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Steve Saviuk on how Valeo Pharma’s ‘life changing’ products have delivered the strong growth forecasted for 2022

In this InvestorIntel interview, Tracy Weslosky interviews Valeo Pharma Inc.’s (TSX: VPH | OTCQB: VPHIF) Founder, CEO and Director Steve Saviuk on their recent news release Valeo Pharma Raises Q4 and Full Year 2022 Revenue Guidance.

Steve starts by providing an update on how Valeo has increased its fiscal 2022 revenue guidance to CAD$27.5-28M. A forecasted increase exceeding 100% (compared to fiscal 2021 revenues of $13.6M), he discusses how the team and product line has made this a reality. Walking Tracy through an update on Valeo’s diversified portfolio of ‘life changing’ products as they relate to asthma therapies, Steve’s commentary on where the Company is heading makes this interview a must-see.

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About Valeo Pharma Inc.

Valeo Pharma is a fast growing pharmaceutical company dedicated to the commercialization of innovative prescription products in Canada with a focus on Respirology/Allergy, Ophthalmology and Specialty Products. Headquartered in Kirkland, Quebec, Valeo Pharma has the full capability and complete infrastructure to register and properly manage its growing product portfolio through all stages of commercialization.

To know more about Valeo Pharma Inc., click here

Disclaimer: Valeo Pharma Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

This interview, which was produced by InvestorIntel Corp., (IIC), does not contain, nor does it purport to contain, a summary of all the material information concerning the “Company” being interviewed. IIC offers no representations or warranties that any of the information contained in this interview is accurate or complete.

This presentation may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and assumptions of the management of the Company as of the date made. They are inherently susceptible to uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual events/results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties, including those that the Company does not know about now or that it currently deems immaterial, may also adversely affect the Company’s business or any investment therein.

Any projections given are principally intended for use as objectives and are not intended, and should not be taken, as assurances that the projected results will be obtained by the Company. The assumptions used may not prove to be accurate and a potential decline in the Company’s financial condition or results of operations may negatively impact the value of its securities. Prospective investors are urged to review the Company’s profile on Sedar.com and to carry out independent investigations in order to determine their interest in investing in the Company.

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Valeo Pharma keeps delivering with a 100% revenue growth forecast in 2022 and more new effective pharmaceuticals

Early in 2022 InvestorIntel updated readers about a company that was growing its revenue at an incredible rate of 128%. Fast forward to today and the same company continues to impress with a forecast FY 2022 revenue guidance “exceeding 100% compared to fiscal 2021.” That’s Tesla-like growth. Wow!

The company is Valeo Pharma Inc. (TSX: VPH | OTCQB: VPHIF) (“Valeo”).

So how is the company growing its revenue so fast you might ask?

Valeo’s specialty pharmaceuticals are selling very well, their business model allows Valeo to rapidly bring new pharmaceuticals to market, and their product range keeps growing

Valeo’s leading products in 2022 include asthma medicines Enerzair® and Atectura®, the low molecular weight heparin biosimilar REDESCA™, as well as the recently added ophthalmology products XIIDRA® SIMBRINZA®, and the ant-allergy product ALLERJECT®.

Valeo CEO Steve Saviuk stated: “Our lead products have delivered the strong growth we forecasted for 2022. With a first full year of commercial activities for Enerzair and Atectura now completed, both products are generating strong sequential quarterly increases in the number of total prescribers, total prescriptions and revenues…..The recent addition of our ophthalmic and severe allergy products in early August materially impacted our fourth quarter and we expect them to significantly contribute to our overall 2023 revenues as well”.

Valeo’s business model is also part of the reason for the rapid acceleration in revenues, as the company forms partnerships with pharmaceutical companies that do the research & development and manufacturing while Valeo concentrates on the regulatory requirements and the sales and marketing of the pharmaceutical products.

Valeo continues to grow its portfolio of products. In September 2022 Valeo announced a new product “sabizabulin”. Valeo entered into a Commercial Services Agreement with Veru Inc. for sabizabulin for the treatment of COVID-19 in Canada. Sabizabulin is a new dual antiviral and anti-inflammatory agent being targeted for the treatment of hospitalized moderate-severe COVID-19 patients at high risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome and death. Anti-viral drugs are all the rage nowadays so this looks potentially like a winning move by Valeo. Valeo reported: “Treatment with sabizabulin 9 mg once daily, an oral, first-in-class, new chemical entity, microtubule disruptor that has dual anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties, resulted in a clinically meaningful and statistically significant 55.2% relative reduction in deaths compared to placebo. The results of the interim analysis of the Phase 3 COVID-19 study have been published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Evidence.

Note: Bold emphasis by the author.

Valeo’s product range of pharmaceuticals crosses several areas of medicine

Source: Valeo Pharma website

There is a lot to like about Valeo Pharma. The Company has been delivering on its targets and the management continues to successfully grow the business.

Valeo Pharma trades on a market cap of C$51 million. One to watch out for in 2023.




Valeo Pharma’s rocketing growth in sales points to positive cash flow this year

Stock market investors love companies that can quickly expand and rapidly grow their revenues. The very best of these companies can sometimes grow revenue for many years in excess of 50%pa. This is because rapidly growing revenue means a company is scaling fast and their fixed costs become relatively smaller each year, allowing profits, once they begin, to surge.

In the case of Tesla, the Company grew its revenues for many years to gain scale. Then boom! In 2021, Tesla increased revenue by 71% and net earnings by 665%. Naturally, the stock price has responded to this, up about 20X in the past 3 years.

What if I told you there was a Company growing revenues twice as fast as Tesla?

Today’s company is doing just that.

Valeo Pharma Inc. (TSX: VPH | OTCQB: VPHIF) (“Valeo”) grew revenues 128% YoY in Q1, 2022. Analyst’s estimates are that Valeo will grow revenues by over 150% (2.5x) in 2022, and something similar again in 2023.

According to Marketscreener.com Valeo is forecast by analysts to increase revenue as follows: 2021 – C$13.6 million, 2022 – C$35.8 million, 2023 – C$74.1 million, and 2024 – C$112 million. Net profits are forecast to turn positive in 2023 at C$2.96 million then increase ~5x in 2024 to C$14.7 million. While these are only forecasts, Valeo is already showing it can grow rapidly as we saw in the recent Q1, 2022 results.

Valeo Pharma Q1, 2022 results highlights

  • “Revenues were $4.2 million for the quarter ended January 31, 2022 compared to $1.9 million for the quarter ended January 31, 2021 and $3.4 million for the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2021, representing a 128% increase and 25% increase respectively. The increase resulted mainly from the added contribution of Redesca, and also a strong contribution from other products in the portfolio…..
  • Net loss and Adjusted EBITDA in Q1-22 were down 23% and 19% respectively as compared to the prior Q4-21 quarterly performance. The improvement of our financial performance over the prior quarter results from improvement of our operating margins derived mainly from the revenue growth of our three lead products, Redesca, Enerzair and Atectura.”

Source: Valeo Pharma First Quarter 2022 financial results

Valeo Senior Vice-President and CFO, Luc Mainville, stated:

“Our first quarter 2022 results clearly demonstrated the growing impact of Redesca, Enerzair and Atectura on our revenues and margins. With the cost of implementing our new business and commercial infrastructure now fully accounted for, we anticipate that the sequential revenue growth of our lead products will expand our operating margins. This will help steadily decline our quarterly operating loss and favorably position Valeo to achieve cash flow positive status in the last quarter of the year on a going forward basis”.

Note: Bold emphasis by the author.

Valeo CEO, Steve Saviuk, stated:

“As we had forecasted, Redesca has rapidly become Valeo’s best selling product. Reimbursement coverage is positively impacting prescription growth for Enerzair and Atectura which is accelerating on a monthly basis.”

Valeo Pharma’s pharmaceutical products, uses, and estimated peak sales revenue

Source: Valeo Pharma company presentation

About Valeo Pharma

Valeo’s business is based on forming partnerships with pharmaceutical companies that do the research & development and manufacturing while Valeo concentrates on the regulatory requirements and the sales and marketing of the pharmaceutical products.

Valeo describe their business by stating the following:

  • “Specialty pharma dedicated to the commercialization of innovative prescription products in Canada.
  • Licenses and acquires Canadian rights to clinically derisked, commercial stage, proprietary drugs.”

Valeo’s three leading specialty pharmaceuticals are Redesca, Enerzair and Atectura. These three pharmaceuticals now have more than 90% private and public Canadian reimbursement coverage, with additional coverage recently achieved in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. Redesca is used as a blood thinner and Enerzair & Atectura are used for respiratory conditions such as Asthma.

Valeo Pharma’s pharmaceutical product areas – respiratory, specialty products, neurology, oncology

Valeo’s peak sales forecast for current portfolio

Source: Valeo Pharma company presentation

Closing remarks

Valeo Pharma is a company on the move. Company revenues are surging higher, up 128% YoY in Q1, 2022. Analyst’s forecasts are for Valeo’s revenue to go from C$13.6 million in 2021 to C$74.1 million in 2023, when Valeo is also forecast to become earnings positive. Valeo forecast their peak sales based only on their current portfolio of products have the potential to reach C$150 million pa.

Yet despite all this growth, Valeo’s stock price has only moved sideways the past few years. Tesla also saw its stock move sideways for several years before surging 20x higher. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Valeo Pharma Inc. trades on a market cap of only C$52 million. Looks very promising.




Valeo Pharma is cashed up and ready to expand as COVID restrictions end

Are we starting to see the beginning of the end of COVID’s reign of terror over humanity? I certainly hope so. But beyond my wishful thinking, you are starting to see many jurisdictions beginning to remove some of the more restrictive pandemic control measures in an effort to head down the path towards normalcy. Assuming policymakers are making informed decisions (a debate that I definitely won’t get dragged into) and that we are shifting into more of an endemic versus a pandemic approach to COVID, then there are a lot of potential opportunities for investors just waiting to materialize. The obvious, “opening up”, trades are airlines and cruise operators, but there are many other, often smaller, businesses that will finally be able to get out and start drumming up business the old fashion way – face to face. It’s probably impossible to measure the impact that COVID has had on the bottom line of businesses of all shapes and sizes. But fingers crossed that everyone could get back to doing business as usual and perhaps actually meet a forecast or two.

One company that has been plugging away throughout the pandemic, building out its platform for growth including expanding its sales and marketing team, is Valeo Pharma Inc. (CSE: VPH | OTCQB: VPHIF). Valeo Pharma is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the commercialization of innovative prescription products in Canada with a focus on Respirology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Oncology and other specialty products. Headquartered in Kirkland, Quebec, the Company has the full capability and complete infrastructure in place to register and properly manage its growing product portfolio through all stages of commercialization. The Company specializes in partnering with pharmaceutical companies that have expertise in research & development and manufacturing while Valeo Pharma concentrates on the regulatory requirements to get a drug approved in Canada and then focuses on marketing the product. The Company benefits from commercializing a drug without the risk and expense of product development.

A great example of what Valeo Pharma brings to the table begins with entering into a commercialization and supply agreement for two asthma therapies with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc., a deal that was inked in March, 2021. Under the Agreement, Valeo Pharma is responsible for medical and commercial activities for Enerzair Breezhaler® and Actectura Breezhaler® for an initial 8-year period. By June, 2021, the Company had secured reimbursement authorization for these therapies from private payer health plans covering 80% of privately insured lives in Canada. By the end of June commercialization of the therapies had commenced following product shipments across Canada and the initial deployment of its national respiratory sales force. In October, Valeo Pharma announced an LOI with the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA) regarding its two innovative asthma therapies whereby pCPA conducts joint provincial/territorial/federal negotiations for brand name and generic drugs in Canada to achieve greater value for publicly funded drug programs. This all led to the most recent announcement, on December 15, 2021, that Quebec and Nova Scotia have joined Alberta on the list of provincial public coverage secured for both asthma medications.

All that work means there are a lot of people out there who now have coverage for these drugs. Where the reduction of pandemic restrictions comes into play is the ability to get out and educate and promote these therapies to all the doctors and pharmacists who prescribe or recommend these medications, so all those with coverage will actually be able to obtain and start using the therapies. The legwork is done, now it’s time to get that revenue machine rolling. And this example is of only 2 of Valeo Pharma’s 8 marketed brands and 4 additional products contributing revenues.

Granted the Company isn’t quite rolling in the green just yet as they recently raised C$25 million via convertible unsecured debentures. But in a vote of confidence, C$10 million came from Investissement Québec, whose mandate is to accompany and support entrepreneurs and leaders who promote the economic development and growth of key sectors of the Québec economy. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to (i) support commercial efforts related to the recently launched products (Redesca™, Enerzair®, and Atectura®); (ii) reimburse, at maturity, the non-convertible debentures previously issued by the Company and maturing on January 31, 2022, and July 10, 2022; (iii) for working capital and general corporate purposes; and (iv) support an upcoming TSX listing application. Yes, they plan to graduate to the big board in the first half of 2022, with their C$50 million market cap, which could improve exposure and liquidity of the stock. Additionally, the next 6-7 weeks should provide us with year-end and Q1/22 quarterly results to give us insight into the progress being made at Valeo Pharma Inc. Those results will be pivotal for the future of the Company.




High-Grade Barium Project Creates High-Value Opportunity for Voyageur Pharmaceuticals

Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TSXV: VM) (Voyageur) is a Canadian-based company that is focused on developing barium and iodine radio-contrast pharmaceutical suspension products for the X-ray/medical scan industry.

Currently, China has the only natural, pharmaceutical-grade barite project and only exports a fraction of the current world demand. The rest of the supply is made up of higher-cost chemically-manufactured, synthetic barium precipitate.

Voyageur is unique in that it plans to capture value from a source-to-finished product. The Company owns a 100% interest in three barium sulfate (barite) projects in British Columbia, Canada, including two properties suitable in grade and purity for the pharmaceutical barite market.

Currently, the Company is focusing on the high-grade Frances Creek project as preliminary work with SGS Canada (SGS) resulted in a gravity-separated, high-grade concentrate of 98.6% barium sulfate.

In a barium contrast suspension product, barium sulfate comprises almost 98% of the cost of the ingredients. With the Frances Creek deposit, Voyageur believes that it will have the lowest ingredient costs for barium contrast in North America and can sell any excess production into the barite market for additional cash flow.

Starting with Health Canada then Shifting to the U.S.

In late 2019, Voyageur submitted applications for product registrations to Health Canada in order to begin sales in Canada. A total of five barium sulfate suspension products were registered with Health Canada.

  • SmoothXBa: A barium sulfate oral suspension used in computed tomography scans (CT) of the abdomen to view the gastrointestinal tract in adult and pediatric patients.
  • HDXBa: A high-density dry barium powder that is engineered to be mixed with water to create a barium sulfate suspension for radiographic oral consumption. HDX is used during X-ray procedures to view the upper gastrointestinal tract.
  • MultiXthin: A specially formulated, low density, pre-mixed barium suspension product that will be sold in a 2-liter container, similar in use and composition to the dry-powder MultiX
  • MultiXthick: A specially formulated, high density, pre-mixed barium suspension product that will be sold in a 2-liter container, similar in use and composition to the dry-powder HDX.
  • MultiXBa: MultiX is similar in use and composition to HDX but the barite has been ground to 1-micron size.

Unfortunately, events pertaining to COVID-19 impacted Voyageur’s plans as Health Canada focused on approving products related to the pandemic. However, earlier this year, Health Canada approved and issued the product licenses for SmoothX, HDX, and MultiX. The Company is waiting for approvals for MultiXthin and MultiXthick but expects to receive them shortly.

Ramping Up Production and Marketing

In November 2020, Voyageur announced signing an agreement with Alberta Veterinarian Laboratories (AVL) for the manufacturing of barium radiographic contrast media.

AVL is a Calgary-based contract pharmaceutical manufacturing company and manufactures both human and veterinarian pharmaceuticals products.

It operates a Health Canada-approved medical testing laboratory and a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) pharmaceutical manufacturing facility.

As Voyageur progresses through sourcing the barite from its Frances Creek project, it acquired USP (US Pharmacopeia) barium sulfate from third-party sources for the initial product formulation and near-term sales.

AVL and Voyageur are currently working on the formulation testing for the initial barium contrast product using the procured barite.

A recent decision in the U.S. that upheld a prior ruling concluding radiographic contrast agent barium sulfate qualifies as a device rather than a drug could result in reduced cost and faster approvals for Voyageur barium products with the U.S Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Earlier this month, Voyageur signed a marketing and product development agreement with Dash Consulting since the products are nearing roll-out in Canada and the Company is seeking U.S. FDA approval.

Dash is a consulting firm focused on the barium and iodine radiographic contrast media market and it has already begun working on preparing for the product applications globally, including in the U.S., U.K., South America, and Southeast Asian markets.

From PEA/Pre-Feasibility and Bulk Sample this Year to Mining in 2022

Voyageur is working with SGS to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and Pre-Feasibility (PF) study that it expects to complete by mid-year. As part of this process, Voyageur filed an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Frances Creek project in November 2020.

Previous results from the ore testing in December 2019 indicated that the barite could be separated from the ore using gravity, eliminating the need for the use of water and a tailings pond, and resulted in high-concentrate grades of 98.6% barium sulfate.

Voyageur plans to mine a 10,000-tonne bulk sample within the next 12-months and process it through a smaller, pilot plant. The barium sulfate produced from the bulk sample could generate cash flow from product sales into the pharmaceutical market.

If the project economics are robust and meet the economic threshold to move forward, the application for the quarry permit for full production would be submitted.

To further upgrade the barite concentrate and to add value, Voyageur plans to build a 25,000 tonne-per-year plant that could sustain pharmaceutical production requirements for the next 40 years, this plant is targeting 2022 for completion.

Final Thoughts

Currently, Voyager is raising $1.73 million as it completes a PEA and Pre-feasibility, and ramps up sales and marketing, including product roll-out and testing, and U.S. FDA and International registrations.

Earlier this month, Voyager’s stock increased sharply after it received approval from Health Canada for one of its products. With a series of milestones planned for this year, expect investors’ optimism will continue to move the share price higher as the opportunity comes closer to production.

Voyageur closed yesterday at $0.16 with a Market Cap of $14.3 million.