Key oral care brand - clinical trial on COVID-19

24 August 2020

VENTURE LIFE GROUP PLC

("Venture Life" "VLG" or the "Group")

Venture Life's leading oral care brands participation in UK clinical trial on COVID-19 patients

Venture Life (AIM: VLG), a leader in developing, manufacturing and commercialising products for the self-care market, announced on 15 May 2020 that it supported further research into the idea that using mouthwash could reduce the transmission of enveloped viruses such as COVID-19. Today the Company announces its involvement in a UK-led clinical trial on COVID-19 patients, in partnership with Cardiff University. This independent multi-centre clinical study, which is being led by Professor David Thomas at Cardiff University, will investigate the possibility that using over-the-counter mouthwashes could help to reduce the viral load and therefore the transmission of COVID-19 in the mouth. Venture Life is delighted to confirm that its leading mouthwash, Dentyl, will be involved in this UK clinical trial.

A literature review of previous research led by Professor Valerie O'Donnell at Cardiff University and expert input from a group of virologists, microbiocide experts, lipid specialists and healthcare experts from the universities of Cardiff, Nottingham, Ottawa and Barcelona, published in May 2020, suggested the possibility that certain mouthwashes could be used to help reduce transmission of enveloped viruses such as SARS-CoV2, but that more research was needed to test this idea. The review concluded that Cethylpyridinium Chloride (CPC) may be effective in this respect. Venture Life's Dentyl mouthwash, which is currently sold in the UK and eleven other countries, contains CPC as its main active ingredient.

Venture Life is delighted to be partnering with Cardiff University and its affiliates, in order to help facilitate this valuable research. The clinical study entitled 'The measurement of mouthwash anti-viral activity against COVID-19' (MOMA) will be commencing in August and is expected to last for 12 weeks. This is a multi-centre study and will recruit patients currently in hospital with COVID-19, commencing at Cardiff hospital.

Professor David Thomas from Cardiff University commented: "We are very keen to start this much needed clinical trial as our review of the literature indicated that we need to look deeper into the possible positive impact that mouthwashes may play on the transmission of COVID-19. We believe this is an exciting opportunity to determine whether a compound that can inactivate an enveloped virus in a test tube may work in humans, actively shedding the virus in the mouth and throat'.

Jerry Randall, CEO of Venture Life, commented: "We are the only mouthwash manufacturer to be involved in the Cardiff University clinical study on COVID-19 patients; we are delighted to support this independent study to further explore the initial findings that CPC may reduce the viral load and therefore the possible transmission of COVID-19. Our Dentyl mouthwash, which uses CPC as its main antibacterial agent, has been developed by dentists and is recommended by dentists to reduce plaque in the mouth, and is very effective at this. We are excited at the prospect that this long standing, well known mouthwash product could help in the fight against COVID-19."

Link to initial research paper:

https://academic.oup.com/function/article/1/1/zqaa002/5836301

For further information, please contact:

Venture Life Group PLC                                                                                                +44 (0) 1344 578004

Jerry Randall, Chief Executive Officer

Andrew Waters, Chief Financial Officer

Cenkos Securities plc (Nomad and Joint Broker)                                               +44 (0) 20 7397 8900

Stephen Keys / Mark Connelly / Cameron MacRichie (Corporate Finance)

Russell Kerr / Michael Johnson (Sales)

N+1 Singer (Joint Broker)

Shaun Dobson / Carlo Spingardi                                                                 +44 (0) 20 7496 3000

About Venture Life (www.venture-life.com)

Venture Life is an international consumer self-care company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercialising products for the global self-care market. With operations in the UK, The Netherlands and Italy, the Group's product portfolio includes some key products such as the UltraDEX and Dentyl oral care product ranges, food supplements for maintaining brain function, medical devices for women's intimate healthcare, fungal infections and proctology, and dermo-cosmetics for addressing the signs of ageing.

The products, which are typically recommended by pharmacists or healthcare practitioners, are available primarily through pharmacies and grocery multiples. In the UK and The Netherlands these are supplied direct by the company to retailers, elsewhere they are supplied by the Group's international distribution partners. 

Through its Development & Manufacturing business in Italy, Biokosmes, the Group also provides development and manufacturing services to companies in the medical devices and cosmetic sectors.