OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2015. Venture Life (AIM: VLG), the international consumer products group addressing the self-care needs of the ageing population, announces that it has signed a letter of intent to enter a Strategic Development and Commercial Alliance ("the Alliance") with OptiBiotix Health plc ("OptiBiotix") (AIM: OPTI), a life sciencesbusiness developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes. The Alliance brings together Venture Life's formulation, manufacturing and international distribution capabilities and OptiBiotix's research and development expertise in developing microbiome modulators to improve health.

The Alliance will cover the following key activities:

The development by Venture Life of products from existing OptiBiotix intellectual property (microbiome actives or ingredients) in the form of registered food supplements or other over-the-counter ("OTC") products; ·     The development by OptiBiotix of new microbiome actives specific to disease areas agreed between the two parties, which would then be developed by Venture Life into products in the form of registered food supplements or other OTC products; and ·     The marketing and commercialisation of the developed products by Venture Life through its network of international distribution partners.

The two parties will enter a definitive legal agreement which sets out the commercial and financial terms of the Alliance. More information about the specific products will be provided in due course, but it is expected that the first products from the Alliance will be available to be marketed to distribution partners in 2016, subject to achieving timely product registration. 

Jerry Randall, Chief Executive Officer of Venture Life, said: "OptiBiotix operates in a very exciting and progressive area that has the potential to bring real health benefits. It has exciting product research programmes which we believe can be commercialised successfully through Venture Life's manufacturing, registration and international distribution capability.

Stephen O'Hara, Chief Executive Officer of OptiBiotix, said: "We are pleased to announce this Alliance with Venture Life and see a strong rationale for the businesses to work together based on the complementary nature of the infrastructure and the commonality of our target markets. Recent advances in OptiBiotix's technology platforms have broadened the range of product opportunities. We believe Venture Life's capabilities in formulating, manufacturing and distributing OTC products through its network of international distributors creates potential to bring new products to new markets earlier than anticipated. We are delighted to be working with Venture Life to exploit the potential of OptiBiotix's technology platforms to develop food supplements and OTC products."