Life sciences group OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI) has signed a manufacturing and supply agreement with US-based speciality ingredients manufacturer Cereal Ingredients Inc (CII).
The deal grants CII a licence to manufacture and supply Opti’s SlimBiome appetite suppressant in its range of cereal and protein-based particulates in the USA.
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In return, AIM-quoted OptiBiotix will get a 50% cut of the profits, with an agreed cost of manufacture and minimum price already in place.
By partnering with CII, Opti said SlimBiome would now find its way into food products such as cookies, cakes, crackers and cereal bars, as well as cereals.
Under the terms of the agreement, CII will “use their best endeavours” to promote SlimBiome across the USA and bring it to the attention of as many buyers as possible.
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Opti called Tuesday’s tie-up a “strategic step” in its bid to access the global healthy ingredients markets, which is estimated will be worth US$101bn by 2022.
“We chose Cereal Ingredients due to their industry reputation and world leading expertise in incorporating functional ingredients like SlimBiome into extruded cereal and protein based particulates bringing added value and differentiation to the cereal, snacks and sports nutrition markets,” said Opti chief executive Stephen O’Hara.
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“We were particularly impressed by the investment in development work, marketing and customer engagement carried out by CII during negotiations which have given both companies a high level of confidence in the scale of the opportunity open to us.
“We believe working with CII, and similar partners around the world, provides the best opportunity of fully exploiting the functional benefits of SlimBiome to improve the health of customers around the world.”