OptiBiotix Health plc (AIM: OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skin care, announced this morning an increase in its investment in its majority owned subsidiary SkinBiotix Limited.
Under the terms of the agreement, OptiBiotix has increased its investment into SkinBiotix, using a Convertible Loan Agreement, with an investment of £400k which will provide funding to complete the development and human studies for the first product application, in addition to funding activities to support an Initial Public Offering (“IPO”). The loan will convert should SkinBiotix successfully complete and IPO.
The increased investment will provide SkinBiotix with resources to progress towards an independent listing in line with OptiBiotix’s strategy update of 5 July 2016.
SkinBiotix is dedicated to the development of skin biotherapeuticsusing natural components of the skin microbiome to protect, manage and restore skin health problems. SkinBiotix uses patented technology to address large scale markets in skin health including Cosmetic Skin Care ($121bn); Health Care Acquired Infections ($82bn); Dermatology ($10.2bn) and Wound Care ($18bn).
Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: “OptiBiotix has made strong progress with the development of SkinBiotix. We have built the team, added significant IP and put in place development programmes and plans for human studies with the objective of translating the science into commercial products with large potential global markets. Our belief in the potential of SkinBiotix is demonstrated by this additional investment which will enable SkinBiotix to accelerate its corporate and technical development plans. OptiBiotix believes the scale of the opportunities offered by SkinBiotix’s technology in the biotherapeutic space creates the potential for substantial future valueenhancement. The directors believe that shareholder value could be maximised as existing shareholders may, in the event of a successful flotation of SkinBiotix, ultimately hold shares directly in both companies.”
