OptiBiotix inks LPLDL deal with Spain's IENP

Life sciences business OptiBiotix Health announced on Tuesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary ProBiotix Health has signed a license agreement with Instituto Español de Nutrición Personalizada (IENP) for the use of ‘lactobacillus plantarum’ (LPLDL) in personalised food supplements in Spain.

The AIM-traded firm said the agreement granted IENP non-exclusive rights to manufacture and market food supplements containing OptiBiotix's cholesterol and blood pressure-reducing probiotic strain LPLDL in Spain for a period of three years.

It described IENP as a “precision nutrition” producer and a division of CAPSA Food, one of the largest food conglomerates in Spain with annual revenues of more than €700m.

IENP had developed an innovative genomic test to analyse the gut microbiome, the bacteria living in the intestine, to detect imbalances which could potentially lead to different health conditions.

Based on results, customers were placed on different, targeted food supplement regimens to take their microbiome composition back to healthy.

IENP had developed COL-15, a microbiome-modulating food supplement commercialised under the ‘39ytú’ brand.

OptiBiotix said IENP would use its “extensive” network to market the product in supermarkets, department stores, pharmacies, and online across Spain.

“We are delighted to enter the field of personalised and precision nutrition, one of the fastest-growing and highest-value sectors within the food industry,” said OptiBiotix business development director Dr Luis Gosálbez.

“We chose IENP due to its industry reputation, decades of experience in the Spanish food market, and its ability to rapidly launch products and build sales.

“Within two years of launch, we now have products being sold by numerous partners in over 30 countries around the world.”

That built revenues and increased the value of the company’s trademarked and patented assets, like LPLDL, as it grew into a global brand, Gosálbez explained.

“We see this agreement as another step to growing revenues, market presence, and brand value of LPLDL, the 'Intel' inside a wide range of products in consumer and pharmaceutical markets around the world.”