Medicure Inc.

Welcome to Medicare's Earnings Conference Call for the quarter ended June 30th, 2023. My name is Holly, and I will be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Before we proceed, I would like to remind everyone that this presentation contains forward-looking statements relating to future results, events, and expectations, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, those described in the company's most recent Annual Information Form and Form 20-F. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session. Please note that this conference is being recorded and today's date is July 31st, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Dr. Albert Friesen, Chief Executive Officer of Medicare. Please go ahead, Dr. Friesen.

Thank you, Holly. And good morning to all on the call. We appreciate your interest and participation in today's call. Joining me today for the Q2 23 financial statements are Dr. Neil Owens, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Horace Uden, Medicare's Chief Financial Officer. We are pleased to report that net revenue of $6.0 million for Q2, which continues the steady growth from previous quarters. Net income was $253,000, or two cents per share, and EBITDA was $948,000, all showing consistent good financial returns. Agristat sales, Zypidemag sales, and Marley drug income all provided net earnings. The four focuses of business continue as, number one, the sales and profits of Agristat, growing Zypidemag revenue and profit, Three, growing the Marley Drug online pharmacy business. And the fourth, the development of MC1 for the PNPO deficiency indication and pediatric voucher. The acquisition of Marley Drug, the online pharmacy delivering homes to all 50 states and other territories through mail was to expand our sales reach for Zypemag and growing our business. That has worked out for us. We believe the investments and experience over the last 25 years positions Medicare on a steady path to continued success. Now we'll turn it over to our CFO, our student, to review and provide a color on financial results of the Q2 financial statements.

Thank you, Dr. Friesen. A couple of quick items to note before I start. All dollar figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted by each presenter. And as a reminder, you will be able to obtain a complete copy of our financial statements for the quarter ended June 30th, 2023 by the end of day today, along with previous financial statements on the investors page of our website. Alternatively, a copy of all financial statements and management discussion analysis can be obtained immediately from CDAR.com. I will now provide some key highlights of our financial performance for the quarter ended June 30th, 2023. Total revenues for the three-month period ended June 30, 2023 was $6 million, compared to $5.7 million for the period ended June 30, 2022. Net revenues earned from Egrostat during the current quarter totaled $2.6 million, a slight decrease from the prior year, where net revenue from Egrostat was $2.9 million. The decrease in exit debt revenue during the current quarter is a result of a fluctuation of foreign exchange rates and higher wholesale fees on units of products sold. Net revenues earned from CEPIDMAG during the current quarter totaled $722,000, which is a decrease from the $1.1 million of net revenue earned during the prior year. The decrease can be attributed to coverage gap rebates paid during the current period in addition to higher wholesale fees. The company continues to focus on Zipidimeg and see the growth of sales through both the traditional insurer channels and through Marley Drugs. Moving on to Marley Drugs, net revenues from Marley Drugs during the current quarter totaled $2.7 million. This is an increase from the $1.8 million earned from Marley Drugs during the same period in the prior year. The increase in Marley drug sales during the current year is due to an increased volume of sales, including an increase in the sales through the Marley drug platform, which is also included within this figure. With respect to cost of goods sold, Agrisac cost of goods sold during the quarter end of June 30, 2023 totaled $659,000, a decrease in the prior year, where cost of goods sold totaled $1.1 million. The decrease in cost of goods sold for Agristat is the result of better inventory management during the current year, in addition to a lower volume of Agristat sold. The PDMAG cost of goods sold for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, totaled $298,000, a decrease from the prior year, where cost of goods sold for the PDMAG was $325,000. Included within Cost of Goods Sold versus the PDMAG is $147,000 relating to products sold to customers and $153,000 from amortization of the PDMAG intangible assets. The decrease in Cost of Goods Sold during the current quarter is due to a lower volume of products sold during the current period. Marriott drug cost of goods sold totaled $848,000 during the quarter ended June 30, 2023. This is an increase from the prior year, where cost of goods sold totaled $456,000. The increase in cost of goods sold during the current year is the result of a higher volume of products sold through the Marriott drug platform. Selling expenses totaled $2.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, in comparison to $1.7 million during the prior year. Selling expenses increased in the current year due to the company reporting a higher volume of products sold, in addition to inflationary increases the company has been subject to during the current year. General and administrative expenses were $1.1 million during the current period in comparison to $1.6 million during the same period in the prior year. The decrease in general and administrative expenses is primarily related to a decrease in professional fees paid by the company during the current period. The company incurred additional professional fees in the prior year as a result of the e-commerce platform launching during Q1 of 2022. Research and development expenses for the current period totaled $668,000 compared to $1.3 million during the prior year. The decrease during the current year is primarily due to the timing of research and development expenditures related to each development project the company is currently undertaking. The company recorded finance income of $22,000 during the current period ended June 30, 2023, compared to finance expense of $38,000 during the period mid-June 30, 2022. The finance income recorded during the current period consisted primarily of a recovery on the accretion of the Agristat royalty obligation, in addition to interest income offset by the company's lease obligations and bank charges. The company recorded a foreign exchange loss during the period ended June 30, 2023 of $30,000 compared to a foreign exchange loss of $98,000 during the prior year. The change relates to changes in the US dollar exchange rate during the respective years, which led to an unfavorable foreign exchange loss during the current period. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter end of June 30th, 2023 was $948,000 compared to an adjusted EBITDA of negative $210,000 during the quarter end of June 30th, 2022. The increase in adjusted EBITDA during the current year is due to an increase in operating income, which primarily stems from an increase in overall net revenue, in addition to reduced research and development expenses and reduced general administrative expenses, offset by higher selling expenses during the current quarter. As at June 30, 2023, the company had cash totaling approximately $5.4 million, an increase from the $4.9 million of cash held as of December 31, 2022. The company does not have any debt on its books. I want to remind you that there will be an opportunity at the end of today's call for you to ask questions regarding the financial results of the company as a whole. And with that, I would like to turn the call over to our President and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Neil Owens, for some additional commentary regarding our operations.

Thank you, Horace, and good morning, everyone. I'll start with some further details on the Agristat business. Net revenue was impacted by higher wholesaler fees and a decrease in product volume sold leading to a 3% decrease in Q2 compared to the previous quarter. We continue to support our more than 1,200 US hospital accounts and promote the brand. We found that post-COVID, there has been a high staff turnover in hospital cath lab staff, which requires reintroduction and education of Agristat to some staff. We have not yet seen any generic entries at this point. As mentioned at the last quarter of the update, Medicare's royalty obligations for IGRSSAT have also now come to an end. Regarding Zipidimac, we continue to see consistent growth in prescriptions filled through Marley Drug, including a 13% increase in units dispensed in Q2 2023 compared to the previous quarter. Sales through insured channels also increased by 9% in the quarter. However, net revenue through insured channels was impacted significantly from increased wholesaler fees, and coverage gap fees, which is another reason why selling ZepedaMag through MarleyDrug is an effective approach. We continue to build brand awareness through efforts of our sales and marketing team. We are focused on lowering our customer acquisition cost and on customer retention. The market opportunity remains very large and we are reinvesting profits into sales and marketing of ZepedaMag. In Q2, net revenue from the Marley Drug Pharmacy business increased by 16% compared to the previous quarter. Medicare still plans to leverage Marley Drug's fulfillment and distribution capabilities in more business partnerships. The company is still focused on growing brand awareness through multiple media channels and through PR publicity. Overall, we continue to look for ways to rapidly expand the pharmacy business. There was a 31% increase in new customers in Q2 compared to Q1, and there are plans for further improvements to the e-commerce website to improve customer experience. Medicare's R&D focus is primarily on its Phase III study to seek approval of MC1 as the first FDA-approved therapy for patients with PMPO deficiency, which is a rare pediatric disease leading to seizures and is ultimately fatal if untreated. In parallel to the phase three clinical study, Medicare is conducting several non-clinical studies to support the approval of MC1 as requested by the FDA. If successful, use of Medicare's legacy product MC1 could lead to a priority review voucher which can be redeemed or sold and provides significant value. The issue that the company is addressing before the start of the study is that some patients may need to crush their tablet. and the FDA has requested additional data on the impact of crushing on product quality. The crushed tablet study is currently underway. For Q2, we are pleased to report a positive adjusted EBITDA of $948,000, as well as net income of $253,000. Our goal is to continue growing revenue, controlling our costs, and making Medicare a long-term success. With that, I'd like to turn the call back to Dr. Friesen for final comments. Thank you, Neil.

Medicare's business, including the sales and marketing inside of PITMAG, continues to grow. We're thankful for the continued strength in Agristat, market share, and a strong balance sheet. We are still focused on growing the business with a pipeline of cardiovascular products that will further diversify our revenue and asset base, carefully investing to grow our future profitability. My goal and that of our board, management, and staff is to continue to build this business with a stable, long-term outlook, generating value for our shareholders. And as always, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the outstanding team of employees we are blessed with. Thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support and interest. And now, moderator, I'll turn it back to you to lead the question and answer.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment while we poll for questions. Your first question for today is coming from Kurt Caramandis at Carl M. Henning, Inc.

Good morning, guys. Just wondering what the first, I think later this, late this year, end of the year was kind of a thought on the last call on when the PNPO trial would have some initial data. Is that not the case now with the crushed pill study?

Yeah, that's correct. Yeah, we were on hold waiting, and they've released the hold, but have asked us to provide additional information on CRUSH, those patients that would take CRUSH tablets. So we could start, but we felt that because of we wanted to make sure that all patients, whether they require CRUSH or not, are eligible. So we've decided to hold until we get – the clear on their crushed tablets.

So, what are you thinking now? We would have some data.

I'll just add that it's quite a short study. This is a lab study. It doesn't involve any patients. So, I don't think we have a start date in mind, but I think it's still possible to launch the study in Q4. We won't have any data, per se, to release to any investors during that time, but we'll start the study.

Okay, so is it like six months after that that we could have some data, or I'm just trying to get my head around it?

Yeah, probably a bit more than that, because I think our first analysis will be at six months, so we have to analyze the data, and enrollment of the 10 patients won't happen instantly, so I would say it's more like closer to 12 months.

Okay, what rate are you getting on your cash interest rate?

Yeah, Horace, do you know?

Yeah, in terms of, so we basically have, it's basically a prime plus interest. a minor percentage above that. So again, we are sort of reevaluating our sort of cash management strategy in terms of investing in more short-term investments, given the rates have improved quite significantly over the past year. So it's definitely something we're looking to further improve our finance income from and something we look forward to sort of tackling going forward.

Yeah, I think last time was more like 3%, but we could do better.

Yeah, you should be able to get in the fives, I would think. So otherwise, you're happy with things generally prescription-wise are trending better. Are there any other products that are biosimilar, or has that been shelved, or what other things are in the pipeline from what we were talking about a few years ago?

Yeah, Kurt, we're still looking at a number of different options. We're... I would say we're almost continually negotiating on one, two, or three items, but we haven't closed on anything. You know, it's been a challenge to get particular cardiovascular drugs because they're still asking for too much, and there's usually something we have to put in more capital for marketing. So we've been very careful not to take any risk, and so that's what's delayed the – But we are looking, I think we publicly stated, looking at additional pharmacies, expanding that business. And we were looking at that as well. And some improving our profitability of the products that we're selling through the pharmacy.

Okay, great. Very smart to be prudent for sure. Thanks a lot.

Okay, Kurt, thanks. Thank you.

Once again, if there are any questions or comments, please press star one on your phone at this time. We have reached the end of the question and answer session, and I will now turn the call over to Dr. Albert Friesen for closing remarks.

Thanks. My thanks and our thanks for those that are on the call and for your support in the shares and look forward to our next call. Thank you again.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating.