubate new technological solutions” in weight management.
The firm completed fundraising of £1m from the placing of 1,282,051 new ordinary shares at 78p during the year to further fund its growing R&D programme.
It turned over £288,119 for the year to November 2016, up from £28,200 the year before, with pre-tax losses of £1.5m.
Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: “OptiBiotix has made significant progress in the last year in building the infrastructure and team to support the transition from a technology company, to a product company, with early revenues and a developing pipeline of products across all its platforms.”
