Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Hector Bremner, CEO at Avricore Health Inc.:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Avricore Health Inc.?
A: Avricore Health Inc. (TSXV: AVCR) is a pharmacy service innovator focused on acquiring and developing early-stage technologies aimed at moving pharmacy forward.
Through our flagship offering HealthTab™, a wholly owned subsidiary, we generate revenues today from the network of Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall pharmacies in Canada. And soon, we will launch in the UK with an exciting feasibility studies in collaboration with Barts Heart Centre and HEART UK.
HealthTab™ is a turnkey point-of-care testing solution that combines best-in-class point-of-care technologies (POCT), thanks to our partnership with Abbott Rapid Diagnostics, and our secure cloud-based platform for tackling pressing global health issues. With just a few drops of blood from a finger prick, the system generates lab-accurate results on the spot and data is reported in real-time. The test menu includes up to 23 key biomarkers for screening and managing chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease (e.g., HbA1c, Lipid Profile, eGFR). HealthTab™ has also recently added capabilities for bacterial and viral tests, such as strep and COVID-19.
Most importantly, we’re addressing a large and ongoing need: That is supporting pharmacies drive more clinical services revenues as they work with patients on chronic and infectious disease concerns.
Q: What is your company mission?
A: Our mission is to make actionable health information more accessible to everyone by creating the world’s largest network of rapid testing devices in community pharmacies. As we accomplish this, we are bringing actionable health data to more pharmacies around the world, empowering patients and healthcare teams to make better decisions about their health, faster.
Q: Any highlights on your latest announcement?
A: We’ve been growing substantially, while maintain strong fiscal controls, ensuring HealthTab is cashflow positive and we are able to grow organically and compound our growth.
Additionally, we launched with Rexall, one of Canada’s largest pharmacy retailers and subsidiary of McKesson, a global leader in healthcare.
All of this speaks to our growth potential and ability to deliver quality point-of-care testing solutions and data management in a sustainable and profitable way – something that other just haven’ been able to do.
Q: What can we expect from Avricore in next 6 months? What are your plans?
A: We expect to grow aggressively in Canada and hope to earn the support of the UK NHS to scale up in that country. We also expect to see more international markets open up to us, as every nation is struggling with delivering care and containing the costs related to chronic disease, which is often more than 70% of healthcare spending.
We are also excited about more connectivity with global health tech leaders, such as Ascensia, where we recently announced the connection of their Contour NextGen glucose meters to HealthTab. This will be the first time we will have “near-to-patient” data collected by our platform, offering better insights into patient health outcomes, but also demonstrating how HealthTab can evolved and serve wearables and other emerging technologies.
Q: What is the best thing about Avricore that people might not know about?
A: I think people need to know that HealthTab™ network model is unlike anything in pharmacy today. It gives knowledgeable and trusted pharmacists a greater role in primary care delivery while empowering patients to take more control of their health.
It also reduces costs and waiting times and provides 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.
So, with pharmacy being a $1.6 trillion business around the world and it needing to pivot to offering more clinical services, there is huge opportunity for companies like us to service that need. We are first to market and are leading the way, it’s very exciting!
