New Patent for a New Probiotic Strain

BLIS Technologies Ltd Announces a New Patent for a New Probiotic Strain.

BLIS Technologies Ltd (NZX: BLT), developer and manufacturer of BLIS K12, an advanced oral probiotic for the prevention of upper airways infection and the treatment of chronic bad breath, has recently announced that it been granted US patent for its latest strain of advanced oral probiotic called “MIA”.

“MIA is very closely related to our existing K12 range of probiotic products, which is found in the New Zealand retail sector and was the active ingredient behind a novel Australian halitosis product that recently appeared on the TV3 programme, Campbell Live ” according to BLIS, Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Chris Chilcott. “What makes MIA unique; however, is that this new strain has been shown to be very effective in protecting teeth from dental plaque, which is known to be a major contributor to tooth decay . We believe the new MIA probiotic can be used to suppress levels of Streptococcus mutans, the principal cause of dental plaques. Streptococcus mutans converts dietary refined sugar to lactic acid. The lactic acid, in turn, erodes the mineral in enamel and dentin, which weakens the tooth resulting in tooth decay.

Dr Chilcott indicated that dental caries or tooth decay, is a worldwide epidemic that affects the majority of populations in both industrialized and developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, tooth decay is the most prevalent infectious disease, affecting approximately 5 billion people.

“This represents a major milestone in our research and development programme, and sends a clear signal that BLIS is not a single product company” Dr Barry Richardson, BLIS CEO, said today, “we have been planning a solid platform of technology that addresses a broad array of potential application areas.”

BLIS has indicated that they have already started early discussions with some major international companies around the commercial opportunities for their new probiotic, MIA; but would not be drawn on specific details at this early stage. BLIS Technologies Ltd did however recently announce that it had entered into “letter of intent” to evaluate and potentially develop global product and market opportunities based on BLIS’s advanced probiotics technology, with Dutch food ingredient giant, DSM Nutritionals (formally Roche Vitamins). It is expected that this would also include opportunities for the new MIA strain.

About BLIS Technologies Ltd

BLIS Technologies Limited became listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in July 2001 and was formed to commercialise BLIS (bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances), hence the company’s name, BLIS Technologies Ltd. The company has acquired the rights to the collection of an extensive range of BLIS producing organisms and is developing new products for use in the control of undesirable bacterial infections which includes dental caries control, the prevention and treatment of ear and throat infections, bovine mastitis, and skin infections.

ENDS

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