MGC Pharma has delivered record sales for the quarter. Picture Getty
Health & Biotech
European-based biopharma company MGC Pharma (ASX:MXC) has delivered its strongest quarterly sales to date, posting a record $945,000 in revenue for the June quarter.
Sales of phytocannabinoid medicines made the majority of revenue, totalling around $665,000 and a 34% increase on the March quarter.
An additional $280,000 in sales revenue was made from the sale of Artemic Rescue, which was the final batch of delivery on the $1 million bulk order from its distribution partner, Swiss PharmaCan.
Other highlights during the quarter include the acquisition of global pharmaceutical clinical research company MediCaNL, and the admission of epilepsy drug CannEpil into Ireland’s Primary Care Reimbursement Service.
The company holds around $5.5m cash at bank at the end of the June quarter, with access to an additional $9.25m undrawn from its $15m financing facility with Mercer Street Opportunity.
“During the June quarter, MGC Pharma delivered a number of landmark achievements which highlight the progress that the company has continued to deliver since its listing on the London Stock Exchange in February of this year,” says MGC Pharma CEO, Roby Zomer.
Sales in the company’s pharmaceutical grade phytocannabinoid products (excluding non-phytocannabinoid products such as ArtemiC) continue to grow, especially in Australia.
Sales from phytocannabinoid now make up the majority of the company’s revenue globally.
To accelerate its sales push in Australia, MGC Pharma has implemented a couple of new strategic initiatives in the quarter.
The company entered into a deal with Menarini Australia, which is part of global pharmaceutical company Menarini Group, to supply eight additional sales personnel to MGC’s Australian sales team.
The company also launched MGC THC 20 whole flower globally during the quarter, which it expects to accelerate the sales of its phytocannabinoid products in the coming months, particularly within the Australian market.
During the quarter, MGC’s epilepsy drug CannEpil was approved and fully covered under Ireland’s Primary Care Reimbursement Service, as part of the country’s Medicinal Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP).
This major breakthrough meant that CannEpil was one of the first EU‐GMP pharmaceutical grade cannabis medicine products to be approved for prescription in Ireland under the MCAP – making it free of charge for Irish patients under the program.
CannEpil is a phytocannabinoid derived IMP (investigational medicinal product) approved for medical use, and designed to treat epilepsy with a high CBD and low THC formulation.
A Phase IIb clinical trial of the drug is about to be conducted at the the Schindler Hospital in Israel.
During the quarter, MGC Pharma received a second large wholesale order of around $1 million for its anti-inflammatory supplement, ArtemiC, from its distribution partner Swiss PharmaCan (SPC).
Under that agreement, SPC is required to order a minimum quantity of 40,000 wholesale units per quarter, worth around EUR 640k(or $1 million).
It was the second wholesale purchase order received by the company from SPC, with the first order received in February, and was worth around $425k.
ArtemiC Rescue is a proprietary supplement for MGC Pharma, and has been clinically tested as a food supplement containing four natural-based ingredients consisting of artemisinin, curcumin, boswellia serrata, and vitamin C.
MGC Pharma has submitted an application for ArtemiC to Health Canada to obtain Natural Health Product (NHP) licences.
This followed Phase II clinical trials in December 2020, which showed ArtemiC significantly improving the recovery of COVID-19 patients.
A patent application for CimetrA has also been lodged with the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office during the quarter.
The company is going ahead with three clinical studies on three separate drugs in 2021 – CimetrA, CannEpil, and CogniCann.
CimetrA is now entering Phase III trials in Israel, designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug for hospitalised patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
Phase II trial was already completed last year, with a 100 per cent success rate in achieving both the primary and secondary end point – the reduction and prevention of the symptoms.
The Phase II clinical trial of CogniCann will evaluate the potential behavioural benefits of the drug on patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and will be conducted at the University of Notre Dame in Perth later this year.
The CannEpil, which is short for Cannabis Epilepsy, is currently being studied in a Phase IIb clinical trial at the Schindler Hospital in Israel.
The study focuses on the safety and efficacy of CannEpil as an add-on treatment in children and adolescents with refractory epilepsy.
Construction of MGC Pharma’s state-of-the-art production and manufacturing facility in Malta is currently at an advanced stage, and is on track for completion in October.
The facility will become MGC Pharma’s European manufacturing hub, and has the ability to scale up production to meet growing demand.
Malta Enterprise, which is Malta’s economic development agency tasked with attracting new investment to the country, gave MGC a cash grant of 3.1 million euros (~$5m) to develop the facility.
Other government subsidies received by MGC Pharma include a development grant from the Australian Taxation Office for $507,252 in relation to research activities undertaken in Australia during the 2020 financial year.
Health & Biotech
Health & Biotech
Health & Biotech
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