PharmaCielo gets new CEO after revenue collapses; Khiron reports loss

PharmaCielo and Khiron Life Sciences – Toronto-based companies with their main operations in Colombia – reported losses this week for the quarter ending in September.

PharmaCielo reported revenue of only 25,913 Canadian dollars ($20,000) for the quarter, down 97% from the previous quarter and 80% compared to the same period one year ago.

The company lost CA$6.1 million in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, slightly better than the second quarter’s CA$7.7 million net loss.

By category, PharmaCielo’s sales consisted of:
  • CA$5,085 for sales of cannabis derivative products.
  • CA$20,828 for revenue from telemedicine services.

PharmaCielo also announced a leadership change at the CEO level.

Henning von Koss, previously PharmaCielo’s president and director, took over as CEO on Dec. 1.

In a news release, the company said it reached a mutual agreement with David Attard “under which David will step down as chief executive officer and PharmaCielo board member, effective Dec.1, 2020.”

Attard’s severance is still being finalized, a spokesperson for the company told Marijuana Business Daily.

Attard is being retained by the company in a consultancy capacity, the spokesperson said.

Marc Lustig joined PharmaCielo’s board earlier this month. Lustig was formerly CEO of Origin House, which was acquired by Cresco Labs.

PharmaCielo is focused on exporting from Colombia, but exports from that country – and Latin America in general – have not been impressive so far.

Khiron, meanwhile, reported a net loss of CA$6.7 million in its latest quarter, up from CA$5.7 million in the previous three-month period.

Khiron’s revenue in the quarter was CA$1.9 million, up 18% from the previous quarter.

By category, Khiron’s sales consisted of:

  • CA$1.7 million for health services.
  • CA$110,152 for medical cannabis products.
  • CA$32,604 for well-being products.

The company’s medical cannabis sales mainly took place in the Colombian market, but Khiron also started sales in the competitive Peruvian market as well as in the United Kingdom.

Sales of Khiron-branded products in the United Kingdom – sourced from Linneo Health in Spain – started in May 2020 under Project Twenty21, a medical cannabis registry.

The project, launched by London-based Drug Science, has the ambitious goal of recruiting 20,000 patients by the end of 2021.

As of Oct. 16 – one year after the November 2019 launch – just “over 200 (patients) have gone through an initial consultation,” Drug Science noted.

Despite the quarterly loss, Khiron’s management fees and salaries rose to CA$1.45 million – double what they were in the same period a year earlier.

However, share-based compensation fell to CA$1.56 million in the quarter. It was CA$2.29 million one year ago.

Khiron ended the third quarter with CA$14.7 million in cash

PharmaCielo ended its quarter with CA$3.2 million.

Both Khiron and PharmaCielo raised fresh capital last week totaling CA$14.5 and CA$10 million, respectively.

Shares of Khiron and PharmaCielo trade on the TSX Venture Exchange as KHRN and PCLO, respectively.