The contrast media market is a large global market valued at $4.7 billion and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 7.7% through 2028. Contrast media are used in 189 million procedures annually.

Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TSXV: VM) is working to become the only fully integrated company in the radiographic contrast media business by developing barium and iodine contrast media. Voyageur owns a 100% interest in the Frances Creek Barium Project, suitable in grade for the pharmaceutical marketplace, with additional interests in a high-grade iodine, lithium & bromine brine project located in Utah, USA.

Voyageur will use barium from the Frances Creek Project and refine it to a barium product (SmoothX™) at their planned carbon-neutral pharmaceutical plant. Until the plan is completed they will rely on a third party. Voyageur has received Health Canada licenses for barium contrast media and has begun to produce and market products for Canada as they prepare to launch Canadian sales.

Voyageur’s Frances Creek is a Source of Barium and ULI is a Source of Iodine

Source: Voyageur company presentation

As announced early this month, Voyageur is preparing to launch its first product, SmoothX™ barium sulfate CT contrast media oral suspension for the CT imaging market in Canada. To advance sales in Canada, Voyageur has appointed a new Canadian Sales Manager, Ethan Mohan. Voyageur stated: “Ethan will be responsible for executing the Company’s sales program and has already begun meeting with Government Health Service agencies and private clinics across Canada.“

Health Canada licenses have already been approved for barium contrast media use in Canada. The next steps are the USA and international markets.

Voyageur continues to advance its applications with the U.S. Federal Drug Agency (“FDA”) for approvals to market barium contrast products in the USA. Voyageur states that they are “also advancing the development and testing of four additional imaging products and is moving forward positively as it relates to its first product application for approval from the FDA.“

Voyageur has a pipeline of 7 barium products and 3 iodine products all at various stages of approval, all of which aim to serve the West’s unmet need for contrast media products.

Voyageur Plans to Meet the West’s Demand for Non-Chinese Barium and Iodine Contrast Media

Source: Voyageur company presentation

Vertical integration strategy

Voyageur owns its own barium and iodine resource which means it can eliminate all middlemen in the supply chain to reduce overall costs. Once this strategy is accomplished, Voyageur aims to achieve the highest profit margin possible.

This is a prudent strategy but it just takes some time to fully develop it. In the meantime, Voyageur will use third parties where needed.

Voyageur Proposed Timeline: Barium and Iodine contrast media sales to expand globally using Voyageur’s integrated model by 2025-27

Source: Voyageur company presentation

Closing remarks

Voyageur recently raised approximately C$1.2 million in funds to be allocated toward the Company’s near-term goals. With Canadian sales just around the corner and potentially soon USA FDA approval, Voyageur looks set to sail in 2023.

Voyageur Pharmaceuticals trades with a market cap of C$13 million.

Barium and iodine-based radiographic contrast media (RCM) are types of RCM used in diagnostic imaging. Both work by attenuating X-rays to create clearer images of the body’s internal structures. Barium-based RCM is injested orally and used most often for gastrointestinal (GI) radiography and CT , while iodine-based RCM is injected and used primarily for gastrointestinal (GI) radiography and computed tomography (CT) and vascular radiography. These materials are critical for diagnostics and testing in the medical industry.

The Canadian radiology pharmaceutical industry is highly reliant on foreign suppliers, particularly in China. Geopolitical and supply chain issues can drive prices up significantly. Canada is vulnerable to disruptions in the Chinese supply chain. Moreover, quality control issues and intellectual property concerns have also been raised with respect to Chinese-made products.

As a result, the Canadian government has been working on a national strategy to de-couple from China for critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. In order to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, the industry needs more low-cost producers. One of the companies that is working to reduce this reliance is Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TSXV: VM).

This company has recently hit a large milestone that will help the company achieve its long-term goals. They recently finished a production test batch of their barium contrast suspension for computed tomography imaging, known as SmoothX. This testing batch was completed with their contract manufacturer, who recently received their FDA site registration.

The production test batch is an essential milestone in the development of Voyageur’s barium contrast agent, which is being developed as a potential alternative to current products on the market. Barium contrast agents are used in CT scanning to improve the visibility of certain structures and tissues. The successful production of SmoothX opens up the possibility of commercialization in Canada.

Achieving commercial volumes is a key milestone for the company as it looks to establish itself as a major player in the radiology pharmaceutical industry. The company is excited about the potential of SmoothX and believes that it has the potential to be a best-in-class contrast agent. Voyageur is committed to bringing this important new product to market and will continue to invest in its development and commercialization.

The company also holds Health Canada-approved licenses for a total of five barium contrast media products. These licenses give it a great opportunity to expand in the Canadian market. The long-term goal is to develop a fully integrated supply chain for barium and iodine contrast media in Canada. The company has the scale and scope to achieve this. It has a strong product portfolio and a robust research and development pipeline. These capabilities will enable the company to meet the needs of the Canadian market and potentially create shareholder value.

FDA approval is one of the next steps for Voyageur to begin sales in the US. They are also working on building a GMP barium contrast plant to process barium sulfate that would be supplied from their own Frances Creek barium project. This capability would allow them to produce their own product instead of relying on a third party. By controlling all aspects of its carbon footprint, Voyageur will be able to offer a completely carbon-neutral product to its customers.

The company has a 100% controlling interest in three barium sulfate projects, including the Frances Creek property. The Frances Creek property is suitable in grade for the pharmaceutical barite marketplace. In addition, Voyageur has an interest in a high-grade iodine, lithium, and bromine brine project located in Utah. This capability enhances the company’s unique sourcing capability to create its products from its own mineral deposits.

Voyageur’s objective is to become a leading global provider of pharmaceutical barite and high-grade iodine products by leveraging its extensive knowledge of geology, mineral processing, and product formulation. The company plans to achieve this by expanding its production capacity to meet growing demand from the medical imaging industry and continue to explore and develop its portfolio of mineral projects.

Assuming you aren’t a meme stock or an equity driven by the Reddit army, then you know you’ve told the market something it really wanted to hear when your stock is up 80% in one day. Even great news might get you a 5-10% bump so it has to be pretty exceptional to attract this kind of attention. Another indication of excitement is when this move occurs on volume that is 32x your average daily trading activity. If you didn’t have Voyageur Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (TSXV: VM) on your watchlist (or in your portfolio) prior to today, you might want to put it on your radar now.

So, what was the news that drove this bullish rally? We’ll get to that in a moment as a little background may be required unless you are up to speed on the uses and importance of barium sulfate. Barium sulfate (BaSO₄) is a naturally occurring environmentally friendly mineral with a high specific gravity (4.5) and very low solubility. Barium sulfate is used in many industrial applications and is in high demand. Voyageur is pursuing production into the highest margin market worldwide, having developed nine barium products for sale into the radiology pharmaceutical market for MRI, X-ray and CT scan applications.

Now that we’ve established that Voyageur is a drug manufacturing company focused on radiographic contrast media products for the healthcare market, we need to understand what separates it from most other companies. Voyageur is sourcing its own main ingredients from its own mineral deposits, building a business model that will allow it to be a fully integrated company in the radiographic marketplace. Voyageur is implementing a strategy to control its own supply chain and all input costs, leading to the Company motto “From the Earth to the Bottle”. Which is where yesterday’s news becomes important. The Company announced the results of its Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the development of its Frances Creek pharmaceutical barium sulfate project, located 40km from Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia. The base case economics for the project indicate a pre-tax net present value (NPV) of C$464 million and internal rate of return (IRR) of 168%, while the post tax NPV is C$344 million with an IRR of 137% at a discount rate of 8%. The project assumes a pre-production period of 2 years for equipment delivery and installation, and mine permitting with a payback period of 11 months.

At present, Voyageur’s Frances Creek project is the only natural pharmaceutical grade barium sulfate project outside of China. Most companies use high-cost synthetically made barium due to supply and quality constraints. Which is why current pricing of 97.5% BaSO4 available from China has a delivered price (to Calgary) of US$4,760 per tonne, or C$5,960 per tonne. This project is very convenient for Voyageur given its proximity to Calgary where the corporate head office and manufacturing facilities are located. It’s less than a 2 hour drive and although I don’t know exactly where their asset is situated I’m pretty sure I’ve either fished or hiked within 5 kms of the project.

Another reason for the robust PEA economics is a function of the resource being a mere 2 meters below surface. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, any resource that can be accessed by someone with a good shovel has to have advantageous economics. The total capital cost estimate for the project is a miserly C$36.4 million including a 15% contingency on process capital costs, which also contributes to the outstanding PEA economics.

And the best part is, Voyageur expects to be generating its own cash flow using third party barium active pharmaceutical ingredients and manufacturing in 2022. With its manufacturing partner Alberta Veterinarian Laboratories/Solvet it has completed its first test batch of barium contrast media and is working on clinical testing of this first batch to ensure quality and performance. Voyageur’s goal is to complete testing for the Canadian product launch by February followed by a marketing campaign for sales into the Canadian radiology market. Ultimately, Voyageur has plans to build all the required infrastructure to become 100% self-sufficient with all manufacturing but for now, one step at a time.

This isn’t the first time Voyageur has seen a massive one day move on enormous trading volume. On February 12, 2021, following news of Health Canada approval for SmoothX, a barium radiographic contrast suspension that is specifically formulated for computer tomography procedures (CT Scans), the stock was up 228% on 7 million shares. You could say Voyageur has a flare for the dramatic and perhaps there is still opportunity for lightning to strike a third time. With roughly 101 million shares outstanding, the market cap was roughly C$18.2 million based on yesterday’s close of $0.18 versus the PEA NPV after tax of $3.38 per share. Obviously, there is some work to be done before the Frances Creek project becomes a reality, but there’s also a pretty big gap between yesterday’s price and what could be.

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.

• SmoothX_Ba: A barium sulfate oral suspension used in computed tomography scans (CT) of the abdomen to view the gastrointestinal tract in adult and pediatric patients.
• HDX_Ba: 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.
• MultiX_Ba: 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.