Listed life sciences business raises £1.5m to meet commercial demand
Weight management and cholesterol treatment group Optibiotix has raised £1.5m in a share placing to capitalise on growth opportunities following growing commercial interest in a number of its products.
The York-based group said its cash position remains strong with sufficient funds to deliver on existing plans but rising interest in its products has generated new opportunities which if capitalised on have the potential for “significant value enhancement”.
The funds will be used for the development of the company’s cholesterol and blood pressure reducing strain LPLDL as a pharmaceutical product.
The company said it has received partner interest to license LPLDL as a pharmaceutical product in the USA and a number of other international markets.
OptiBiotix has also reported interest from a number of corporate partners in its SweetBiotix product development. These include manufacturing partners and application developers who want to use the natural, low calorie alternatives to sugar in a range of dairy, bread, cereal, and beverage applications.
Meanwhile, the process of extending its weight management system SlimBiome product into a broader range of health and wellbeing food and beverage products continues and has attracted major retail interest, the company said.
In order to list SlimBiome as an own label or branded product in one or more major retailers, Optibiotix said it requires funds to support upfront manufacturing and stocking costs.
Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, said: “The company has received a high level of partner interest in its technology and products across new application areas and territories that have the potential for significant value uplift. It has become clear that new opportunities, particularly the development of LPLDLinto a pharmaceutical product, the high level of corporate interest in SweetBiotix across multiple applications, and the potential for listing a range of health and wellbeing products with major retailers are not achievable in the short term within current resources.
“Rather than delay these opportunities until OptiBiotix has sufficient revenues to cover costs, the board has decided to take additional funds to capitalise on these growth opportunities and build shareholder value. Whilst the subscription was oversubscribed the company has limited the funds received to ensure a focus on value creation and has added new institutional investors to the share register.”
