4 July 2018
Provexis plc
Directorate change
Provexis plc ('Provexis' or the 'Company'), the business that develops, licenses and sells the proprietary, scientifically-proven Fruitflow® heart-health functional food ingredient, is delighted to announce that Frédéric Boned has been appointed to the position of Non-executive Director with immediate effect.
Frédéric Boned, a Swiss and French national aged 40, is EMEA Vice President of DSM's Human Nutrition & Health business, a part of DSM Nutritional Products.
Frédéric brings a wealth of sales and marketing knowledge and expertise to the Company from a diverse working background. Frédéric has a chemical engineering degree from the Engineering School in Geneva, and an EMBA from the Business School of Lausanne. Frédéric first joined DSM in 2012, holding a variety of senior roles in DSM's Personal Care & Aroma Ingredients business including Director of Personal Care EMEA and Senior Director of Global Marketing and Innovation. Prior to DSM, Frédéric worked in the Flavour and Fragrance industries, holding several sales and marketing positions for over ten years at Givaudan.
Dawson Buck, Chairman of Provexis, commented:
'I am delighted to welcome Frédéric Boned to Provexis as a Non-executive Director. Frédéric's proven sales and marketing knowledge and expertise will help to drive Provexis and its core Fruitflow product forward, and we look forward to Frédéric's input as we progress the company's commercialisation strategy for its Fruitflow®+ Omega-3 dietary supplement product.
Frédéric's appointment reflects the continued strength of the long term relationship between Provexis and DSM, and the shared interest of both companies in seeking to maximise the commercial returns that can be achieved from Fruitflow.'
Provexis has a long-term Alliance Agreement with DSM Nutritional Products for its core Fruitflow® heart health ingredient, which has seen the Company collaborate with DSM to develop Fruitflow® in all major global markets through sales as an ingredient to brand owners in the food, beverage and dietary supplement categories. DSM Nutritional Products is a subsidiary of Royal DSM NV, a company listed on Euronext Amsterdam with a current market capitalisation in excess of €15bn.
DSM Venturing BV, the corporate venturing unit of Royal DSM NV, remains the Company's largest shareholder with an interest in 143,769,230 ordinary shares representing 7.6 per cent of the Company's issued ordinary share capital.
There are no further disclosures to be made in accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
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For further information please contact:
Provexis plc Tel: 07490 391888
Dawson Buck, Chairman [email protected]
Ian Ford, Finance Director
Cenkos Securities plc Tel: 020 7397 8900
Camilla Hume
Notes for editors
About Provexis plc
AIM-listed Provexis is focused on the development, licensing and sales of its proprietary, scientifically-proven Fruitflow® heart-health functional food ingredient.
In May 2009, the Company's Fruitflow® technology was the first to be substantiated by the European Food Safety Authority ('EFSA') under the new Article 13(5) for proprietary and emerging science. In December 2009 the European Commission authorised the health claim 'Helps maintain normal platelet aggregation, which contributes to healthy blood flow', which was the first wording to be authorised under Article 13(5).
In June 2010 it was announced that the Company had entered into a long-term Alliance Agreement with DSM Nutritional Products to commercialise Fruitflow®, and in June 2015 the Company confirmed it had agreed significantly enhanced financial terms for its Alliance Agreement with DSM for Fruitflow®.
The Company's Alliance partner DSM Nutritional Products has developed the market actively for the Company's novel, patented Fruitflow® heart-health ingredient in all global markets, with over 50 regional consumer healthcare brands now having been launched by direct customers of DSM, and with a number of further regional brands having been launched through DSM's distributor channels.
An increasing number of further commercial projects have been initiated by DSM with prospective customers, including some prospective customers which are part of global businesses, with good prospects for these projects to be launched as consumer products. Interest in the technology exists in all major global markets.
The Company reported in its interim results on 29 December 2017 that the Company and DSM had seen an encouraging increase in brand awareness and customer interest in Fruitflow® in recent months, with the total projected annual sales value of the prospective sales pipeline for Fruitflow® continuing to increase and standing then at a further new all-time high level.
In June 2016 the Company launched a high quality dietary supplement product containing Fruitflow® and Omega-3 which is being sold from a separate, dedicated website www.fruitflowplus.com on a mail order basis, the product is also available to purchase from Amazon.co.uk.
In June 2018 the Company announced that Fruitflow®+ Omega-3 will be listed in August 2018 in more than 660 Holland & Barrett stores across the UK and Ireland, together with Holland & Barrett Online.
The Company conducted a Key Opinion Leaders' roundtable event for Fruitflow® in London in 2016, focussed on raising awareness of the importance of blood flow in cardiovascular health, and the effectiveness of dietary antiplatelets. The roundtable was attended by key scientists from Provexis and DSM, along with a number of interested health care professionals with close links to the media. The event was recorded and a video for Fruitflow®+ Omega-3 capsules targeting prospective consumers can be seen here www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3HCSdyupEY&t=48s
The Company and DSM are keen to secure greater medical advocacy for Fruitflow® and the roundtable event forms part of this strategy.
The roundtable event is being supported by a broader consumer PR campaign, and the Company's Fruitflow®+ Omega-3 dietary supplement product has featured in a number of recent articles in the UK national press which can be seen here www.fruitflowplus.com/fruitflow-in-the-media
The Company has been engaged in a two stage collaboration agreement with the University of Oslo to undertake further research into the relationship between Fruitflow® and blood pressure regulation. In December 2016 the Company announced the results from the second stage of the collaboration, a pilot study which indicated that a standard dose of Fruitflow® in powder format significantly lowered average 24-hour systolic blood pressure compared to placebo. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were shown to be significantly lower whilst trial subjects were awake, a clinically relevant reduction in blood pressure which is expected to be of interest to a large number of consumers and patients with a wide range of cardiovascular conditions. In September 2017 the results from the blood pressure collaboration were published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition.
In April 2017 the Company announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with BY-HEALTH Co., Ltd ('BY-HEALTH') which is intended to result in a research and collaboration agreement with BY-HEALTH for Fruitflow®. The Company also confirmed separately that Provexis and DSM are working with BY-HEALTH to support the planned launch of some Fruitflow® based products in the Chinese market.
BY-HEALTH is a substantial Chinese listed dietary supplement business which is currently valued in excess of £2.5bn.
Provexis was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Reading, Berkshire.
Provexis shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PXS.
For further information, please visit www.provexis.com
