This is how the Yorkshire life sciences business OptiBiotix Health is set to save lives of people with high cholesterol

OptiBiotix Health, which develops compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skincare, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, ProBiotix has published a third human volunteer study on its cholesterol reducing probiotic, Lactobacilus plantarum ECGC13110402, which is branded as LPLDL.

The statement said: "Previous studies have shown that LPLDL was safe and that the higher the starting level of cholesterol, the greater the cholesterol reduction.

"The aim of this study was to provide further data in a different population group of hypercholesterolemic adults. These subjects are most likely to benefit from a cholesterol reducing effect and the target population of greatest commercial interest group to partners exploring the potential of LPLD as an over the counter (OTC) natural consumer health product or drug biotherapeutic.

The study was a nine-week follow-up, single centre, double-blind, randomised, placebo controlled human intervention study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatments, active or placebo.

The results showed that at six weeks, when volunteers taking placebo were compared to those taking LPLDL, there were statistically significant changes to clinically important cardiovascular risk including a 34.2% reduction in total cholesterol and a 28.4% reduction in LDL cholesterol - known as bad cholesterol.

The statement added: "No safety, compliance, or tolerance issues were reported by volunteers during the study. The results of this independent, blinded study provide further evidence of the ability of LPLD to improve clinically important cardiovascular risk factors in volunteers with high levels of cholesterol."

Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: “We are really excited with the results of this study which show statistically significant reductions in a number of clinically important cardiovascular risk factors with no compliance, tolerance, or safety issues.

"These results, along with previous studies and customer feedback, suggest a potential role in the use of probiotics like LPLDL in individuals who have high levels of cholesterol who are unwilling or unable to tolerate existing treatments. Given the market opportunity and possible limitations of existing treatments, the commercial potential for LPLDL in isolation or in combination with existing approaches looks promising.”

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James Mitchinson