CardieX's record half year sales provide solid platform for upcoming product launches

CardieX Ltd (ASX:CDX) has enjoyed record half year sales and is on track for a 30% increase for the first six months of FY2021 compared to the same period in FY2020. CEO and managing director Craig Cooper said this represented the strongest H1 results for the company over the last five years. He said: “Driving this result is continuing strength in sales to the research market as well as new clinical trial contracts which have been announced to the market with Bayer AG. “I expect this strength to continue into next year given the current pipeline of research sales and new clinical trials in process. “With widespread vaccine distribution about to commence, I also expect sales to our traditional clinician market to recover strongly as the US comes out of continuing lockdowns and stay-at-home orders.” ATCOR Pulse launch on track In September 2020, CardieX signed a three-year co-development and commercialisation agreement with Andon which provides for the development and commercialisation of new medical and consumer health devices for home-use based on ATCOR’s patented and global standard SphygmoCor® technology for measuring central blood pressure and arterial stiffness. The first device under the agreement, ATCOR ‘Pulse’ is targeted for commercial launch in the US, Europe, Australia, and China in the fourth quarter of 2021. Cooper said: “Our launch date for the Pulse remains on track and we’ve already received the first prototypes and test units in our US and Sydney offices. “Our first contracted order of the Pulse will be around 10,000 units. “As a guide to the impact of this new device on the revenues for the company, our current device sales of the XCEL central blood pressure monitor (which constitutes the most significant portion of our sales) are in the low hundreds annually. “Volume sales of our new devices targeting the consumer market are anticipated to be exponentially higher based on our internal market forecasts and anticipated product demand.” In addition, launch of the company’s new smart watch in partnership with Mobvoi remains on plan with the first prototypes on track to be delivered to CDX’s marketing and engineering teams in early CY2021. Expanded executive team Cooper said the company had recently added two experienced executive team members who were positioned to make a significant impact on the company as it moved forward with new product launches and the expansion of traditional sales markets. He said: “Steven Kesten MD joins us as our new chief medical officer. “Steven comes to us with a background which includes similar positions at Uptake Medical and global pharma giant Boehringer Ingelheim. “Steven will initially be focused on developing and leading our clinical advocacy programs as well as leading the efforts of the company in developing expanded coverage for our products with insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, and the health payer networks in the USA.” The company has also hired a new chief product officer in Mark Gorelick PhD in a newly created position focused on leading product development and delivery. Cooper said: “Mark is principally charged with working closely with myself and leading the product teams in creating, developing, and delivering to market innovative and industry changing health technologies that disrupt the existing health-tech market. “Mark is a visionary digital health innovator with a Doctorate in Biomedical Science who comes to us with a strong history in both academia and research as well as private company expertise – having held previous CPO and Chief Science Officer positions with leading wearable and digital health companies.” The new CDX/Mobvoi smart watch is expected to be launched in 2021. ATCOR Wellness Division CDX has also restructured its corporate operations into two divisions. The traditional sales and operations of the company’s specialist medical, research, and clinical trial business will be undertaken by the ‘ATCOR Medical’ division, headed by Chris Dax, the current President of ATCOR. New product development in the consumer, home, wearables, and digital health markets (including the new Pulse and Mobvoi Smartwatch initiatives) will be undertaken by the company’s newly created ‘ATCOR Wellness’ division, headed by Mark Gorelick. Cooper said: “Given the nature of the opportunities in both these markets it made sense to divisionalise them so as to enable focused efforts around their unique sales, marketing, and development activities.” Share purchase plan Earlier this month the company announced a share purchase plan (SPP) which aims to raise $1 million but Cooper said it may be closed early, applications may be scaled back, or the company may accept an amount above or below the target - depending on the level of demand received. He said: “Funds raised under the SPP are to be used primarily for working capital purposes and investment into the expansion of product and market development initiatives as previously announced. “I want to reiterate previous announcements that we currently retain sufficient cash reserves for the execution of our new product development and market expansion strategy, and ongoing business operations. “The SPP is principally to enable our retail shareholders to have the opportunity to participate in the next growth phase of the company at price levels that may not otherwise be available to them. Company directors will also be participating in the SPP, which is expected to close on Thursday, December 31, 2020.