A YORK bio-tech business developing compounds to tackle obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and skincare says it is enjoying record online sales for its own-branded products.

OptiBiotix Health, based at the University of York Innovation Centre, puts this down to a better website, checkout and logistics leading to a 450 per cent surge in the online conversion rate (number of sales divided by number of visitors to site).

The company, founded in 2012, adds these sales have also been boosted by opening up new online channels including Amazon.

The firm now lists its SlimBiome® Medical and Gofigure® products on Amazon UK and Amazon Prime, Slimbiome® Medical on Amazon Germany (with Amazon Prime to follow) and Walmart USA.

It is now going through the process of listing products on Amazon India, Amazon UAE, and Amazon USA as part of the online internationalisation of its own-brand products and investment in marketing to support further sales growth.

Further product launches are planned around the world.

Stephen O’Hara, CEO, said: “We are making good progress on our aims of getting existing partners returning to forecast, bringing in new partners, particularly in the USA and Asia, and expanding e-commerce channels to grow online sales and reduce partner dependency.

“This is all part of plans for each business unit (USA, India, Ecommerce, B2B) to reach operational profitability, at least on a monthly basis by the end of the calendar year.

“The aim for the second half of the year is to continue our focus on managing costs, growing sales and closing out ongoing discussion with a number of larger partners across first and second generation products to ensure a return on investment from our expansion in our commercial and business development team.”

OptiBiotix says one of its partners has secured an international listing for products containing SlimBiome® with Costco, which is the fifth largest retailer in the world.

The company has also received a large initial order from a new partner of £116,000 for SlimBiome® from a contract manufacturer of a leading weight management and sports nutrition brand in the USA. It plans to launch sales in Europe this year and the USA in 2024.

Furthermore, OptiBiotix has since April signed agreements with four firms in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore for SlimBiome®. All are well-known specialist distributors, who have placed orders and shown strong interest in the product, a company statement added.