OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skin care, announced today that it has entered into a manufacturing and supply agreement with Sacco S.r.l., (“Sacco”). The agreement grants Sacco an exclusive licence to manufacture and supply OptiBiotix’s cholesterol reducing strain, LPLDL®, in Europe in return for 50% of the profit with a minimum price per kilogramme to secure against discounting.
Sacco, founded in 1934, is one of Europe’s leading probiotic manufacturers and supplies raw ingredients, including some of the world’s best selling probiotic strains, to over 2,500 businesses across Europe. Under the terms of the agreement, Sacco will promote and expand the supply of LPLDL® throughout Europe on the maximum possible scale bringing it to the attention of as many buyers as possible. LPLDL® will be supplied by Sacco as a raw ingredient to food, beverage, consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical partners to be incorporated into a wide range of final formulations and presentations. These will be subject to separate license agreements creating the opportunity for multiple revenue streams at different points in the value chain arising from:-
· Profit share of the sale of the strain as an ingredient by Sacco
· Royalties from the sale of higher value white label formulations, and branded products from consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical partners
This agreement is the first step in a business to business (B2B) strategy of bringing OptiBiotix’s science together with partner’s brand portfolio and market reach to serve consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical markets around the world.
Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix Health plc, commented: “We are pleased to announce the signing of a manufacturing, supply, and profit sharing agreement with Sacco, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of probiotics ingredients. We chose Sacco due to their industry reputation, extensive European network and track record in building sales for what have become some of the world’s best selling probiotic strains. We believe that OptiBiotix’s strong supporting science, and growing industry awareness of our LPLDL® cholesterol and blood pressure reducing strain, has created a high level of interest in using LPLDL® as a functional component in a wide range of consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical products. We believe working with Sacco, and similar partners around the world, provide the best opportunity of building LPLDL® into a global brand. Discussions are progressing with corporate partners for the manufacture and supply of products containing LPLDL® in the US, Asian and other international markets.”
