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Callitas Health outlines 2019 plans for sales and marketing in letter to shareholders

Last updated: 01:35 20 Dec 2018 AEDT, First published: 01:08 20 Dec 2018 AEDT

THC and CBD
Management will focus on creating shareholder value in 2019 via the launch of products and partnerships

Callitas Health Inc (CSE:LILY) (OTCQB:MPHMF) is setting its sights on sales and marketing next year as the clinical-stage pharmaceutical company is set to rebound from a year marked by personal tragedy.

“We expect 2019 to be a breakout year,” wrote James Thompson, CEO of Callitas, in a letter to shareholders released Wednesday.

“Management will focus on creating shareholder value through progress on our clinical and pre-clinical milestones, executing on partnership opportunities, expanding our over-the-counter presence, and quickly capitalizing on the cannabis opportunities in the US and abroad, in both CBD and THC legal markets,” Thompson wrote.

On the company’s list of achievements this year is its partnership and co-branding agreement for its ToConceive fertility lubricant with NFI Consumer Healthcare’s over-the-counter pregnancy test kit brand. The arrangement includes promotional opportunities and new product inclusion at food, drug and other retailers throughout the US. The partnership should begin generating revenue in early 2019, according to Thompson.

READ: Callitas Health signs deal to expand cannabis-delivery technology portfolio

Other advances include the renewal of its partnership with Lifestyles for the licensing of its female enhancement gel brand Excite by SKYN. Callitas has also begun product development for Lifestyles on a new item for 2019, which should be released to major US food, drug and mass retailers, Thompson wrote in his letter.

Callitas is also evaluating the international expansion of its over-the-counter products and is advancing its research and development efforts for fertility oral supplements, prenatal vitamins and male enhancement gels.

In other news, Callitas is evaluating acquisitions, including a medical foods company targeting bariatric patients and obesity, as well as the licensing of additional products and assets for US markets.

BIG PICTURE: Callitas Health banks on CannaStrips and OTC products while swinging for the fence with blockbuster drugs

Callitas also continues to see “significant revenue potential” in developing its Cannabis Pharmaceutical (CannaPharma) Delivery Technologies via partnering with local, regional, national and international partners.  “We are excited about our recent partnering discussions and hope to be able to share additional updates on this critical sector of our overall business,” Thompson wrote.

On the Rx front, Callitas is continuing its Phase 2 study for C-103, its reformulated version of orlistat for weight loss. It’s also beginning preliminary Phase 2 work on Extrinsa, a reformulated topical tadalafil for female sexual dysfunction.

Putting 2018 challenges in the rear view

Dogged by personal tragedy, James Thompson used his letter to shareholders to not only provide a corporate update but to explain the company’s recent delay in filing second-quarter results.

Last September, Gary Thompson, Callitas’s former CEO, passed away from brain cancer, leaving James Thompson at the helm of the clinical-stage pharmaceutical company as CEO. Months later, in August, Erin Thompson, the wife of James Thompson, suffered a ruptured aneurism and hemorrhagic stroke while exercising. She survived, but spent more than two months in a neurosurgery intensive care unit and is now recovering in a Skilled Nursing/Stroke Rehab Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

READ: Callitas Health working with British Columbia Securities Commission to lift cease-trade order

Due to the tragic circumstances, Callitas delayed the filing of its second-quarter financial statements with the British Columbia Securities Commission and, as a result, received a cease-trade order from the Commission.

“This deficiency was cured early October and the shares resumed trading October 19, 2018,” explained Thompson.

“The trading halt negatively impacted the company perception in the short run and delayed some operations and capital raising discussions. The delay in the second-quarter filing was due specifically to the aforementioned personal tragedies,” he added.

New faces

In other management news, Dr Laura Berman, an assistant clinical professor of OBGYN and psychiatry at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, has been appointed to the role of Callitas's chief health advisor. Berman will assist in the promotion of ToConceive and also consult on the development of other products.

Dr Gregory Smith as also been added as the company’s chief cannabis advisor.  A US army veteran, Smith has been working as a physician in California, Georgia and Florida for the past 30 years. He first trained on the use of medical cannabis in California in 2000. He is the editor-in-chief of www.Cannabis-MD.com and the director of medical affairs for First Harvest Financial, a cannabis investment firm.

Contact Ellen Kelleher at ellen@proactiveinvestors.com

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