OptiBiotix grants Sacco exclusive licence for anti-cholesterol drug

Life sciences firm OptiBiotix Health granted biotechnology group Sacco SRL an exclusive licence for the manufacture and supply of its cholesterol and blood pressure reducing strain of drugs.

The agreement which covers the US and the rest of the world would see OptiBiotix net 50% of profits from the sale of all drugs containing its LP LDL strain. Additionally, it would lock-in a guaranteed cost of manufacturing and a minimum sales price per kilogram to secure against discounting.

North America is the world’s biggest probiotc market, with an estimated retail value of $7.1bn per year.

OptiBiotix also saw the potential that the Sacco relationship could bring by giving it access to Sacco’s existing networks in the dairy industry as the company looks to develop commercial opportunities with in the global $35.5bn probiotic dairy market.

Stephen O'Hara, chief executive officer of OptiBiotix, said, "This new agreement with Sacco significantly extends the scale of the commercial opportunity open to LPLDL to new application areas and territories, and reflects growing confidence from both companies in LPLDL's market potential.

"We chose Sacco as we have been impressed by their ability to introduce LPLDL to a global network of distributors and believe extending our partnership with them provides the best opportunity of quickly building revenues and developing LPLDL into a global brand."

As of 0930 BST, shares had bumped up slightly with 1.05% increase to 65.40p.