A company’s success is not always determined by the products they’re selling; especially, when we are discussing Generic drugs.
A generic drug is defined as "a drug product that is comparable to a brand listed drug product in dosage form, strength, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use.” When your product is exactly the same as your competitor’s product, having the right people working for you is Paramount.
VANC Pharmaceuticals Inc. is (TSX: V.NPH, Stock Forum) a pharmaceutical company focused on the Canadian generic drug and over-the-counter markets. They are publically traded on the TSX-V & NASDAQ OTC BB (NPH.V & NUVPF).
Currently they hold a “Letter Of Intent” with a company that has not been announced. The “LOI” aims to make Vanc Pharmaceuticals the preferred supplier with a Western Canada based multi-chain pharmacy. Vanc Pharma also boasts a pretty impressive drug portfolio for a new company.
Mr. Bob Rai joined the Vanc Pharmaceuticals team as a Director according to a news release on June 4th 2015. This release came and went without really making a “splash”. After digging into Bob Rai’s history, his addition to the Board of directors may be more significant than the market perceived.
Bob Rai is a Pharmacist and owner of several Medicine Shoppes - a pharmacy chain with almost 200 independently owned and operated stores across Canada. The Canadian Medicine Shoppe franchise was purchased in 2012 by McKesson Canada, who has been the leader of Logistics and Distribution in the Canadian Healthcare sector for the past 100 years.
To make things more intertwined, I’ll add that The Medicine Shoppe Canada is part of the USA Based Medicine Shoppe International Franchise business – which is owned by Cardinal Health. Cardinal Health is a pharmaceutical distribution company that supplies over 75% of the Hospitals in the USA and approximately 100,000 Pharmaceutical locations.
In addition to operating a chain of The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacies in Greater Vancouver for the past 15 years, Bob Rai has had several successful entrepreneurial and charitable endeavors. In 1998 Mr. Rai and his partners pioneered and revolutionized the online pharmacy business to the United States.
The online sales and distribution of prescription medicines saw unprecedented industry growth and as other operators followed suit, the unique business concept became a billion dollar industry across Canada.
Also on the board of Directors is Sina Pirooz. Mr Pirooz owns the Pure Integrated Pharmacy chain, which has 11 locations (according to their website) in the greater Vancouver and Victoria area. We don’t have time to discuss the entire management team, but I can assure you they are well equipped and have proved themselves efficient with the milestones achieved to date.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Vanc Pharmaceuticals CEO Arun Nayyer. Obviously Arun couldn’t answer any “Material” questions; but here’s a sneak peak of what it’s been like behind the scenes of Vanc Pharma.
Joe: Arun, at this stage of Vanc Pharma's journey, what operations are consuming the majority of your time and manpower?
Arun: Setting up infrastructure for distribution, sales and marketing, managing inventories, negotiating better prices from vendors, new products flows, putting in various systems…
What does Bob Rai bring to the team?
Arun: Besides his impressive list of Education and Experience, Bob brings a pre-existing relationship and affiliation with McKesson to the team. His experience and history with the National distributor adds tremendous value because it is a target we are moving towards.
Joe: Your business plan is fairly simple to understand and this isn't your first time running this model. Can you comment on the model and any prior successful implementations?
Arun: Yes we have done it in the past and we should be able to do it well again. For any successful organization one requires products and people. We have now health Canada approved products and over the next few months we will put a team in place and start the revenue generation.
Joe: I've been following Vanc Pharma for a while, and it seems to me that we are close to what might be the most exciting times for the company. Would you agree?
Arun: Yes, as we move towards revenue generation and build our business, we are excited.
Joe: What competitive advantages does Vanc Pharmaceuticals have over similar companies selling in the same business?
Arun: We are a multi sourcing company and not a manufacturing company. We can source from various vendors as long as these organizations are approved from health Canada. This helps us to build a large product portfolio. Our competitors are mostly focused on Generics alone or OTC products alone. We see ourselves working towards both a Generic and OTC products company.
Joe: Are you working on more drug approvals from Health Canada?
Arun: We are currently in the process of getting more Health Canada Approvals. We are expecting approval on 10-14 drugs.
Joe: Do you have plans to expand outside of Western Canada?
Arun: We plan on becoming listed in all the formal areas across Canada and becoming truly a Nation Wide Distributor.
Thank you for your time, I hope to follow up with you near the end of the year.
-Joe Bleackley.
"Joe Bleackley is based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He is founder and lead writer for The Trader's Boardroom, an online Magazine."