Appointment of a Chairman for SkinBiotix

RNS Number : 6849L

OptiBiotix Health PLC

05 October 2016

 

OptiBiotix Health plc

("OptiBiotix" or the "Company")

Appointment of Chairman and Director for SkinBiotix Limited

OptiBiotix Health plc (AIM:OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skin care, announces the appointment of Martin Hunt as Chairman and Director of its majority owned subsidiary SkinBiotix Limited ("SkinBiotix").

SkinBiotix is dedicated to the development of skin biotherapeutics using natural components of the skin microbiome to manage and protect against skin health problems.  SkinBiotix uses patented technology to address health issues in the Cosmetic Skin Care ($121bn); Acquired Skin Infections ($82bn); Dermatology ($10.2bn); and Wound Care ($18bn) markets. 

Martin brings a wealth of experience and a track record of success in leadership and strategic roles within the life sciences sector, spanning large multi-nationals, AIM listed plc's, early stage ventures and public sector roles.  His experience at MDY Healthcare Limited, Videregen Limited, Oxford Medical Diagnostics Limited and his roles at the National Institute for Health Research give him that broad range of understanding of the wide ranging commercial and therapeutic area which SkinBiotix will be working in.

Martin's appointment brings experience and dedicated leadership to SkinBiotix to help build a team to fully exploit opportunities in the skin microbiome space. This includes plans for Optibiotix to demerge its SkinBiotix division and seek an Initial Public Offering.  This is in line with OptiBiotix's strategy announced in July of this year. In that announcement OptiBiotix outlined its belief that the diversity of IP and commercial relationships across its four divisions offered shareholders multiple opportunities where future value to shareholders may be best realised by spinning out domain specific opportunities.

Stephen O'Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: "Martin brings a proven record across life sciences as a CEO and Chairman and we are delighted that he has joined SkinBiotix at this exciting stage of its development. OptiBiotix believes the scale of the opportunities offered by SkinBiotix's intellectual property in the skin biotherapeutic space means that this can best be achieved by a separate leadership and listing. This will provide the domain specific expertise and resources to ensure the opportunities provided by this exciting technology can be fully realised."

For further information, please contact:

OptiBiotix Health plc		www.optibiotix.com
Stephen O'Hara, Chief Executive		Contact via Walbrook below
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP		Tel: [phone]
Liam Murray
finnCap Broker		Tel: [phone]
Adrian Hargrave / Scott Mathieson / Kate Bannatyne (Corporate Finance)
Tony Quirke (Corporate Broking)
Walbrook PR Ltd	Tel: [phone] or [e-mail]
Anna Dunphy		Mob: [phone]
Mike Wort		Mob: [phone]

About OptiBiotix - www.optibiotix.com  

OptiBiotix was formed in March 2012 to develop compounds which modify the human microbiome - the collective genome of the microbes in the body - to prevent and manage human disease. 

The aim of OptiBiotix is to discover and develop microbial strains, compounds and formulations, which modulate the human microbiome and can be used as food ingredients and supplements or active compounds for the prevention and management of human metabolic diseases, examples of which include obesity, cholesterol and lipid distribution and diabetes. 

OptiBiotix has established a pipeline of microbiome modulators that can impact on lipid and cholesterol management, energy harvest and appetite suppression. The development pipeline is fuelled by its proprietary OptiScreen® and OptiBiotic® platform technologies designed to identify metabolic pathways and compounds that impact on human physiology and bring potential health benefits. These platforms are applicable across a wider range of other human diseases.

 

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