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- Biopharma company Immuron (IMC) has seen its global sales increase by 60 per cent to $983,000 in the March 2020 quarter
- In the year-to-date (YTD), as at March 31st, worldwide sales reached $2.67 million, marking a healthy 57 per cent increase on the same time last year
- Further, Australian and U.S.-based sales for its Travelan product, grew significantly due to various marketing initiatives
- Unfortunately, promotional campaigns came to a halt in mid-March once COVID-19 travel bans were put in place
- As Travelan has primarily been marketed to avoid Traveller’s Diarrhoea, the company expects a material sales decline at the end of this quarter
- To mitigate this, Immuron plans to promote Travelan and its sister product, Protectyn, as gut health maintenance supplements
- Immuron is up 7.53 per cent and shares are trading for 10 cents each
Biopharma company Immuron (IMC) has seen its global sales increase by 60 per cent to $983,000 in the March 2020 quarter, compared to $616,000 in the prior corresponding period.
In the year-to-date (YTD), as at March 31 2020, worldwide sales reached $2.67 million marking a healthy 57 per cent increase on the same time last year.
In Australia, Travelan sales increased to $475,000 in the March quarter, representing a 35 per cent increase over the prior corresponding period. The company attributes the sales growth of its diarrhoea-preventative medication to marketing initiatives with Pharmacies, including a Chemist Warehouse TV advertisement in December 2019.
Australian YTD sales at the end of March 31 reached $1.43 million which is 35 per cent higher than the same time last year.
In the U.S., March quarter sales grew by 50 per cent and YTD March 31 sales reached A$926,000 which is 46 per cent higher than the same time last year.
This growth is due to increasing sales in both Passport Health Travel Clinics and on the Amazon e-commerce channel.
In mid-February 2020, a consumer awareness campaign was launched in the U.S. This generated valuable publicity for Travelan however the campaign was cut short due to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on international travel in late March.
While Travelan has experienced impressive sales growth, Immuron expects the travel bans in place due to COVID-19 will heavily impact sales in Q4 FY20.
While Travelan is primarily targeted to and used by people embarking on travel, it also has gut health maintenance benefits. Immuron has therefore decided to market Travelan and its sister product, Protectyn, by promoting their gut health benefits.
The company claims Travelan helps to maintain the delicate balance of the gut microbiota by eliminating foreign pathogens, whether you are travelling or self-isolating at home.
The pandemic has also caused delays in future clinical trials.
“While this is a difficult time for so many, we have also decided to conserve our cash reserves and suspend all work associated with the IND filing and postpone the planned phase III clinical program for IMM-124E to prevent Travelers’ Diarrhea which was on track to submit an IND application to the FDA in June 2020,” CEO Jerry Kanellos said.
“The company will continue the clinical development of a new oral therapeutic targeting travellers’ diarrhea caused by campylobacter and enterotoxigenic E.coli pathogens with the Naval Medical Research Centre,” he added.
Immuron will evaluate this product in two clinical trials scheduled to begin in quarter three and four.
The biopharma company will also continue to support the Uniformed Services University’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program (IDCRP), the U.K. Ministry of Defence and the New York City Travel Clinic who are jointly conducting a trial to evaluate the efficacy of Travelan and two other nutraceutical products for Travelers’ Diarrhea prevention.
Immuron is up 7.53 per cent and shares are trading for 10 cents each at 2:29 pm AEST.
