OptiBiotix inks deal with Nutrilinea for hypertension supplement

Life sciences company OptiBiotix Health announces on Monday that its wholly-owned subsidiary ProBiotix Health has signed a license agreement with Nutrilinea for the use of its ‘LPLDL’ product in a food supplement for the reduction of high blood pressure, or hypertension.

The AIM-traded firm said Nutrilinea would cover the cost of all product development, manufacturing and human studies in return for 12 months’ exclusivity for the European market, with ProBiotix retaining exclusivity for the UK and all other markets outside Europe.

It described Nutrilinea, based near Milan, as a manufacturer of food supplement formulations containing probiotics, with more than 15 years of experience in the development of products for the food and pharmaceutical industries in Europe and the United States.

It was one of OptiBiotix's preferred manufacturers, and currently produced its ‘CholBiome’, ‘CholBiomex3’ and ‘SlimBiome Medical’ products.

Nutrilinea had technology that enabled the production of multilayer tablets used in CholBiomex3, which would also be used for the new product.

In an independent human study by the University of Reading, OptiBiotix noted that there was a “statistically significant reduction” in both blood pressure and cholesterol in volunteers taking LPLDL compared to a control group.

The European Cardiovascular Society reported in 2016 that the combination of lowering LDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure had the potential to "dramatically reduce" a person's lifetime risk of cardiovascular disease.

Hypertension was a global healthcare issue, and was one of the strongest risk factors for almost all cardiovascular diseases.

The fact that it did not have obvious symptoms had lead doctors to call hypertension a “silent killer”, OptiBiotix explained.

Studies conducted in Europe and in the United States suggested that, under new hypertension guidelines, a large percentage of the adult population could be considered hypertensive, with some 14 million people in the UK and more than 100 million in the US falling into that category.

“We are delighted to announce this deal with Nutrilinea who are covering the cost of product development, manufacturing and human studies, for a food supplement to reduce blood pressure,” said OptiBiotix Health business development director Dr Luis Gosalbez.

“This broadens the use of LPLDL beyond cholesterol reduction and creates new market opportunities in the field of cardiovascular health.”

Dr Gosalbez described hypertension as a “global health issue”, which was on the rise where there were “very few” active ingredients or supplements proven to lower blood pressure in humans.

“The development of a hypertension product containing LPLDL has the potential to address a large global market of unmet clinical need.”