Avricore Health Inc. (TSX.V: AVCR) (OTCQB: AVCRF)
Avricore Health Inc. (TSX.V: AVCR) (OTCQB: AVCRF) is a pharmacy service innovator focused on acquiring and developing early-stage technologies aimed at moving pharmacy forward. Through its flagship offering, HealthTab™ (a wholly owned subsidiary), the company aims to make actionable health information more accessible to everyone by creating the world's largest network of rapid testing devices in community pharmacies.
HealthTab
HealthTab is a turnkey point-of-care testing solution that effectively turns pharmacies into diagnostic hubs (sometimes known as 'Community Diagnostic Centers', or CDCs) and connects them on a single, cloud-based platform.
The HealthTab network model is unlike anything in pharmacy today. It gives knowledgeable and trusted pharmacists a greater role in primary care delivery and empowers patients to take more control of their health. It also reduces costs and waiting times while providing many potential revenue streams, including equipment leasing & consumables, direct access testing, disease prevention & management programs, sponsored health programs, decentralized clinical trials, real world data (RWD) sets and third-party app integration through API.
Agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart
In June 2021, Avricore signed a Master Agreement with select Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies to pilot the HealthTab platform. This agreement gives patients access to point-of-care blood screening and health-data management for potential risks relating to diabetes and cardiovascular conditions using HealthTab-integrated Afinion 2™ analyzers provided by Abbott Rapid Diagnostics.
Avricore is the first pharmacy solutions provider to partner with Abbott (NYSE: ABT), the global health care company and diagnostics leader in Canada. In May 2021, the company signed a supplier distribution agreement to expand the distribution of Abbott's Afinion 2 and associated tests for diabetes and heart disease screening in community pharmacies in Canada. This agreement includes valuable HbA1c testing, a critical marker for the screening and management of diabetes.
Near Term Goals
Near term goals for Avricore include expansion into more pharmacies across Canada, followed soon after by entering the U.S. and UK markets. The company has made significant strides in testing and developing its technology and is moving into the commercialization stage.
Strategic partnerships like those with Abbott and select Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies advance Avricore closer to becoming an incredibly dominant player in the community diagnostics space. The company aims to make actionable health information more accessible for everyone by creating the world's largest rapid testing network in pharmacies.
Market Outlook
In 2020, the global point-of-care testing (POCT) market was valued at $34.49 billion by Fortune Business Insights and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4 percent to reach a projected $81.37 billion by 2028. This upsurge is expected to be driven largely by increased demand for screening and management tools for chronic diseases, as well as rapidly assessing infectious diseases such as COVID-19.
The accessibility of POCT has been an increasing priority of the world's leading health organizations and experts. Pharmacies are ideal 'hubs' within the community to offer patients better access to the numbers they need to know for preventing or treating conditions such as diabetes and heart disease or the timely diagnosis of infection.
Management Team
Avricore's leadership team brings a diverse portfolio of expertise across the health care and biotech industries, as well as technology, finance and communications. Together, they share a common vision of moving pharmacy forward and have positioned the company for significant future growth and expansion.
Hector Bremner is the CEO of Avricore. He has over 15 years of senior and executive experience across various industries, including international trade, natural gas, marketing and communications. He owned and operated TOUCH Marketing, a boutique marketing and communications firm based in Vancouver, from 2007 to 2013. Mr. Bremner has also served as the executive assistant to the Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Gas Development, Responsible for Housing, as well as the Minister of International Trade and Minister of Small Business. In 2015, he joined Vancouver's Pace Group Communications as VP of Public Affairs.
David Hall is the Chairman and a Director of Avricore. His leadership spans five different companies. He is currently the Chairman of RepliCel Life Sciences and a member of the boards of TrichoScience Innovations, AdvantageBC and Providence Health Care Research Institute. Mr. Hall also served as Chairman of Perceptronix Medical Inc.; Chief Financial Officer, Secretary & Treasurer of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc.; President & Director at Newcastle Resources Ltd.; and Chairman for LifeSciences British Columbia.
Kiki Smith is Avricore's CFO. She has over 20 years of experience assisting private and public companies in the roles of accountant, corporate controller and CFO in mining, oil & gas, real estate, high technology, food production and investment fund management. She currently provides consulting services in M&A, financial reporting and regulatory compliance to several public and private companies across several investment sectors. Ms. Smith is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia and has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of British Columbia.
Rodger Seccombe is the Head of Avricore's HealthTab division and the co-founder and former CEO of HealthTab Inc. Mr. Seccombe has over 20 years of experience launching and running companies in software, health care technology and clean energy. He is a recognized industry expert in direct-to-consumer and point-of-care testing technology. In 2006, he joined the start-up team at Canadian Bioenergy Corporation and helped pioneer the development of the renewable fuel industry in Canada. Before HealthTab, he designed and developed cloud-based informatics systems currently in use by some of the world's leading medical laboratories and instrument manufacturers.