Immunotec. Nutrition firm's stock to trade publicly
Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Entrepreneur Charles (Chuck) Roberts started Immunotec Research Ltd. with a single sheet of paper and loads of ambition to bring good science right to Main St .
A decade later, he and co-founder Dieter Beer have a highly profitable health and nutrition products firm.
It has more than $50 million in worldwide sales, and expects to approach $100 million in another two years.
Its compound annual growth rate is 30 to 35 per cent.
Roberts, 68, and Beer, 73, are readying the next step.
A major pension fund is putting up $10 million to buy 7.5 per cent of each partner's shares.
While the privately held company is not disclosing details yet, the founders will be taking a return on their 10-year project in cash.
Then Immunotec will merge with a defunct Montreal biopharma firm, Magistral Biotech Inc., which is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.
The name will be changed to Immunotec.
Magistral has sold its cholesterol unit and settled its debts, so it is "clean" and meets all the conditions Immunotec set for the reverse takeover.
For the first time, Immunotec will trade publicly. Later, perhaps in a year, Roberts said, a public issue of treasury stock might follow, providing a larger public share-float.
"It's not that we really need money," said Roberts, who is Immunotec's president.
"Our products to boost the immune system and promote health are sold via a North American network of 10,000 independent distributors, with licencees worldwide, on the model of Amway and Avon . Manufacturing is outsourced in Canada and the U.S. "
Roberts said he has no plans to slow down or retire.
Beer, who owns a big electronics importing company in Germany , now lives near Toronto .
Immunotec's original product, Immunocal, patented in Canada and the U.S. , was the fruit of almost 20 years of research led by Gustavo Bounous at McGill University . He is the company's director of research and development.
Last year, Wulf Droege, a world expert in immunobiology and anti-aging, joined as senior vice-president, R&D. "I wanted to take the science out of the laboratory and make it available to the general public," he said.
The research group includes John H. Molson, vice-president, R&D, who is the link with the medical community and the independent distributor network. The Molson family was among its earliest shareholders.
The top management team includes Richard Patte, executive vice-president, and several senior professionals with extensive experience in direct selling.
"I'm really a marketing man at heart, but I'm absolutely convinced research is pivotal for Immunotec's future," Roberts said.
"We invest about $1 million a year on projects with partners."
Studies have shown the company's main products, derived from the whey content of highly purified milk, not only boost the immune system and promote health but might also help in finding solutions for other health problems.
Immunotec's flagship product is known as Immunocal in the U.S. and HMS 90 in Canada because of regulatory differences.
It is a protein or dietary supplement containing a building block for glutathione, an essential part of the body's immune system. Immunocal supports the immune system and helps the body to produce a key antioxidant and detoxifying agent, Immunotec says.
Immunotec also makes weight-loss and skin-care products, vitamins and mineral and calcium supplements. Its latest version of Immunocal is designed for baby boomers and has been used by Olympic athletes.
"We can live longer by giving the body what it needs to function optimally," said Roberts, an avid sportsman who signs his personal cards: "President/sky bum/river rat." He worked for Kraft Canada before developing two sportswear businesses. He joined Beer to found Immunotec after selling the second venture.
Immunotec's 40,000-square-foot headquarters at Vaudreuil-Dorion, with about 60 employees, boasts a university-style amphitheatre. "We use it to help new independent distributors fully understand our products and see how they can grow their own businesses," said Kathryn Stephens, director of marketing.
rgibbens@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006