OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skin care, announced today the departure of Jim Laird by mutual agreement and the appointment of Per Rehné as Commercial Director. Per will join the OptiBiotix Board subject to completion of the normal regulatory due diligence.
Per has many years experience of the food industry, having worked for some of the world’s leading food companies including Danisco (acquired by Dupont in 2011 for US$6.3bn), and specialised food ingredient suppliers including roles as Managing Director of both Frutarom Nordic A/S (A subsidiary of Frutarom Industries Ltd) and Innotaste Nordic A/S. More recently, Per has worked as European Director of Health and Nutrition at Cornelius Group plc which under his leadership became the company’s fastest growing business unit, quadrupling sales from a low base to double digit million pound revenues in less than three years.
Per has extensive experience in building business-to-business sales through commercial partnerships and working with manufacturers and distributors to rapidly grow sales revenues in international markets. A proven Commercial Director, Per comes with a wide network of contacts in the food industry and a track record of closing out commercial deals.
Per is a qualified food technologist and is multilingual in English, Danish, German, Swedish and Norwegian. His experience of food, health, and nutrition markets will help drive commercialisation of OptiBiotix’s growing pipeline of products and create multiple revenue streams across all technology platforms.
Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix Health Plc, commented: “Per’s experience and track record of growing business-to-business sales of ingredients and nutritional products brings operational commercial and industry expertise to OptiBiotix. His network of contacts provides access to new international markets to help drive revenue growth from OptiBiotix’s growing pipeline of products now entering their commercialisation phase. These include OptiBiotix’s patented SlimBiome technology for hunger free weight loss and its LP-LDL probiotic strain for cholesterol and hypertension reduction. This is consistent with the overall aim of developing multiple revenue streams from both consumer and pharmaceutical products across all OptiBiotix’s technology platforms. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Jim for his hard work and dedication to the Company and we wish him well in his future projects.”
