Curious about how clinical research can revolutionize the complementary medicine industry? On this episode of ASX Briefs, we sit down with Blair Vega Norfolk, the visionary Founder and Managing Director of Biome Australia. Blair's inspiring journey from struggling with autoimmune diseases to establishing Biome in 2018 underscores his commitment to science-driven product development over fleeting industry trends. Learn how Biome has rapidly ascended to success with their ambitious Vision 27 strategic plan, aiming for substantial revenue growth through innovative distribution and educational initiatives. Blair also unveils their groundbreaking Biome Cholesterol Probiotic, emphasizing the critical role of clinical data in maintaining their competitive edge.
Discover how Biome Australia is setting its sights on the global stage, with promising ventures in the UK, Ireland, Europe, and North America. Blair offers valuable insights into their lean and cost-effective approach to international expansion. Additionally, get a sneak peek into the promising results from clinical trials for products like Biome Lift, Biome Osteo, and Biome Kids. With potential benefits ranging from improved mood to reduced bone density loss, these innovations are poised to bolster Biome's credibility and market presence. Tune in for an in-depth look at how Biome Australia aims to revolutionize the complementary medicine industry through clinically proven products and strategic growth initiatives.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Andrew Musgrave (00:02):
Welcome to another episode of ASX Briefs,
and joining me today is BlairVega Norfolk, the Founder and
Managing Director of BiomeAustralia, a company that has
seen remarkable growth andinnovation, particularly with
its flagship range, ActivatedProbiotics.
The company's Vision 27strategic plan aims for an
ambitious revenue target overthe next three years, signalling
(00:25):
their intent to become a globalleader in the complementary
medicine industry.
Blair, thanks for joining metoday and welcome to the podcast
.
Blair Vega Norfolk (00:31):
Thank you for having me.
Pleased to be here today.
Andrew Musgrave (00:33):
Excellent.
Now can we just start bygetting an overview of the
history of Biome.
Blair Vega Norfolk (00:38):
So Biome Australia was founded in July
2018.
However, what many people don'tknow is the journey from
founding.
I suppose my time in thiscompany and in the industry was
back in 2013.
So, after completing my MBA anddoing some work consulting, I
started to experience some of myown personal health challenges,
working while dealing withautoimmune diseases.
(00:59):
So after being diagnosed withmy second one, I started looking
into solving my own selfishproblems, and that led me down
the pathway of, you know,getting involved in clinical
research rather than going backto university again.
And off the back of thatdiscovery journey and getting
deeply involved in research, wefounded Biome Australia and
after many years already workingin the nutraceutical space
(01:22):
prior to Biome, we decided tomove into the world of
probiotics because that's wherethe research led us, not because
of industry trends, becausethose products were most
effective and seemed to havereally meaningful benefits for
patients that were currently notmet by the existing
pharmaceutical interventions or,I suppose, other complementary
(01:42):
medicines.
So Biome was founded off theback of clinical research.
There is one story I love totell.
The first clinical trial we gotdragged into was one a
pediatric allergic asthma trial,so children with asthma, a
specific strain of bacteria thatwe now use in our Biome Breathe
, our asthma probiotic.
It's called calledlactobacillus lsr salivarius
(02:04):
LSO1.
I was put through a study on440 children.
220 took the probiotic, 220 onplacebo.
We saw a 64 reduction in asthmaattacks.
So 64 less asthma attacks andthe idea that you could
potentially save a child's life.
So for us we just went straightdown the rabbit hole and saw
this is too incredible to notlook into more and to not
(02:26):
continue to be a sort of aleader in the world of live
biotherapeutics and probiotics.
That fast forwarded us to 2019,when we launched our brand
Activator Probiotics.
Andrew Musgrave (02:37):
Okay, and the company has set an ambitious
revenue target as part of yourVision 27 strategic plan, which
is a significant leap from theprevious three-year plan.
So can you walk us through thekey components of this strategy
and how you plan to achieve suchremarkable growth?
Blair Vega Norfolk (02:53):
Well, I can and I can't.
So we've got our Vision 27,which is our three-year
strategic plan, that this isattached to, being released to
the market this quarter.
So that will come soon forpeople to be able to review.
But what I can say is the lastthree years we've sort of
averaged around 80% growth yearon year.
If you do the maths on that,you know this plan is fairly
conservative based on growthnumbers and the fact we've
(03:14):
shared to the market.
We expect to be able tocontinue delivering strong
growth.
So what I can give is a bit ofa back of the envelope on where
the business is at and where weexpect to get to.
So right now we have roughly 5000 distribution points in
australia, which is a mix ofpharmacies and independent
health practitioners which areeither doctors or, say,
(03:35):
naturopaths in private practice.
We've developed about 25 to 30%of that market.
So we believe we can three,three and a half or potentially
four X our current revenue justby developing those accounts and
spending more time doingeducation and training.
We also have an opportunity todouble down our addressable
(03:55):
distribution market to about 80%of the Australian market, which
would be about 10,000distribution points, which again
would show significant upliftand I would say would be well
beyond the range of thatcumulative 75 to $85 million
three-year revenue target.
But to explain our business andhow we will get there, we're not
(04:16):
a marketing company.
We do research and we do deepdive in education with health
professionals.
So our team of health qualifiedreps, or practitioner education
consultants, go around indetail pharmacists, naturopaths,
doctors, medical professionals.
We gain their trust.
We explain the clinical trials.
We then essentially recruitthem to be recommending these
(04:38):
products to their patients andto consumers.
And that recommendation of theroughly 20,000 health
professionals working throughthose 5,000 distribution points
is very, very powerful.
You know it's trust and thatrecommendation tends to support
very sticky revenue, repeatpurchase.
And you know we see a biggrowth opportunity left within
(05:00):
the Australian market before weeven talk about overseas.
Andrew Musgrave (05:03):
Okay, and the company has recently launched
the Biome Cholesterol Probiotic,supported by strong clinical
data.
So what role does productinnovation play in your growth
strategy and how do you see thisnew product contributing to
Biome's market position?
Blair Vega Norfolk (05:23):
It's a really good question.
So you know, the first thingI'd go out and say is we have 18
products.
I'd say about 14 are clinicallyproven products, which is
something that doesn't exist inthe market outside of Biome.
So that is drug-style clinicalresearch which is peer-reviewed,
independently peer-reviewed andpublished on diseases and
conditions.
So that's a key point ofdifference of Biome.
But because we have A10products, not one product is
(05:44):
going to be the significantdriver of our sales.
We like to share that.
Our products range fromanywhere from about 3.5% to 8%
as a contributor to total sales.
So it's a really good mix.
Having said Biome Cholesterol,it is the biggest market for
drugs.
So the top three drugs on thePBS are all statins which are
(06:04):
cholesterol-lowering or reducingmedications.
Looking at long-term hearthealth indications or support
for Australians, it is thelargest killer as well in
Australia different heartdiseases and heart conditions.
So Biome Cholesterol has fourpublished clinical trials.
Two is the standalone, showingit significantly reduces um the
forms of cholesterol you wantreduced.
(06:25):
And then two clinical trialsused as an adjunct or alongside
statins, reducing their sideeffects, improving their
effectiveness in reducingcholesterol.
So it is a really big market.
We do expect this product to besuccessful.
We think it'll be at least 5%of our total sales.
You know one of 18 products,but there's a good chance it
might be you know a top two orthree product being.
(06:46):
We do really work to promotethe products being recommended
by our health professionalsalongside medications.
So with that in mind, we expectbig things from bone
cholesterol.
Andrew Musgrave (06:59):
Okay, and the company has expanded
internationally, with a presencenow in the UK, Ireland and New
Zealand.
So what challenges have youfaced during this expansion and
what markets do you see as thenext key opportunities for the
company?
Blair Vega Norfolk (07:13):
Yeah, I think it's a really good
question.
So look, expanding overseas isusually a shock for Australian
companies.
You think you're trying toreplicate what you do locally.
So we've taken a very differentapproach.
We've had the benefit ofsitting from the sidelines the
last five or six years, buildingour local business, watching
some of the bigger complementarymedicine companies albeit
Swisse or Blackmores or otherstrying to develop international
(07:35):
markets and having certainresistance on certain topics.
So what we do is we go out andwe do a very lean, low cost test
market launch in these newcountries.
So I'll use the UK and Irelandas the example.
About two and a half years agowe went out, we recruited a
couple of sales and educationreps on the road and they were
reporting into head office inMelbourne.
(07:56):
So what we do is we run a verylean model which is very much
close to break-even, if notabove break-even, in that market
or in that territory, and wedevelop the professional market.
We go and detail doctors,pharmacists, natural medicine
professionals to gain theirtrust.
Once we see enough sales volumeand not until then, once it's
been de-risked, then we considergoing to health retail, which
(08:19):
is, say, the pharmacies or thehealth food shops, which is a
more expensive launch, ratherthan going in there day one.
Say you know, imagine going toAmerica and launching into Whole
Foods or into CVS Pharmacy.
You're looking at a you know,$30, $40 million market entry
strategy with a lot of it goinginto marketing and sales support
.
Versus what Biome does is we'regoing just for the professional
(08:40):
market.
The marketing dollars are closeto nothing.
It's just a human resourcingupdate, and a fairly lean one in
that we're only recruitingsales and education staff, with
all the support and sharedservices coming from the
Melbourne office.
So we did that.
Two and a half years in.
We then decided to launch intohealth retail in the UK and
Ireland, so that is pharmaciesand health food shops.
That early stage rollout beingit's only seven months in is
(09:05):
going well.
We reported 95% growth ininternational markets for FY24.
Future markets will beexpanding through the rest of
European territories.
So we see Europe as obviouslyvery unique sub markets through
different countries, differentcultures and different languages
.
But our head office in the UKwill support small teams of
(09:26):
sales reps across differentpharmacy and practitioner
markets around Europe.
And then, as we shared with theASX toward the end of FY24,
we've now got our Health Canadaapproval.
So while we haven't given aninitial plan or market timeline
launch, the writing's on thewall that that will be the
initial North American launchplan for Biome.
Andrew Musgrave (09:51):
Okay, and the company is currently running
several clinical trials,including studies on Biome Lift,
Biome Osteo and Biome Kids.
So how important are thesetrials in reinforcing the
credibility of your products andcan you share any preliminary
findings?
Blair Vega Norfolk (10:07):
Okay, look, you're very well read on our
company.
I'll have to give you thatcompliment.
But yeah, so these threeclinical trials have been
underway for some time.
First point I'll add is all ofthose three products Biome Lift,
Biome Osteo and Biome DailyKids are already selling on
market and have been for severalyears, so we don't need these
clinical trials.
These clinical trials are avalue add.
(10:29):
It's not a, it's not a binaryevent.
If they failed we wouldn't havea problem.
Obviously, we don't want themto fail, we want them to go very
well.
The Biome Lift clinical trialhas concluded.
That's the third clinical trialon Biome Lift.
The reason why we did this is wehad an opportunity with La
Trobe University in Melbournewho were very interested in
studying depression, orsub-threshold depression in this
(10:50):
case.
That product had already beenclinically proven to improve
depressed mood, anger, stressand fatigue in healthy people.
Initially it was studied bylooking at medical students
going through their exams, so astressful period in a healthy
population.
The follow-up study on that wasin the US.
(11:10):
We looked at anxiety and thathad really strong results.
That's since been published andthe third trial is concluded.
We have preliminary results.
We're just waiting forpublication.
So when that's published,hopefully any day now we'll be
sharing that with the market.
Biome Osteo that's the secondfollow-up study on the first.
That was hugely successful.
So the first study on BiomeOsteo showed a 78% reduction in
(11:34):
the rate of bone density loss inpostmenopausal females.
So that's the high-riskpopulation for developing
osteoporosis in later life.
That was since peer-reviewedand published by the Lancet for
Rheumatology, if not one of theworld's leading medical journals
.
The follow-up study on that.
It's a later stage ofpopulation on osteopenia.
So people that are no longerhealthy, that are halfway to
(11:57):
osteoporosis.
If we can show a really goodoutcome in that study which we
should have some preliminaryfindings this financial year, if
not final findings thisfinancial year it'll be a really
, really strong case for lookingat that product, possibly as a
drug one day, but if not, atleast with further data to
support medical professionalsusing this as a prevention and
(12:18):
also acute care for patientsalongside their pharmaceutical
medications.
Finally, Biome Daily Kids Studywith Federation University.
This one has completed.
We're just awaiting finalresults as well.
So this was completed by a PhDcandidate looking at children in
childcare centres.
So again, it's our secondbest-selling product.
It already works.
It's got great marketacceptance for kids with
(12:41):
gastrointestinal challenges,immune health support in winter
and also supporting tummy bugs,gastrointestinal bugs and also
cold administration withantibiotics.
This was looking to elevatethis product to a clinically
proven status.
It was one of our moregeneralist products and now it's
(13:02):
clinically proven, so we'lllook forward to sharing the
final results on that soon.
I don't have a final date, butI know the trial is being
written up at the moment sowe'll have final on that.
Then there are another three orfour studies we haven't
announced yet which we'll beable to share with the market
soon.
Andrew Musgrave (13:25):
Okay, and just to wrap things up, what are some
of the things that excite youmost about the future of Biome
over the next one to two years?
Blair Vega Norfolk (13:32):
Look, Biome's an impact-driven
business, Like we generally, youknow, believe and we have data
to show that our products arehelping people and in some cases
even saving lives.
So you know we love what we do.
We're a passionate group.
We have close to no competition, certainly no direct
competition, at a product level.
We've got, you know, we'vereached scale in pharmacy and
(13:52):
the brand Activated Probioticshas become a household name.
You know, a year and a half agoour brand or our sales were
completely driven by healthprofessional recommendations and
it's great that we couldachieve that.
But at some point, you know,the goal, the dream, was for
people to be coming in andasking for it and we're pleased
to say, over the last year and ahalf, the growth of our market
(14:13):
cap and share price has beenconsistent with the growth of
our, you know, customers walkinginto a pharmacy and asking for
the product.
So international growth,introducing the brand and the
products to new markets andhelping new patient populations,
new research, is what we'repassionate about because it
helps us have a competitiveadvantage and solve new problems
.
And now that we are above breakeven cash flow and EBITDA are
(14:39):
looking forward to, you know,continuing maintaining that to
build a sustainable, high-growth, profitable business that
really adds value for ourshareholders.
Andrew Musgrave (14:48):
Okay, Blair.
Well, thanks for your timetoday.
It's been great to chat andit's been a fantastic update on
the company, and we look forwardto further updates from Biome
in the upcoming months.
Blair Vega Norfolk (14:57):
My pleasure.
Thanks for having me today.
Andrew Musgrave (15:02):
That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs.
Don't forget to subscribe andwe look forward to catching you
on our next episode.
Welcome to another episode of ASX Briefs,
and joining me today is BlairVega Norfolk, the Founder and
Managing Director of BiomeAustralia, a company that has
seen remarkable growth andinnovation, particularly with
its flagship range, ActivatedProbiotics.
The company's Vision 27strategic plan aims for an
ambitious revenue target overthe next three years, signalling
(00:25):
their intent to become a globalleader in the complementary
medicine industry.
Blair, thanks for joining metoday and welcome to the podcast
.
Blair Vega Norfolk (00:31):
Thank you for having me.
Pleased to be here today.
Andrew Musgrave (00:33):
Excellent.
Now can we just start bygetting an overview of the
history of Biome.
Blair Vega Norfolk (00:38):
So Biome Australia was founded in July
2018.
However, what many people don'tknow is the journey from
founding.
I suppose my time in thiscompany and in the industry was
back in 2013.
So, after completing my MBA anddoing some work consulting, I
started to experience some of myown personal health challenges,
working while dealing withautoimmune diseases.
(00:59):
So after being diagnosed withmy second one, I started looking
into solving my own selfishproblems, and that led me down
the pathway of, you know,getting involved in clinical
research rather than going backto university again.
And off the back of thatdiscovery journey and getting
deeply involved in research, wefounded Biome Australia and
after many years already workingin the nutraceutical space
(01:22):
prior to Biome, we decided tomove into the world of
probiotics because that's wherethe research led us, not because
of industry trends, becausethose products were most
effective and seemed to havereally meaningful benefits for
patients that were currently notmet by the existing
pharmaceutical interventions or,I suppose, other complementary
(01:42):
medicines.
So Biome was founded off theback of clinical research.
There is one story I love totell.
The first clinical trial we gotdragged into was one a
pediatric allergic asthma trial,so children with asthma, a
specific strain of bacteria thatwe now use in our Biome Breathe
, our asthma probiotic.
It's called calledlactobacillus lsr salivarius
(02:04):
LSO1.
I was put through a study on440 children.
220 took the probiotic, 220 onplacebo.
We saw a 64 reduction in asthmaattacks.
So 64 less asthma attacks andthe idea that you could
potentially save a child's life.
So for us we just went straightdown the rabbit hole and saw
this is too incredible to notlook into more and to not
(02:26):
continue to be a sort of aleader in the world of live
biotherapeutics and probiotics.
That fast forwarded us to 2019,when we launched our brand
Activator Probiotics.
Andrew Musgrave (02:37):
Okay, and the company has set an ambitious
revenue target as part of yourVision 27 strategic plan, which
is a significant leap from theprevious three-year plan.
So can you walk us through thekey components of this strategy
and how you plan to achieve suchremarkable growth?
Blair Vega Norfolk (02:53):
Well, I can and I can't.
So we've got our Vision 27,which is our three-year
strategic plan, that this isattached to, being released to
the market this quarter.
So that will come soon forpeople to be able to review.
But what I can say is the lastthree years we've sort of
averaged around 80% growth yearon year.
If you do the maths on that,you know this plan is fairly
conservative based on growthnumbers and the fact we've
(03:14):
shared to the market.
We expect to be able tocontinue delivering strong
growth.
So what I can give is a bit ofa back of the envelope on where
the business is at and where weexpect to get to.
So right now we have roughly 5000 distribution points in
australia, which is a mix ofpharmacies and independent
health practitioners which areeither doctors or, say,
(03:35):
naturopaths in private practice.
We've developed about 25 to 30%of that market.
So we believe we can three,three and a half or potentially
four X our current revenue justby developing those accounts and
spending more time doingeducation and training.
We also have an opportunity todouble down our addressable
(03:55):
distribution market to about 80%of the Australian market, which
would be about 10,000distribution points, which again
would show significant upliftand I would say would be well
beyond the range of thatcumulative 75 to $85 million
three-year revenue target.
But to explain our business andhow we will get there, we're not
(04:16):
a marketing company.
We do research and we do deepdive in education with health
professionals.
So our team of health qualifiedreps, or practitioner education
consultants, go around indetail pharmacists, naturopaths,
doctors, medical professionals.
We gain their trust.
We explain the clinical trials.
We then essentially recruitthem to be recommending these
(04:38):
products to their patients andto consumers.
And that recommendation of theroughly 20,000 health
professionals working throughthose 5,000 distribution points
is very, very powerful.
You know it's trust and thatrecommendation tends to support
very sticky revenue, repeatpurchase.
And you know we see a biggrowth opportunity left within
(05:00):
the Australian market before weeven talk about overseas.
Andrew Musgrave (05:03):
Okay, and the company has recently launched
the Biome Cholesterol Probiotic,supported by strong clinical
data.
So what role does productinnovation play in your growth
strategy and how do you see thisnew product contributing to
Biome's market position?
Blair Vega Norfolk (05:23):
It's a really good question.
So you know, the first thingI'd go out and say is we have 18
products.
I'd say about 14 are clinicallyproven products, which is
something that doesn't exist inthe market outside of Biome.
So that is drug-style clinicalresearch which is peer-reviewed,
independently peer-reviewed andpublished on diseases and
conditions.
So that's a key point ofdifference of Biome.
But because we have A10products, not one product is
(05:44):
going to be the significantdriver of our sales.
We like to share that.
Our products range fromanywhere from about 3.5% to 8%
as a contributor to total sales.
So it's a really good mix.
Having said Biome Cholesterol,it is the biggest market for
drugs.
So the top three drugs on thePBS are all statins which are
(06:04):
cholesterol-lowering or reducingmedications.
Looking at long-term hearthealth indications or support
for Australians, it is thelargest killer as well in
Australia different heartdiseases and heart conditions.
So Biome Cholesterol has fourpublished clinical trials.
Two is the standalone, showingit significantly reduces um the
forms of cholesterol you wantreduced.
(06:25):
And then two clinical trialsused as an adjunct or alongside
statins, reducing their sideeffects, improving their
effectiveness in reducingcholesterol.
So it is a really big market.
We do expect this product to besuccessful.
We think it'll be at least 5%of our total sales.
You know one of 18 products,but there's a good chance it
might be you know a top two orthree product being.
(06:46):
We do really work to promotethe products being recommended
by our health professionalsalongside medications.
So with that in mind, we expectbig things from bone
cholesterol.
Andrew Musgrave (06:59):
Okay, and the company has expanded
internationally, with a presencenow in the UK, Ireland and New
Zealand.
So what challenges have youfaced during this expansion and
what markets do you see as thenext key opportunities for the
company?
Blair Vega Norfolk (07:13):
Yeah, I think it's a really good
question.
So look, expanding overseas isusually a shock for Australian
companies.
You think you're trying toreplicate what you do locally.
So we've taken a very differentapproach.
We've had the benefit ofsitting from the sidelines the
last five or six years, buildingour local business, watching
some of the bigger complementarymedicine companies albeit
Swisse or Blackmores or otherstrying to develop international
(07:35):
markets and having certainresistance on certain topics.
So what we do is we go out andwe do a very lean, low cost test
market launch in these newcountries.
So I'll use the UK and Irelandas the example.
About two and a half years agowe went out, we recruited a
couple of sales and educationreps on the road and they were
reporting into head office inMelbourne.
(07:56):
So what we do is we run a verylean model which is very much
close to break-even, if notabove break-even, in that market
or in that territory, and wedevelop the professional market.
We go and detail doctors,pharmacists, natural medicine
professionals to gain theirtrust.
Once we see enough sales volumeand not until then, once it's
been de-risked, then we considergoing to health retail, which
(08:19):
is, say, the pharmacies or thehealth food shops, which is a
more expensive launch, ratherthan going in there day one.
Say you know, imagine going toAmerica and launching into Whole
Foods or into CVS Pharmacy.
You're looking at a you know,$30, $40 million market entry
strategy with a lot of it goinginto marketing and sales support
.
Versus what Biome does is we'regoing just for the professional
(08:40):
market.
The marketing dollars are closeto nothing.
It's just a human resourcingupdate, and a fairly lean one in
that we're only recruitingsales and education staff, with
all the support and sharedservices coming from the
Melbourne office.
So we did that.
Two and a half years in.
We then decided to launch intohealth retail in the UK and
Ireland, so that is pharmaciesand health food shops.
That early stage rollout beingit's only seven months in is
(09:05):
going well.
We reported 95% growth ininternational markets for FY24.
Future markets will beexpanding through the rest of
European territories.
So we see Europe as obviouslyvery unique sub markets through
different countries, differentcultures and different languages
.
But our head office in the UKwill support small teams of
(09:26):
sales reps across differentpharmacy and practitioner
markets around Europe.
And then, as we shared with theASX toward the end of FY24,
we've now got our Health Canadaapproval.
So while we haven't given aninitial plan or market timeline
launch, the writing's on thewall that that will be the
initial North American launchplan for Biome.
Andrew Musgrave (09:51):
Okay, and the company is currently running
several clinical trials,including studies on Biome Lift,
Biome Osteo and Biome Kids.
So how important are thesetrials in reinforcing the
credibility of your products andcan you share any preliminary
findings?
Blair Vega Norfolk (10:07):
Okay, look, you're very well read on our
company.
I'll have to give you thatcompliment.
But yeah, so these threeclinical trials have been
underway for some time.
First point I'll add is all ofthose three products Biome Lift,
Biome Osteo and Biome DailyKids are already selling on
market and have been for severalyears, so we don't need these
clinical trials.
These clinical trials are avalue add.
(10:29):
It's not a, it's not a binaryevent.
If they failed we wouldn't havea problem.
Obviously, we don't want themto fail, we want them to go very
well.
The Biome Lift clinical trialhas concluded.
That's the third clinical trialon Biome Lift.
The reason why we did this is wehad an opportunity with La
Trobe University in Melbournewho were very interested in
studying depression, orsub-threshold depression in this
(10:50):
case.
That product had already beenclinically proven to improve
depressed mood, anger, stressand fatigue in healthy people.
Initially it was studied bylooking at medical students
going through their exams, so astressful period in a healthy
population.
The follow-up study on that wasin the US.
(11:10):
We looked at anxiety and thathad really strong results.
That's since been published andthe third trial is concluded.
We have preliminary results.
We're just waiting forpublication.
So when that's published,hopefully any day now we'll be
sharing that with the market.
Biome Osteo that's the secondfollow-up study on the first.
That was hugely successful.
So the first study on BiomeOsteo showed a 78% reduction in
(11:34):
the rate of bone density loss inpostmenopausal females.
So that's the high-riskpopulation for developing
osteoporosis in later life.
That was since peer-reviewedand published by the Lancet for
Rheumatology, if not one of theworld's leading medical journals
.
The follow-up study on that.
It's a later stage ofpopulation on osteopenia.
So people that are no longerhealthy, that are halfway to
(11:57):
osteoporosis.
If we can show a really goodoutcome in that study which we
should have some preliminaryfindings this financial year, if
not final findings thisfinancial year it'll be a really
, really strong case for lookingat that product, possibly as a
drug one day, but if not, atleast with further data to
support medical professionalsusing this as a prevention and
(12:18):
also acute care for patientsalongside their pharmaceutical
medications.
Finally, Biome Daily Kids Studywith Federation University.
This one has completed.
We're just awaiting finalresults as well.
So this was completed by a PhDcandidate looking at children in
childcare centres.
So again, it's our secondbest-selling product.
It already works.
It's got great marketacceptance for kids with
(12:41):
gastrointestinal challenges,immune health support in winter
and also supporting tummy bugs,gastrointestinal bugs and also
cold administration withantibiotics.
This was looking to elevatethis product to a clinically
proven status.
It was one of our moregeneralist products and now it's
(13:02):
clinically proven, so we'lllook forward to sharing the
final results on that soon.
I don't have a final date, butI know the trial is being
written up at the moment sowe'll have final on that.
Then there are another three orfour studies we haven't
announced yet which we'll beable to share with the market
soon.
Andrew Musgrave (13:25):
Okay, and just to wrap things up, what are some
of the things that excite youmost about the future of Biome
over the next one to two years?
Blair Vega Norfolk (13:32):
Look, Biome's an impact-driven
business, Like we generally, youknow, believe and we have data
to show that our products arehelping people and in some cases
even saving lives.
So you know we love what we do.
We're a passionate group.
We have close to no competition, certainly no direct
competition, at a product level.
We've got, you know, we'vereached scale in pharmacy and
(13:52):
the brand Activated Probioticshas become a household name.
You know, a year and a half agoour brand or our sales were
completely driven by healthprofessional recommendations and
it's great that we couldachieve that.
But at some point, you know,the goal, the dream, was for
people to be coming in andasking for it and we're pleased
to say, over the last year and ahalf, the growth of our market
(14:13):
cap and share price has beenconsistent with the growth of
our, you know, customers walkinginto a pharmacy and asking for
the product.
So international growth,introducing the brand and the
products to new markets andhelping new patient populations,
new research, is what we'repassionate about because it
helps us have a competitiveadvantage and solve new problems
.
And now that we are above breakeven cash flow and EBITDA are
(14:39):
looking forward to, you know,continuing maintaining that to
build a sustainable, high-growth, profitable business that
really adds value for ourshareholders.
Andrew Musgrave (14:48):
Okay, Blair.
Well, thanks for your timetoday.
It's been great to chat andit's been a fantastic update on
the company, and we look forwardto further updates from Biome
in the upcoming months.
Blair Vega Norfolk (14:57):
My pleasure.
Thanks for having me today.
Andrew Musgrave (15:02):
That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs.
Don't forget to subscribe andwe look forward to catching you
on our next episode.
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