Skinbiotherap. Regulatory News (SBTX)

SkinBioTherapeutics plc

SkinBioTherapeutics announces a Commercial & Manufacturing Agreement with Speciality Chemical Company, Croda Plc

·; First commercial deal around SkinBioTherapeutics' SkinBiotix™ technology

·; Croda to design and manufacture a new active skincare ingredient based on SkinBiotix™ technology and investigate specific cosmetic ingredient applications to target

·; Croda is an international speciality chemical company supplying some of the world's biggest brands

Manchester, UK - 20 November 2019 - SkinBioTherapeutics plc (AIM: SBTX - "SkinBioTherapeutics" or the "Company"), a life sciences company focused on skin health, announces that it has signed a commercial agreement with Croda International Plc ("Croda"), the name behind high performance ingredients and technologies in some of the biggest, most successful brands in the world.

With turnover of c.£1.38bn and a market cap of £6.1bn, Croda is a FTSE 100 company using Smart Science to Improve Lives™. The group delivers innovative, sustainable ingredients across a range of industries: Personal Care, Life Sciences, Performance Technologies and Industrial Chemicals. A world leader in the field of skincare actives* for the cosmetic industry, Croda offers a wide range of ingredients for skin and hair care products that are sold to major cosmetic brands across the world.

Under the terms of the agreement, SkinBioTherapeutics' proprietary SkinBiotix™ platform will be paired with Croda's expertise in the development and commercialisation of unique, sustainable, cosmetic ingredients, focusing specifically on the growing skincare actives market. Sederma, part of Croda International, is a specialist in bioactive ingredients for the cosmetic industry, and will be responsible for the development, manufacturing and commercialisation of the SkinBiotix™ technology. As design and build of the active ingredient is carried out there will be concurrent testing in focussed application areas which will be detailed in further, additional agreements.

Any licensed products resulting from this agreement will be sold to Croda's global portfolio of Personal Care customers. SkinBioTherapeutics will be paid tiered royalties based on global sales revenues on any licensed products derived from the partnership which will be subsequently agreed on successful development of the technology.

Sales and distribution rights are for the cosmetic sector alone, leaving SkinBioTherapeutics to focus on further applications of its technology in other sectors.

*  Skincare actives have been scientifically proven to deliver their beneficial effects at a cellular level, providing a range of effects including to repair, rejuvenate, hydrate, protect and nourish in order to improve the quality of the skin.

Arnaud Fournial, Managing Director of Sederma, said:

"The SkinBiotix™ technology has a solid scientific foundation which attracted us in the first place. We believe the technology has the potential to become an essential and significant component of cosmetic products within the rapidly emerging skin microbiome market. We look forward to a fully collaborative partnership with the SkinBioTherapeutics team and to seeing SkinBiotix™ being embraced by our global partners as a key ingredient across a variety of products to protect and rejuvenate skin."

Dr Cath O'Neill, CSO of SkinBioTherapeutics, said:

"To have secured our first agreement with such a prestigious partner demonstrates the value of SkinBioTherapeutics' offering. This deal offers the potential for SkinBiotix™ to be incorporated into some of the world's biggest cosmetics brands, which was always the vision that we had for the technology. I am really pleased to have initiated the discussions and negotiations and to have worked with Stuart to get it to completion. This is an exciting step forward for SkinBioTherapeutics."

 Stuart Ashman, CEO of SkinBioTherapeutics, said:

"The focus of this year has been on commercialisation, therefore, we are delighted that the first announcement has been a significant deal with a world-leading company such as Croda and being able to utilise the expertise within Sederma. This partnership brings together our innovation in the microbiome space and Sederma's track record of developing world-class cosmetic ingredients. As we have stated before, we intend to build a significant portfolio around our core technology across multiple sectors to create further value for our shareholders - this deal with Croda is just the beginning."

- Ends -

The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 and has been arranged for release by Doug Quinn, CFO of the Company. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

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About SkinBioTherapeutics plc

SkinBioTherapeutics is a life science company focused on skin health. The Company's proprietary platform technology, SkinBiotix®, is based upon discoveries made by Dr. Catherine O'Neill and Professor Andrew McBain.

The Company has demonstrated, through scientific testing, that the SkinBiotix® platform can improve the barrier effect of skin models, protect from infection and repair wounds. Proof of principle studies have also shown that the SkinBiotix® platform has beneficial attributes applicable to each of these areas. The technology achieved positive results in clinical studies in human volunteers in early 2019.

The Company listed on AIM in April 2017 and is based in Manchester, UK. For more information, visit: www.skinbiotherapeutics.com.

About Croda International plc

Established in 1925, Croda is the name behind high performance ingredients and technologies in some of the world's biggest and most successful brands: creating, making and selling speciality chemicals that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere.

They have a network of over 4,500 passionate and committed employees, working together as one global team across manufacturing sites and offices in 38 countries. Croda is a FTSE100 company with a flexible structure that allows them to focus on developing and delivering innovative, sustainable ingredients that their customers can build on in: Personal Care, Health Care, Crop Care, Smart Materials, Energy Technologies, Home Care and Water and Industrial Specialities.

For more information, please visit: www.croda.com 

About Sederma

Founded in 1964, Sederma became a member of the Croda International Group in 1997. Sederma is dedicated to the development of active ingredients and in the creation of innovative concepts for cosmetics, based on the mastery of biotechnology, plant cell culture, fine chemistry and vegetal extraction. Sederma has developed a unique range of actives with substantiated efficacy for facial skin care, body care, sun care, hair care and men's care.

Sederma is actively committed to minimise its social and environmental impacts on its stakeholders without compromising innovation, quality and safety in line with Croda CSR strategy. All efforts have been put for many years to set-up a holistic view of doing Business by placing equal emphasis on the Planet, People and profit.

For more information, please visit: https://www.crodapersonalcare.com