The first half of the year has been a period of significant change, according to OptiBiotix Health PLC (AIM:OPTI), which Wednesday updated on current trading.
The highlight was the separate listing of ProBiotix Health PLC (AQSE:PBX) on the Aquis Growth Market.
The newly independent business raised £2.5mln and returned a £10.2mln dividend to OptiBiotix shareholders who now own 40% of ProBiotix.
Crucially, this move has allowed the OptiBiotix management team to ‘focus on building the prebiotic business and bring its second-generation technologies to market’.
Specifically, having established the credibility of its science and brands of its first-generation products, the strategy is to concentrate on a smaller number of large partners in key strategic markets.
The group is also extending its technology platforms into new channels such as sports nutrition and new product areas.
Financially, the ProBiotix listing will muddy the waters initially. OptiBiotix also reported that a number of partners had delayed restocking due to the uncertain economic background.
Apollo Hospitals and Nahdi Medical, meanwhile, have pushed into the second half product launches as the result of regulatory approvals taking longer than expected.
To mitigate this problem, the OptiBiotix is ‘progressing discussions’ to increase the number of partnerships it has with larger companies.
"The aim for the second half of the year is to focus on growing sales with existing partners, building the online direct-to-consumer business, and launch GoFigure products in India with Apollo Hospitals and in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia with Nahdi Medical,” said chief executive Stephen O’Hara.
“We will also be looking to attract more, larger partners, particularly from the USA, and in-license or acquire additional technologies to ensure a continuous pipeline of solutions to strengthen our position as one of the leading companies in the rapidly growing microbiome space.”