LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Life sciences company OptiBiotix Health has entered into a contract manufacturing agreement with Laboratoire PYC in France, it announced on Monday.
The AIM-traded firm said Laboratoire PYC develops, manufactures and packages private label food supplements, nutricosmetics and high protein and sport nutrition products.

It said it has more than 30 years of experience, and is part of the Solina Group, which has a turnover of around €450m.

The terms of the agreement granted Laboratoire PYC the exclusive rights to manufacture a new type of meal replacement shakes designed specifically to support the international expansion of OptiBiotix's own label 'GoFigure' consumer weight management brand.

The OptiBiotix board said the deal was another strategic step to de-risk its supply chain.

It said it built on the recent partnership with Fipros in Denmark to produce 'SlimBiome' under licence within the European Union, and created a source of supply of GoFigure products located within the EU, to support the international growth of the brand in Poland, in Malaysia and Singapore, and in Eastern Europe.

"We are very pleased to work with Laboratoire PYC to manufacture a new range of meal replacement shakes formulated with SlimBiome, and sold under the GoFigure brand," said Dr Fred Narbel, managing director of OptiBiotix's prebiotics division.

"The agreement helps us lower the cost of trade in case of a hard Brexit, supports our existing and future European distributors, and builds contingency into the supply chain - a key requirement from large retail partners who do not want to be single-sourced.

"In addition, Laboratoire PYC has a large portfolio of product formulations which can be formulated with SlimBiome, enabling us to increase the number of applications, extend our product range, and shorten the development of new GoFigure, 'SnackSmart' and 'SnackWell' products without incurring significant development costs."

At 1558 BST, shares in OptiBiotix Health were up 14.67% at 51.6p.

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