ArtemiC and COVID-19: MGC Pharmaceuticals Completes Covid-19 Treatment Order, Sees Record Revenue

Key Highlights:

• MGC Pharma has completed production of the ~€650,000 (~A$1,000,000) order of ArtemiC (TM) from leading European nutraceuticals distributor, Swiss PharmaCan AG (SPC), as announced in May 2020
• Under terms of the purchase order, the full ~€650,000 (~A$1,000,000) order value will be received by the Company by early December
• ArtemiC is a supplement now available in a number of countries, designed to provide support to COVID-19 patients and alleviate their symptoms
• Further SPC orders for ArtemiC from MGC Pharma are set to continue following the grant of the Certificate of Free Trade in Germany and the EU in September 2021
• MGC Pharma continues working towards opening new EU and International markets for the product with SPC
• The Company has manufacturing capacity at its production facility in Slovenia to produce commercial scale batches of ArtemiC as a food supplement for distribution by SPC
• A Strong sales pipeline continues to deliver material revenue to the Company as reported in the September 2021 quarterly report, and with completion of this SPC ArtemiC ~€650,000 order, now positions the Company to deliver another record quarterly and half yearly revenue result at 31 December 2021.

MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX, LSE: MXC, ‘MGC Pharma’ or ‘the Company’), a European based bio-pharma company specialising in the production and development of phytomedicines, confirms that it has completed production of the ~€650,000 (~A$1,000,000) ArtemiC order from Swiss PharmaCan AG, as first announced on 4 May 2021. 

Under the terms of the contract, MGC Pharma expects to receive the full order amount of ~€650,000 (~A$1,000,000) by early December, which would place the Company on track to deliver its best quarter and half yearly revenue result as at 31 December 2021. 

ArtemiC (TM) is a proprietary supplement for MGC Pharma, which is based on SPC’s IP, MyCell technology. MGC Pharma are the sole producer of ArtemiC and SPC, the master distributors. MGC Pharma has existing food supplement manufacturing capacity in Slovenia to produce this and future orders from SPC, which are progressing access to new markets following the September grant of the Certificate of Free Trade in Germany and the EU. 

MGC Pharma and SPC are continuing to seek approvals for ArtemiC as a supplement in a number of countries to provide support to COVID-19 patients and alleviate their symptoms. Alongside this, MGC Pharma are making progress on the long-term development of the Investigational Medicinal Product CimetrATM through its ongoing clinical studies, and applications for Emergency Use Authorisation in India and other National Regulatory and Medical Agencies are currently underway.

Roby Zomer, Co-founder and Managing Director of MGC Pharma, commented: “The partnership between MGC and Swiss PharmaCan has been a cornerstone for MGC’s continued sales and revenue growth in 2021 in the European market for its COVID-19 treatment ArtemiC. With the continuing outbreaks of COVID-19, not only in Europe but globally, we expect to see continued growth in the demand for COVID-19 treatments for those people who contract the disease. MGC believes that its COVID-19 treatments are a cost-effective alternative which will assist the public health system manage the growing number of patients requiring medical intervention.”

About ArtemiC

ArtemiC is an oral spray made up of artemisinin, curcumin, vitamin C and Boswellia serrata, and could serve as an adjunctive to the standard treatment for COVID-19. It has been tested on 50 COVID-19 patients in Israel and India.

MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) has concluded phase two clinical trials of anti-inflammatory drug ArtemiC, confirming the drug’s ability to combat COVID-19.

Results from the clinical trials found ArtemiC improves clinical recovery and prevents further deterioration in moderate COVID-19 cases compared to a placebo.

None of the patients in the treatment group required additional oxygen, mechanical ventilation or admission to intensive care, in comparison with 23.4 per cent of the placebo group requiring further assistance.

All patients treated in the double-blind trials recovered within 15 days of follow up.

The ASX-listed company is working with global distribution partner Swiss PharmaCan AG in distributing the product worldwide. At the moment, ArtemiC is not yet available for sale in Asia Pacific.

Ron Lipsky, VP at MGC Pharma told Nutraingredients-Asia:

ArtemiC has been approved for sale as a food supplement in Malaysia and is in touch with several major pharmacy groups in selling the product.

Roby Zomer, CEO of MGC Pharma told Nutraingredients-Asia:

One of the retail strategies is to work with clinics that are conducting COVID-19 tests and distribute an emergency kit containing ArtemiC to all who are taking the test. If one has got COVID-19 tested and identified as positive, its better for one to take ArtemiC to reduce the risk of the cytokine storm from happening.

At the moment, the product can be shipped globally from Slovenia - the country of product manufacturing. It is also distributed in Switzerland.

Zomer said sales of the product has been performing better than expected. He revealed that 60,000 units of the product were sold in the first month of sales. 

There are two versions to ArtemiC, known as ArtemiC Rescue and ArtemiC Support. ArtemiC Rescue is meant to be an adjunctive to COVID-19 treatment while ArtemiC Support contains no artemisinin and is meant to be a daily supplement.

ArtemiC Rescue has been approved for sale as a food supplement in Malaysia. 

There are some restrictions in the use of artemisinin in some territories. On the other hand, curcumin and Boswellia serrata are food ingredients which have no regulatory restrictions and can be provided without limitation globally; which is why ArtemiC Support has been developed.

New Findings

New preclinical results showed that ArtemiC could address the problem of cytokine overproduction in COVID-19 patients.

The pre-clinical study showed that ArtemiC could decrease inflammation markers, such as IFN-g, IL-1a and TNF-alpha, in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of mice experiencing cytokine storm related to COVID-19.

"ArtemiC is agnostic to the source of cytokine storm from the virus perspective. It is agnostic to the COVID-19 virus and it doesn't matter if the patient is down with the Indian or Brazilian or European variant. The mechanism of action lies in the reduction of the cytokine storm to prevent the escalation of the disease," Zomer said.

Future study will involve developing ArtemiC into a medicine trademarked CimetrA. The company has started clinical development program for CimetrA as an investigational medicinal product.

"At the end of the day, it will be a combination of vaccine and treatment that will allow global humanity to go back to normality and to live with the COVID-19."

There are also other plans to work with hospitals in severely affected countries such as India, Brazil, Latin America and even Indonesia and Malaysia in conducting clinical trials using ArtemiC Rescue.

About MGC Pharma 

MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (LSE: MXC, ASX: MXC) is a European based bio-pharma company developing and supplying affordable standardised phytomedicines to patients globally. The Company’s founders were key figures in the global medical cannabis industry and the core business strategy is to develop and supply high quality phytocannabinoid derived medicines for the growing demand in the medical markets in Europe, North America and Australasia. MGC Pharma has a robust product offering targeting two widespread medical conditions – epilepsy and dementia – and has further products in the development pipeline. 

Employing its ‘Nature to Medicine’ strategy, MGC Pharma has partnered with renowned institutions and academia to optimise cultivation and the development of targeted phytocannabinoid derived medicines products prior to production in the Company’s EUGMP Certified manufacturing facility. 

MGC Pharma has a number of research collaborations with world renowned academic institutions, and including recent research highlighting the positive impact of using specific phytocannabinoid formulations developed by MGC Pharma in the treatment of glioblastoma, the most aggressive and so far therapeutically resistant primary brain tumour. 

MGC Pharma has a growing patient base in Australia, the UK, Brazil and Ireland and has a global distribution footprint via an extensive network of commercial partners meaning that it is poised to supply the global market.