OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) said it has raised £1.5mln in an oversubscribed share placing – cash that will be used to capitalise on commercial opportunities for three key products.
The company, which is developing advances that use the human microbiome to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, is issuing the new stock at 62p, a modest discount to Tuesday's closing price.
One of the opportunities open to the business is to develop cholesterol buster LPLDL, as a pharmaceutical as well as food additive.
Potential partners
Potential partners are willing to fund regulatory submissions and clinical studies, but OptiBiotix it will be required to invest in developing process controls and quality procedures.
The company said the cash injection will also be used to "fully exploit" opportunities for sweetener SweetBiotix and to promote SlimBiome, its weight loss product.
"The company has received a high level of partner interest in its technology and products across new application areas and territories that have the potential for significant value uplift," said chief executive Stephen O'Hara.
"It has become clear that new opportunities, particularly the development of LPLDL into a pharmaceutical product, the high level of corporate interest in SweetBiotix across multiple applications, and the potential for listing a range of health and wellbeing products with major retailers are not achievable in the short term within current resources.
Opportunities
"Rather than delay these opportunities until OptiBiotix has sufficient revenues to cover costs, the Board has decided to take additional funds to capitalise on these growth opportunities and build shareholder value.
"Whilst the subscription was oversubscribed the company has limited the funds received to ensure a focus on value creation and has added new institutional investors to the share register."