LAVAL, Quebec--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Crescita Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: CTX and OTC US: CRRTF) (“Crescita” or the “Company”), a growth-oriented, innovation-driven Canadian commercial dermatology company, today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (“Q1-F2021”). All amounts presented are in thousands of Canadian dollars (“CAD”) unless otherwise noted.

Financial Highlights

Q1-F2021 vs. Q1-F2020

• Revenue was $3,265 compared to $3,815, a decrease of $550;
• Gross profit was $2,116 compared to $2,464, a decrease of $348;
• Operating expenses were $2,413 compared to $2,825, a decrease of $412;
• Adjusted EBITDA¹ was $87 compared to $112, a decrease of $25;
• Ending cash position was $13,944 compared to $9,334, an increase of $4,610.

“Despite longer lockdown periods, the improved performance of our Commercial segment over the prior year indicates early signs of recovery as we continue to see the benefits of our investments in digital marketing and commercial initiatives,” commented Serge Verreault, President and CEO of Crescita. “We launched our skin revitalization solution, NCTF, in April through a virtual event with positive feedback and are looking forward to continuing our fieldwork to create brand awareness and ramp up sales,” added Mr. Verreault.

“During the quarter, we recognized US$637 of the US$1,000 annual minimum royalties under our licensing agreement with Taro due to the continued shortfall of the U.S. sales of Pliaglis. Taro is pursuing its efforts to commercialize the product and we are monitoring the situation closely. We remain focused on expanding the international footprint of Pliaglis, growing our medical aesthetics business, and leveraging our strong cash balance for M&A.”

Q1-F2021 and Subsequent Corporate Developments

Launch of New Cellular Treatment Factor^®

• In April, we launched New Cellular Treatment Factor^® (“NCTF”) in the Canadian medical aesthetics market. NCTF is a unique skin revitalization solution, containing hyaluronic acid and over 50 key ingredients, which smooths fine lines, restores radiance, deeply nourishes the skin and increases skin density. Since 1978, NCTF has been a leader in skin revitalization with over 4 million bottles sold around the world annually.

Patent Granted for CTX-102

• On March 16, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 10,945,952 for Rinse-Off Compositions and Uses Thereof for Delivery of Active Agents which is valid through March 16, 2040 and Orange Book listable against CTX-102 once the product is approved. The enhanced deposition technology protected by the patent may be utilized in new development projects in the future.

Lease Amendment for Manufacturing and Office Facility

• Effective March 15, the Company amended the lease for its manufacturing and office facility, extending the lease term for a period of five years until September 30, 2026 and adding a renewal option in favour of the Company for an additional period of five years until September 30, 2031.

Q1-F2021 Financial Results

Note: The Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”), Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements and accompanying notes for the three months ended March 31, 2021 are available at www.crescitatherapeutics.com/investors and have been filed with SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Summary Financial Results

Revenue

The Company has three reportable segments: 1) Commercial Skincare (“Commercial”), which manufactures branded non-prescription skincare products for sale in both the Canadian and international markets, and commercializes Pliaglis^® in Canada; 2) Licensing and Royalties (“Licensing”), which includes revenues generated from licensing our intellectual property related to Pliaglis or to our transdermal delivery technologies; and 3) Manufacturing and Services (“Manufacturing”), which includes revenue from contract manufacturing and product development services.

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, total revenue was $3,265 compared to $3,815 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The decrease of $550 came primarily from a decrease of $647 in the Licensing segment. In Q1-F2021, we recorded minimum guaranteed royalties of $806 (US$637) for Pliaglis in the U.S. in accordance with our licensing agreement with Taro, compared to U.S. royalties of $1,453 in Q1-F2020. Manufacturing revenue decreased by $131 mainly due to the timing of shipments year-over-year.

The decreases in our Licensing and Manufacturing segments were partly offset by an increase of $228 in our Commercial segment, mainly driven by incremental sales from our Laboratoire Dr Renaud^® (“LDR”) e-commerce platform as well as from personal protective equipment, partly offset by lower demand for our skincare products in international markets. Even with longer periods of spa and medispa closures in Q1-F2021 versus Q1-F2020, we are seeing the benefit of our investment in digital marketing and commercial initiatives.

Gross Profit

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, gross profit was $2,116, representing a gross margin of 64.8%, compared to $2,464 and 64.6%, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The decrease of $348 in gross profit was mainly due to the decrease in high margin licensing revenue year-over-year, while the improvement in gross margin of 0.2% was mainly driven by wage and rent subsidies under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (“CEWS”) and Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (“CERS”) programs, partly offset by the impact of the lower high-margin licensing revenue year-over-year.

Operating Expenses

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, total operating expenses were $2,413 compared to $2,825 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The year-over-year decrease of $412 was primarily driven by lower selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses mainly as a result of wage subsidies under the CEWS program of $296, lower travel expenses due to shelter-in-place rules and, to a lesser extent, lower depreciation and amortization expense.

Other Expenses (Income)

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, other expenses totaled $139 compared to other income of $47 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The year-over-year increase of $186 was mainly due to a net foreign currency loss of $151 recorded in the quarter compared to a net foreign currency gain of $50 in Q1-F2020. These currency variances are primarily driven by the timing of payments and settlements of foreign currency denominated balances, the revaluation of certain balance sheet items including our contract asset in the amount of $1,963 denominated in euros, combined with the volatility of foreign exchange rates.

Loss Before Income Taxes

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company reported a loss before income taxes of $436 compared to a loss before income taxes of $314 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The loss increase of $122 was mainly attributable to the net overall reduction in gross profit of $348 and an increase in the net foreign exchange loss of $201, partly offset by the decreases in SG&A and depreciation and amortization expenses of $320 and $83, respectively.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents were $13,944 at March 31, 2021 compared to $9,334 at March 31, 2020, representing a year-over-year increase of $4,610, mainly due to cash of $5,151 received following the amendment to the Company’s licensing agreement with Taro in Q3-F2020, partly offset by the cash used in operations.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

We report our financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). However, we use certain non-IFRS financial measures to assess our Company’s performance. We believe these to be useful to management, investors, and other financial stakeholders in assessing Crescita’s performance. The non-IFRS measures used in this press release do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore not comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. These measures should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS. The following are the Company’s non-IFRS measures along with their respective definitions:

1. EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
2. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, other expenses (income), share-based compensation costs, goodwill and intangible asset impairment, and foreign exchange (gains) losses, as appliable.

Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of operating performance and cash flow and provides useful information to investors as it highlights trends in the underlying business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. Below is a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to their closest IFRS measures.

Caution Concerning Limitations of Summary Financial Results Press Release

This summary earnings press release contains limited information meant to assist the reader in assessing Crescita’s performance, but it is not a suitable source of information for readers who are unfamiliar with Crescita and is not in any way a substitute for the Company’s Consolidated Audited Financial Statements and notes thereto, MD&A and Annual Information Form (“AIF”).

About Crescita Therapeutics Inc.

Crescita (TSX: CTX and OTC US: CRRTF) is a growth-oriented, innovation-driven Canadian commercial dermatology company with in-house research and development (“R&D”) and manufacturing capabilities. The Company offers a portfolio of high-quality, science-based non-prescription skincare products and early to commercial stage prescription products. In addition, we own multiple proprietary transdermal delivery platforms that support the development of patented formulations to facilitate the delivery of active ingredients into or through the skin.

Our non-prescription portfolio includes a wide variety of premium quality dermocosmetic products which include facial creams, cleansers, exfoliants, masks, serums and suncare, that each serve a different and personalized consumer need. The portfolio is designed to address preventive care to combating the first signs of aging, as well as all primary aesthetic skin concerns. Our dermocosmetic products address two sub-sets of the skincare market: aesthetics and medical aesthetics. In Canada, our national sales force calls on aesthetic practitioners and medical aesthetic clinics and medispas using a business to business to consumer model. LDR products can also be purchased through our online platform. Our skincare brands are also sold in certain Asian markets, such as Malaysia, South Korea and China through international distributors and through various e-commerce platforms.

Crescita’s portfolio also includes Pliaglis, our lead prescription product, that utilizes our proprietary phase-changing topical cream Peel technology. Pliaglis is a topical local anesthetic cream that provides safe and effective local dermal analgesia on intact skin prior to superficial dermatological procedures. The product is currently approved in over 25 different countries, is sold by commercial partners in the U.S., Italy, Spain and Brazil, and was most recently licensed to partners in Austria, Mexico and China. We also market Pliaglis in the Canadian physician-dispensed skincare market through our own sales force.

Our expertise in topical product formulation and development can be leveraged in combination with our patented transdermal delivery technologies to develop and manufacture creams, liquids, gels, ointments and serums under our contract development and manufacturing organization infrastructure. We run our operations from our head office located in the heart of the Biotech City in Laval, Québec, where we also manufacture the majority of our non-prescription skincare products in our 50,000 square-foot facility.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “goal”, “seek”, “believe”, “project”, “estimate”, “expect”, “strategy”, “future”, “likely”, “may”, “should”, “will” and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s objectives, plans, goals, strategies, growth, performance, operating results, financial condition, our belief that we have sufficient liquidity to fund our business operations during the upcoming fiscal year, strategy for customer retention, growth, product development, market position, financial results and reserves, strategy for risk management, business prospects, opportunities and industry trends, the expected impact of, and responses taken by the Company with respect to, the COVID-19 pandemic, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of the Company’s control. Crescita’s actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not unduly rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause Crescita’s actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others: economic and market conditions, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the response thereto of governments and consumers, the Company’s ability to execute its growth strategies, reliance on third parties for clinical trials, marketing, distribution and commercialization, the impact of changing conditions in the regulatory environment and product development processes, manufacturing and supply risks, increasing competition in the industries in which the Company operates, the Company’s ability to meet its debt commitments, the impact of unexpected product liability matters, the impact of litigation involving the Company and/or its products, the impact of changes in relationships with customers and suppliers, the degree of intellectual property protection of the Company’s products, the degree of market acceptance of the Company’s products, developments and changes in applicable laws and regulations, as well as other risk factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” sections of our most recent annual MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2020 and our AIF dated March 24, 2021. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this press release is based only on information currently available to management and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, Crescita undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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