Optibiotix Health Share Discussion Threads

[kreature] 10/7/2020 09:51

‘ The secret may lie in a hairy-looking sugar coating bacteria ‘

I think I heard that one the other day

[manc10] 10/7/2020 09:39

SweetBiotix® are patented, natural, low calorie alternatives to sugar.

Made from natural prebiotic fibres SweetBiotix® are calorie free with a clean flavour profile. Products under development include both intense prebiotic sweeteners and bulk sugar substitutes, suitable for wide range of sugar replacement applications in food and beverages.

An innovative dietary fibre concept, SweetBiotix® have the potential to address public health concerns over the impact of sugar on obesity, with the prospect of replacing ‘unhealthyR17; sugars in existing products with low calorie, healthy non-digestible fibres.

How sweet is SweetBiotix®?

The Flavour and Sensory Science Centre at the University of Reading carried out a recent study. Six SweetBiotix® customised oligosaccharides developed from high intensity sweeteners were compared to sucrose. The study used a trained expert panel of ten experienced panellists and demonstrated:

The customised oligosaccharides showed sweetness of between 140X and 223X that of sucrose at equivalent concentrations
Customised oligosaccharides derived from Stevia showed a large reduction in bitterness whilst not affecting its sweetness
The global sweetener market, currently dominated by sugar, is forecast to reach $112bn by 2022 (Mordor Intelligence, 2017).

[manc10] 10/7/2020 09:38

A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has examined the importance of daytime-dependent fluctuations of the gut microbiome in relation to type 2 diabetes. Their study is one of the largest studies related to microbiomes and diabetes, encompassing more than 4,000 participants.

The study was recently published in Cell Host & Microbe in a paper titled, “Arrhythmic Gut Microbiome Signatures Predict Risk of Type 2 Diabetes,” and led by Dirk Haller, PhD, professor for nutrition and immunology at TUM.

“When certain gut bacteria do not follow a day-night rhythm, so if their number and function do not change over the course of the day, this can be an indicator for a potential type 2 diabetes disease. Knowing this can improve diagnosis and outlook of type 2 diabetes,” explained Silke Kiessling, PhD, chronobiologist and co-author.

Arrhythmic bacteria are a marker for potential disease. “Mathematical models also show that this microbial risk signature consisting of arrhythmic bacteria helps to diagnose diabetes,” explained Sandra Reitmeier, first author on the study.

The researchers analyzed data from an existing independent cohort by Helmholtz Zentrum München. “By comparing our data to cohorts in England, we could confirm that there is—among other things—a strong regional factor affecting the microbial ecosystem. Therefore, there is a demand for finding locally specified arrhythmic risk signatures,” stated Haller.


“We demonstrate in 1,976 subjects of a German population cohort (KORA) that specific microbiota members show 24-h oscillations in their relative abundance and identified 13 taxa with disrupted rhythmicity in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Cross-validated prediction models based on this signature similarly classified T2D. In an independent cohort (FoCus), disruption of microbial oscillation and the model for T2D classification was confirmed in 1,363 subjects. This arrhythmic risk signature was able to predict T2D in 699 KORA subjects five years after initial sampling, being most effective in combination with BMI. Shotgun metagenomic analysis functionally linked 26 metabolic pathways to the diurnal oscillation of gut bacteria. Thus, a cohort-specific risk pattern of arrhythmic taxa enables classification and prediction of T2D, suggesting a functional link between circadian rhythms and the microbiome in metabolic diseases,” the researchers wrote.

Haller noted, that “apart from bacteria and their variations over the course of the day, other parameters such as the body mass index play a role in being able to better predict a person’s future medical conditions.”

[manc10] 10/7/2020 09:36

The adage “all things in moderation” applies not to just to food and drink, but also to the legions of bacteria inside our guts helping us digest that food and drink. It turns out the rule may also extend to the lesser understood bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect the bacteria living inside us. Like Russian nesting dolls, our bodies host close to 100 trillion bacterial cells that make up our microbiomes—and those bacterial cells have their own inhabitants.

“We’re appreciating more and more that the most abundant microbial entities in the human gut are actually viruses,” says Eric Martens, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan’s Medical School. His team has been exploring the puzzling way bacteria and their viruses appear to coexist inside the human gut. The secret may lie in a hairy-looking sugar coating bacteria used to defend not only against attacks from the human immune system, but also from various viruses seeking a way in.

Using a common gut bacteria Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, or BT for short, Martens’ team began to look at the complex interaction between BT and viruses, by pitting them against each other in the lab.

When challenged with viruses, or phages, collected from waste water, some of the bacteria were able to resist infection while some were not. “When a particular phage comes along that can kill certain members of the population, it does so and the resistant bacteria quickly grow out,” says Martens.

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However, instead of permanently altering the receptor that allowed the viral penetration, and potentially harming itself, some of the bacteria temporarily turn on a resistant state through a reversible process called a phase variation. But some of members of the bacterial population, unaware of the phage’s continued presence, turn off this resistance switch, leaving them susceptible to infection…and on and on.

The team genetically engineered the BT strain to express just one of eight chemically-distinct capsules and a version with no coating at all. In all cases, infection could be blocked by some, but not all, of the capsules. Surprisingly, the researchers noted that the bald bacteria were also able to evade infection. “We were intrigued to see we could take away all of the capsules and still infect it with these phages and the bacteria could still survive, which necessitates that they have a backup mechanism in place,” Martens says.

eric martens photo
"We’re appreciating more and more that the most abundant microbial entities in the human gut are actually viruses."
Eric Martens, Ph.D.
The interplay between the gut microbiome and their phages could have implications for human disease. “One of our hypotheses is that individuals carry different types of viral loads in their guts. Some could be more or less immunogenic, interacting with our immune system to cause inflammation. But they also might modify the physiology of the bacteria that are there by forcing them to express certain functions/capsules that we also know interact with the immune system,” says Martens.

He says the study helps explain this age old observation that these bacteria coexist with their viruses. Notes Martens, “Neither side necessarily wins out over the other.” As such, bacterial viruses could offer a way of beneficially altering the gut microbiome for the treatment of disease.

The paper’s first authors are Nathan Porter and Andrew Hryckowian and is published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

[rayrac] 10/7/2020 08:45

5) CEO says the following :- "The sugars will come much later that's really cutting edge science and that's where the biggest opportunity is". In other words, their biggest market is still light years away. Investors should expect plenty of dilutive placings in the next few years.

But Cadbury have cracked the science apparently, and using it!

[buywell3] 10/7/2020 08:15

Lest we forget





In my view, this interview with Opti's CEO throws up a number of red flags whilst the company is valued at £55m but yet to produce any revenues:-



1) Note how often the CEO refers to the share price. CEO should be talking about revenues and profits not the share price. Needless to say, not once are revenues and potential profits mentioned.

2) He appears to think that because peer group companies are highly over-valued then OptiBiotix shares should be highly over-valued too. Ridiculous. It just means the whole sector may be due a nasty surprise.

3) The CEO mentions the whole market opportunity but never once tells investors what slice OptiBiotix are likely to achieve.

4) He keeps referring to growth, but what does he mean since no dates are given regarding revenues let alone profits. What company growth has been achieved then? Headcount and outgoings?

5) CEO says the following :- "The sugars will come much later that's really cutting edge science and that's where the biggest opportunity is". In other words, their biggest market is still light years away. Investors should expect plenty of dilutive placings in the next few years.

6) The first market that they are going to address is the over the counter supplements market. This is a market that is already massively over-crowded. Marketing spend would be huge just to make the slightest penetration.

7) He recognises that Asian markets are a problem. They will just pinch the IP without so much as a by-your-leave.

I notice that investors were getting over-excited about a sugar tax today. LOL. See point (5).

Revenues and profits are years away yet, and the company is valued at £55m. Who knows what will happen to the share price in the short term, but if I'd made a decent profit already I'd take it off the table because the slightest smell of missed deadlines, disappointments and/or delays with soon smash the share price. There is no margin of safety.

Investors will need a constant flow of jam tomorrow RNS's and continued ramping to keep the share price moving forward. Otherwise...............

[rayrac] 10/7/2020 08:09

And even the coin thread has lost its voice. They feel trouble lies ahead?

[rayrac] 10/7/2020 07:44

Yes, perhaps they have found a policy of non communication with the democratic threads, might serve them better? Or the pied piper has lost his flute?

Mank’s in quarantine for spouting rubbish? Sentiment hasn’t exactly improved towards Opti lately, despite all that rubbish.

[kreature] 10/7/2020 07:19

feels like support has gone without manc. There was some excellent info there on micro biomes in general

[rayrac] 09/7/2020 23:02

Has anyone been asking for coin’s lately. Demand for them seems to have faded away..like the sp?

Don’t think I’ll bother, not even afterwards. Now I’ve even got Supersaver bothering me with their slimming products! Too competitive a market for me

[spartan attack] 09/7/2020 22:42

Interesting one. I’m sure if you email SoH and ask him, he will tell you 😂😂😂😂

[kreature] 09/7/2020 20:55

Would Opti be allowed to sell more sbtx shares before an sbtx placing, or would they need to leave a 30 day gap ? Just considering buying shares over there (afterwards)