Member Info for AquaeSulis01

Concur totally Toyin, the acne results will be positive but we do need a partner to bear the marketing costs and make it a commercial success. Manprit mentioned at the last Investor Meets presentation that £100K had been spent on marketing for Axis-ps last year which doesn't look good against just £123K revenues although the high retention rates means at least it does not have to be repeated to maintain a stable user base, just to generate new customer interest, but does emphasise the need more a partner with deeper pockets.

Got enough to worry about with the companies already listed

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/market-news/suspension-first-class-metals-plc/16449565

Malco, if you bothered to read the Morepen related RNS you would realise this is the manufacturing agreement for the products that Dr Morepen will market and distribute financial details and timelines are ""We are pleased to announce this agreement with Morepen, a well-known and trusted supplier to pharmacies, physicians, and retail customers across India. Morepen brings an extensive sales team with experience of highly differentiated scientific products and countrywide access to a network of around 500,000 pharmacies across India. Based on current forecasts, the Directors anticipate this agreement could contribute in the region of £6-7 million revenue per annum in the next four to five years.""

Mol, let's nail the myth that the placing for just £1.3M gross was to keep the lights on, it was to:

"The net proceeds of the Fundraise will be utilised to invest in driving sales growth by:-

1. active account management of existing partners by co-investing in publicity, marketing, and promotions to increase sales;

2. increased presence of the Company's stands at major exhibitions to attract new partners, particularly in the USA and India to mitigate dependency on a small number of partners;

3. investing in marketing the Company's products to grow sales on e-commerce platforms in India, China, USA, Europe, and the Gulf States; and

4. launch its second generation SweetBiotix and MicroBiome Modulator products."

Note with regards point 3, we have subsequently been informed that "The Company intends to promote heavily on TikTok and Tmall in March and April 2024 with new stock and hope to have a clearer picture of likely regular monthly sales going forward after this period. A TikTok channel has been established in the UK with a view to emulating the success obtained with TikTok China. The Company's Amazon Europe sales channel is now active and the Company is working on ways to deliver products through Amazon Prime. The aim is to launch product on Amazon UAE in late Q1 2024 and Amazon India in early Q2 2024." Consequently, as the UK TikTok site has only just been established, give it time eh after all the TikTok site in China resulted in "E-commerce sales for 2023 were 287% up on 2022 driven by strong growth in China of gummies and large increases in Amazon Prime subscriptions. This progress led the consumer health business to profitability in October and November 2023. Gummy supply and sales in China vary between £20,000 to £50,000 per month partially moderated by stock availability and the Chinese New Year"

That said SOH really does not help himself by cherry picking figures and using them out of context. His statement that "In addition to founding and developing three companies, OptioBiotix layered its development portfolio by creating first generation products (principally SlimBiome® and subsequently WellBiome® in prebiotics and LPLDL® in probiotics) of relatively moderate development risk using existing science, whilst in parallel developing more innovative second-generation products (SweetBiotix®, MicroBiome Modulators) that offer the potential for larger future returns. This strategy allowed the Company to achieve combined revenues of £2.2m in 2021 with both the probiotic (now ProBiotix Health plc) and prebiotic trading businesses being EBITDA profitable in both years. " fails to recognise that the figures were artificially inflated because of Covid overstocking that led to the dreadful figures in 2022 where partners ran down their stocks instead of ordering more. If SOH wants to make a go of first gen products he needs to win over big Customers such as kelloggs which should not prove insurmountable given the obesity rates ar

Yes Andrew, we had the strategic and commercial update RNS in Feb. To help make sense of the meaningless percentages; THG took 3 metric tonnes in 2022 so the 36.8% higher uptake in 2023 represents sales of £123K. Can't help you with the H&B figures as no sales took place to them in 2022 so "sales up substantially" could mean anything.

Progress against the stated aim for 2023, each B/U (India, US, B2B and e-Commerce) to be profitable by the end 2023 at least on a month by month basis; B2B and e-Commerce achieved profitability, at least for a month or two, the others didn't.

Sweetbiotix - The Company has included SweetBiotix® in a finished product for a large global partner with a view for an upcoming launch. The Company hopes to see SweetBiotix® in an increasing number of products launched throughout 2024. SOH added in response to a question I raised through TW, "We still intend to launch sweetbiotix as a bulk sugar replacement. These two approaches are not mutually exclusive. We have been surprised and somewhat pleased that progress has been made so quickly with a large corporate in terms of inclusion in a final product."

My wife has been smoking for over 50 years and also hasn't had any side effects yet but not sure that should reassure anyone about the impact of cigarettes. The bottom line is that as LPLDL is clinically proven to lower cholesterol on its own, why persevere with a product containing red yeast at levels considered unsafe by other jurisdictions?

"Q. My bad cholesterol has been rising, and my doctor suggested that I start taking a statin. I've read that red yeast rice has many of the cholesterol-lowering benefits of a statin, and I would rather go the natural route. However, I recently heard on a newscast that red yeast rice can have adverse effects on the kidneys. Is it still safe for me to take this supplement?

A. It's true that red yeast rice, which contains monacolin K, a chemical that's identical to the active ingredient in the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin (Mevacor), may reduce your LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower your total cholesterol. However, an independent analysis of a dozen 600-milligram (mg) capsules of red yeast rice products conducted a few years ago found that the actual monacolin K content varied widely — from 0.1 mg to 10.9 mg. (The lowest dose of lovastatin is 20 mg.) In addition, one-third of the products were contaminated with a potentially toxic compound called citrinin, which can damage the kidneys. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has blocked the sale of red yeast rice supplements that contain enough of the active ingredient to make them as effective as lovastatin because they haven't undergone the drug approval process. Unlike FDA-approved drugs, supplements can be sold without proof of effectiveness and purity."

https://www.health.harvard.edu/cholesterol/can-i-use-red-yeast-rice-instead-of-a-statin-to-lower-my-cholesterol

Good results from l'Oreal today and of particular note "All Divisions grew with stellar performances from the Consumer Products and Dermatological Beauty Divisions" so the Consumer appetite is certainly there for quality ingredients and products.

https://www.loreal-finance.com/eng/news-release/first-quarter-2024-sales

Clerical error by someone

Strange thacquision/disposal box is marked tgen

At an added cost of just 3p per box Slimbiome should not be an irrelevance if the right deal is struct with a Customer such as Kellogg's and with all the science behind it why is it proving so difficult? The indian partner Dr Morepen obviously sees the benefits and will help to make Slimbiome relevant once launched.

The Sweetbiotix Opportunity with Kelloggs is there for all to see.

Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, Rice Crispies, Coco Pops and Frosties are very high in sugar and the 4th, 6th, 8th and 9th best sellers accounting for 16.2M Consumers or 194.4M boxes of cereal all high in sugar content, surely these must all be at the front of the queue for a sugar substitute classified as a healthy fibre rather than an added sugar and the potential revenue for opti is staggering?

Also, frustrated that H&B Slimexpert porridge (contains slimbiome) has now been Out of Stock online and Instore for over 1 month now, I thought I would look at Kellogg's equivalent sachets but was horrified at the Sugar content once semi skinned milk was added (H&B already includes semi-skimmed milk powder so is made with added water). The kellogg's variety contains only half the fibre too. Comparisons are; Kelloggs Sugar - 15g, Fibre 2.6g, carbs 33g, salt 0.33g

H&B Sugar - 3.2g, Fibre 4.5g, carbs 15g, salt 0.19g.

Despite this, Kellogg's Oat So Simple range for 2022 was the third most popular Cereal with over 5M Consumers in the UK (see link 1), although with Kellogg's recently losing its Court Case with the Government which means Kellogg's will not be allowed to promote sugary cereals in supermarket special offers it may not remain in that position (see link2).

According to SOH Investor Meets Presentation on 24th May 2023, H&B took 9M tonne for all their products in the last normal trading year in 2020 (2021 Covid year was inflated by overstocking that led to zero orders in 2022).

SlimExpert range comprises shots, meal replacement shakes and porridge; assume even split between the three categories so at £30k per tonne 3 metrics tonne of porridge was used generating £90k revenue for the sale of boxes using 3g slimbiome at 30p per box suggesting 300,000 boxes sold for the year.

Kellogg has over 5M Consumers for their equivalent porridge so assuming 1 box per month consumed per consumer that is 60M boxes, so even if SOH was forced to accept a 50% cut in margin Opti would be looking at £9M in revenues increasing the fiber content and helping consumers feel satiated. My question is, as SOH has already been dealing with Kellogg for Sweetbiotix why has he been unable to cut a deal for Slimbiome?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/301914/leading-breakfast-cereal-brands-in-the-uk/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62034220

Just bought some myself and what you pay for is the additional fibre. Compared to Sainsbury's Be Good To yourself Tomato Soup the per sachet differences are as follows:

Sains - Carbohydrate - 13.6g, Sugars 5.9g, Fibre 1.1g, salt 1.02g

Opti - carbohydrate 10g, Sugars 6.0g, Fibre 4.4g, salt 0.38g

Already banned in US and heavily restricted in the EU, issues now raised in Japan. Amazed PBX still sells Cholbiome X3 in the UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-68662585

Yes Toyin technically t hey have it it currently involve s training the sales team, the sales team engaging with their clients to gain an understanding of demand at which point a RNS with a forecast will be issued and the products will be shipped supported by a high profile marketing campaign

Basically the Umesh Modi launch will be with a bang not a whimper when it happens

Available on Amazon in KSA since 2018 https://www.amazon.sa/-/en/Dermatonics-Once-Heel-Balm-60/dp/B0769QSMQK

When I asked the question at the Investor Meets about marketing support for the Pheet Dermatonics launch Stuart replied this had been discussed at length with Umesh Modi and as their Sales Force are trained will see increased high profile marketing campaign utilising TV and Journals

Also states will be sold under the Dermatonics brand in the rest of the world thus differentiating it from the Pheet & Dermatonic brand. Would Umesh Modi really start their launch in Saudia Arabia rather than their home market first?

Toyin, I believe the linked sales pre-date Umesh Modi, there is no Pheet branding on the product which is what I expect to see at the onset of production from the Induan partner. Also, by the time products hit the stores we can expect to have received forecast sales announced via a RNS.

Hi PG, agree with your summation. Regarding the optimism for the Umesh Modi deal, whilst I can't speak for elrico i can understand his optimism and confidence best summed up in this fictional GCSE Maths question, but as Manuel would say "I know nothing".

Maths GSCE Exam Question

We have two different market gurus who have vastly different views over the short to mid-term risk reward of Company A as opposed to Company B.

Guru UX is a strong supporter of Company A which has been forecasting the release of a game changing sugar substitute for a number of years but should be launching sometime in 2024 via an unnamed US Partner, who has achieved final scale-up, once regulatory hurdles have been cleared. Company A has also recently announced a deal with an Indian Company for the manufacture and marketing of their clinically proven Weight Management ingredient that is to go into a number of brand new products aimed primarily at the Indian market and expected to launch Jun 24. The Indian Company has 2,300 employees and sells over 800 products to over 82 countries but very few are to do with weight management. The Indian Company has produced a Business Case that suggests Company A can expect revenues of £1.2M in Year 1 rising to £6M by year 5 for an ingredient that contributed to last recorded revenues of £351K for H1 23.

Guru Manuel is a strong supporter of Company B which has been forecasting the release of a game changing skin product ingredient since 2021 but will be launching 2024 as confirmed by the FTSE 100 partner following the conclusion of Clinical Trials by early Jun 24. Company B has also recently announced the launch (Mar 24) of their newly acquired clinically proven Foot Balm product via a manufacture and marketing deal with an Indian Partner aimed primarily at the Indian market with named secondary markets across Asia and Africa. The Indian Company has over 10,000 employees, 1200 of which are directly involved in marketing and sales and are already familiar and experienced in selling similar medical products. Whilst the Indian partner will also have produced a Business Case with forecast sales the figures have not been released, Company B prefers to wait for more concrete figures once feedback from their extensive sales force has been received but last recorded revenues for the Foot Balm products for FY 24 was £1.86M

Assuming that full year revenue for the Company A weight management ingredient is the same as the additional revenue forecast from their Indian Partner at £1.2M (£2.4M representing 100% uplift for Year 1) you are required to produce two estimates for Company B’s revenue forecasts from their Indian Partner, one based on Company A’s optimistic figures for year 1 and year 5, with a second pessimistic forecast based on 50% of Company B’s foot balm revenue. You are to ignore the likelihood that Company B’s Partner’s sales force is likely 10 times the size of Company A’s sales force for the purpose of this e