LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Life sciences business OptiBiotix Health announced on Wednesday that its wholly-owned subsidiary ProBiotix Health has signed a licencing agreement with Granja Pocha for the inclusion of its patented probiotic strain, 'LPLDL', into a functional yoghurt product in Uruguay.
The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the agreement, SACCO - which helped develop the yoghurt formulation - will supply ProBiotix's cholesterol and blood pressure-reducing probiotic strain lactobacillus plantarum, or LPLDL, under a non-exclusive licence to Granja Pocha for inclusion into fermented milk products, such as yoghurts, in Uruguay.

It said the aim would be to maximise the financial return for both Granja Pocha and ProBiotix, and added there were no minimum sales targets in the licencing agreement.

Granja Pocha was founded in 1980 in the main dairy basin of the R?o de la Plata, Juan Lacaze, department of Colonia, Uruguay.

OptiBiotix said that since 2013, it had sold products under the 'Colonial' brand, including dulce de leche, cheeses, and yoghurts.

Granja Pocha described itself as one of Uruguay's "largest and most respected" dairy producers.

"We are pleased to announce this agreement with Granja Pocha, which will expand LPLDL's presence into South America and extend its use into dairy products," said ProBiotix chief executive officer Steve Prescott.

"Granja Pocha was chosen as our partner to create a functional yoghurt containing LPLDL because of their technical expertise in dairy, track record of successfully launching new products, and extensive knowledge of the local market."

Prescott said the work carried out by Granja Pocha was a "significant milestone", as it extended the use of LPLDL into functional foods - in this case dairy - which could be replicated in other territories.

"Functional foods like this yoghurt containing ProBiotix's LPLDL provide a unique format for customer to receive the cholesterol reducing benefits of LPLDL and capitalises on a growing industry trend towards functional foods."

At 1341 GMT, shares in OptiBiotix Health were down 2.56% at 60.9p.

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