Biome Australia (ASX:BIO) executives used the company’s earnings call to highlight record first-half financial results, continued market share gains in Australian community pharmacy, and progress on a new proprietary probiotic strain as the business expands its practitioner-led model into additional international markets.
Record first-half results and operating leverage
Chief Financial Officer Lauren presented what she described as Biome’s “strongest half-year period” in the company’s history. For the first half of fiscal 2026, Biome reported sales revenue of AUD 12.4 million, up 40% from the prior corresponding period. She said Q2 FY2026 revenue was AUD 6.5 million, up 41% on the comparable period.
Lauren also pointed to improved cash conversion, with cash receipts up 62% versus the first half of FY2025, citing enhanced working capital management and improved customer collections. Earnings per share were AUD 0.53, up from AUD 0.20 in the first half of FY2025.
Australian market position and distribution growth
Chief Executive Officer Blake described Biome as a microbiome health company focused on probiotics and “live biotherapeutics,” emphasizing targeted, strain-specific products supported by clinical evidence. He said the company’s flagship brand, Activated Probiotics, had been gaining traction in “practitioner-only behind the counter” pharmacy positioning.
Management said Activated Probiotics is now the number 2 probiotic brand in Australia by revenue in community pharmacy, and Blake added the company expects to move into the number 1 position in total pharmacy “sooner than later,” based on scan data. He also said that within community pharmacy excluding Chemist Warehouse, Biome is already the number 1 probiotic brand by revenue.
On distribution, Lauren said Biome has expanded from 100 distribution points in 2019 to more than 7,000 currently, against a local total addressable distribution market of roughly 12,000. She said the company expects to finish the financial year with more than 7,500 distribution points.
Management also discussed performance at key partners. Blake said that at TerryWhite Chemmart, Biome is the number 2 brand in the total vitamin category and expects to take the number 1 position in the future. He also highlighted growth in Priceline Pharmacy, describing “rolling 12 months” scan sales growth of almost 50%.
Product portfolio and clinical-trial strategy
Biome’s leadership repeatedly framed clinical trials as a core differentiator. Blake said the company has completed more than 30 clinical trials across finished products and positioned that evidence base as unusual in complementary medicine.
During the call, management referenced several products and related study outcomes, including:
- Biome Lift, which Blake said is now the subject of three randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies examining depressed mood, stress, anxiety, and sub-threshold depression.
- Biome Breathe, which he said was studied in a randomized controlled trial on 440 children and showed a 64% reduction in the incidence of asthma attacks in the pediatric population.
- Biome Daily Kids, which management said was tested in a clinical trial with Federation University in a daycare setting, focused on reducing winter illness.
- Biome Cholesterol, described as the “world’s first” cholesterol-lowering probiotic product with five published clinical trials, including studies alongside statin medication and as a standalone, and designed to reduce LDL cholesterol while leaving HDL intact.
- Biome Her, which management said has been studied as a preventative tool for bacterial vaginosis and thrush and also as an intravaginal product for acute flare-ups.
Biome also discussed the first-half launch of a new range, Activated Therapeutics, which management said expands the company beyond bacteria into “gut health-adjacent” categories. Products mentioned included Pepti-BIOTIC (for reflux/GORD/GERD), Oestro-ISO (a soy isoflavone-based perimenopausal symptom product), and Synbio-GOS (a GOS fiber product intended to support the gut).
New strain development: BMB18 and intellectual property
Management provided an update on Biome’s proprietary strain development work centered on Lactobacillus plantarum BMB18. Blake said the company has completed discovery, identification, and quantification, finished preclinical work, received ethics approval, and has commenced its first human clinical trial on the strain.
He said the strain is registered with the DSMZ Strain Bank in Germany and that Biome intends to seek patents. Blake positioned BMB18 as a potential long-term competitive advantage, citing the possibility of developing new products from the strain and potential licensing opportunities.
Biome also summarized early in vitro findings, with Blake saying BMB18 demonstrated characteristics related to immune modulation, reduction of oxidative stress, and improved gut barrier integrity. He described the first human study as a randomised controlled trial with 240 patients across two dosage levels and placebo, conducted with La Trobe University, and said the study cost was “manageable” and pre-budgeted.
International expansion and investor Q&A highlights
Executives described progress in Canada, Ireland, the U.K., and New Zealand. In Canada, Blake said the business launched in September 2024 with Ecotrend Ecologics and has since moved to launch into Fullscript, which he described as North America’s largest practitioner distributor. He said Biome now has three territory managers in Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec.
In Ireland, management highlighted a first-half launch with Uniphar and its retail pharmacies, and Blake said Biome had been assigned another “batch of stores” in the two weeks prior to the call. He also said the company continues to grow in the U.K. through direct supply to health food stores and pharmacy. In New Zealand, Biome discussed launching into the ProPharma group and completing a deal and launch with Green Cross Health, operating in both practitioner and pharmacy channels.
During Q&A, management addressed several investor topics, including:
- Regional sales mix: Blake said international sales were about 7.5% of total revenue at the end of FY2025, with a goal of exceeding 10%, but he declined to provide an updated half-year number and said investors should expect an update at the end of the financial year.
- Onshoring manufacturing: Management said Australian manufacturing options are being assessed as part of the company’s “Vision 27” plan, noting existing purchase orders in Italy and that transferring IP to an Australian manufacturer would not be a significant direct cost, though it would require time and regulatory work.
- Chemist Warehouse: Blake said Chemist Warehouse represents roughly 450–500 pharmacies and is significant in vitamin revenue terms, but he emphasized Biome’s profitability in community pharmacy channels and said the company would not support deep-discount models that erode margins.
- Pricing: Blake said Biome has not increased retail prices for Australian consumers since launching Activated Probiotics in 2019, while still improving gross margin through supplier terms and logistics optimization.
- Capital structure: Lauren said the company’s AUD 5 million NAB facility across trade and invoice financing is manageable and that management does not intend to dilute shareholders to fund growth, noting Biome has not raised capital since its IPO.
- Marketing spend: Management said actual marketing and promotion was 7.5% of sales revenue in H1 FY2026 (AUD 930,000), and discussed improving disclosure to separate marketing from staffing and distribution costs included in the broader “marketing, sales, and distribution” line.
The call concluded with management reiterating confidence in the company’s multi-year plan and stating the webinar recording would be distributed in the coming days.
About Biome Australia (ASX:BIO)
Licencing, development and marketing of complimentary medicines, including nutraceuticals and live biotheraputics.
