vertical integration case study in pharmaceutical industry

14 Jun 2019

Pharma Case Study : Vertical Integration – Relevium’s acquisition of Lifeline Pharma SAS

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TagsBackward integration, Forward integration in pharmaceutical, vertical integration

Relevium Technologies Inc., is pleased to announce that Biocannabix Health Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Relevium has executed on June 12, 2019 a binding agreement to acquire the shares of Lifeline Pharma SAS, a Cali based cultivation and extraction business in the burgeoning agro pharma market in Colombia.

STRATEGIC FIT FOR GLOBAL SUPPLY AND VERTICAL INTEGRATION

Relevium’s Bio-Pharma arm, Biocannabix, is focused in developing, marketing and selling endo-medicinal formulations on Nutraceuticals and Medical foods aimed primarily to pediatrics. An essential component of the strategy of delivering safe, 100% auditable medicine for pediatric patients is to ensure total control over the genetics, the cultivation and the processing of extracts. The partnership with Lifeline ensures a 100% organically grown product with access to over 600 registered genetic strains, the buildout of an EU GMP extraction facility in the Pacific Free Zone and the ability to trace and fully audit the process from seed to medicine through blockchain technology.

The strict regulation of the Colombian legal regime for cannabis only allow for the export of extracts and finished goods and we aim to service international demand for organically sourced medical cannabis extracts for LATAM, Europe and eventually the Asian continent.

LOCAL MARKET THAT IS READY TO ADOPT ENDO-MEDICINAL FORMULATIONS

Traditional remedies and natural medicine are an integral part of Colombian culture and with a fast-growing middle class and entrepreneurial nature, this market with a population of over 49 million is moving quickly to adopt cannabinoid therapy. Lifeline, through Biocannabix pediatric formulations, is poised to successfully obtain a significant market share of the local market.

TRANSACTION DETAILS

Under the terms of the binding agreement, Biocannabix will acquire 100% of the shares on Lifeline Pharma SAS by investing an initial US$850,000 to be deployed during stage one of the projects. The initial investment is comprised of US$125,000 at signing, US$125,000 upon the grant of the initial licenses and a commitment to deploy funds totalling US$600,000 over the next seven months. As part of the transaction, Biocannabix Health Corporation will issue US$3,650,000 in shares representing approximately 41% of the shares outstanding of the wholly owned subsidiary.

In the event of a major transaction including a sale or a public offering, the shareholders of Lifeline Pharma will also receive an additional US$1.5 million to be settled in shares of Biocannabix or in cash.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PARTNERSHIP WITH LIFELINE

Best in class partnership for international vertical integration.
Combination of Biocannabix focus on Pediatric Endo-Medicine with a large-scale operation with 150 years of sustainable, environmentally responsible and organic agricultural history
Located in Rozo, Valle del Cauca, in the heart of the sugar cane enclave seven minutes away from the international airport and 10 minutes away from Cali’s downtown core and a population of over 3M people
Multi-stage project with (1) an initial 5 hectares that includes the local offices, a laboratory, a fully enclosed greenhouse for tissue culture and micropropagation and an initial cultivation of over 200,000 square feet in open air green houses, (2) an option to expand to an additional 20 hectares or 2.2 million square feet of open air greenhouse cultivation and (3) the possibility to expand to another additional 60 hectares or 6.5 million square feet of cultivation.
Full registration of 668 genetic strains with the ICA, the Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario.
Three licenses in progress including (1) extraction and manufacturing, (2) cultivation with THC and (3) non-psychoactive cultivation, all with scientific research, domestic sales and export modalities.
Strategic low-cost infrastructure that allows for an estimated stage two flower capacity of 170,000 Kg per year with an initial estimated cost of production 0.53$ per gram.
Development of an industrial scale extraction plant in the Pacific Free Zone, a private industrial park located minutes away from the cultivation project. The free zone offers the benefits of the free regime and seeks to promote and develop the process of industrialization of goods, the productive chain and the provision of services, as well as strengthen the competitiveness of its users and customers by taking advantage of the generated opportunities from international trade and bilateral agreements signed by Colombia.
Genetics laboratory and agronomic research in the BioParque del Pacifico located in the campus of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the Colombian Corporation for agricultural research (Agrosavia).