Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the MediPharm Labs Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results Conference Call. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. Before we begin, please note that remarks today may contain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This includes, without limitation, statements about MediPharm Labs and its current and future plans, expectations, intentions, financial results, level of activity, performance, goals or achievements, and other future events, trends or developments.
Statements about MediPharm's previously announced plan of arrangement transaction with VIVO Cannabis Inc., the combined company resulting from the transaction with VIVO and its future financial and operational performance, the combined company's key business segments, product offerings, pro forma, and overall financial performance, potential future results and cost synergies resulting from the transaction, and statements about the combined company's profitability and ability to grow the business going forward following completion of the transaction with VIVO. To the extent any forward-looking information contained in these remarks constitutes financial outlooks or financial guidance, in development of such financial guidance, MediPharm, in collaboration with management of VIVO, made a number of assumptions and relied on a number of factors and considerations, all of which are described in the joint information circular of MediPharm and VIVO dated February 6, 2023, a copy of which is available on our profile on SEDAR.
Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof based on information currently available to management and on estimates and assumptions made based on factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. However, there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements and financial outlooks are based on assumptions and subject to various risks, which include, among other things, those outlined in the circular and under the heading Risk Factors in our most recently filed MD&A and annual information form, which are available on SEDAR. Our remarks may also contain references to certain non-IFRS financial measures, including EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, gross profit and adjusted gross profit.
These measures do not have any standardized meaning according to International Financial Reporting Standards or IFRS, therefore are not to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. MediPharm believes that the non-IFRS measures referenced provides information useful to shareholders and investors in understanding our performance and may assist in the evaluation of the combined company's business relative to that of its peers. For more information, please see the section entitled Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Measures, the most recent MD&A of MediPharm, which is available on SEDAR. MediPharm's actual financial position and results of operations may differ materially from management's current expectations. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statements or financial outlooks will materialize, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information.
Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof. Except as may be required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. I will now pass the call over to David Pidduck, CEO of MediPharm. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for MediPharm Labs fourth quarter and year-end financial results conference call. Joining me on the call today are Keith Strachan, MediPharm's President, and Greg Hunter, the company's Chief Financial Officer. I will address some of our strategic achievements and growth opportunities, and then hand the call over to Keith and Greg to provide more details on the quarterly results. Given the timing of this call, I do want to take some time to discuss our pending transaction to acquire VIVO Cannabis, Inc., which we anticipate to close in the coming days. With this transformative transaction, we continue to build on our reputation as a leading pharmaceutical cannabis company. The acquisition of VIVO will add several new business units and synergistic capabilities to the MediPharm Labs portfolio. VIVO has an established Australian and German medical cannabis brand, Beacon Medical.
They also have a patient-centric medical cannabis clinic, Harvest Medicine. They bring to MediPharm a long-standing Canadian medical sales platform with Canna Farms Medical. Finally, with the addition of VIVO's Napanee GMP facility, we are adding a second GMP site in Canada. With two distinct international GMP platforms, the pro forma combined company is expected to open many new product offerings for existing distribution channels and geographies. International revenue of the new combined company will represent about 40% of total revenue. We now participate in over 10 countries globally. There are many potential revenue and cost synergies realizable in the near term.
Using forecasts derived collaboratively by both management teams along with revenue and cost synergy estimates, the combined company aims to find positive EBITDA synergies from CAD 7 million-CAD 9 million on an annualized basis and could reach positive EBITDA and cash flow in the first half of 2024. The resulting company will have a strong balance sheet. We continue to enjoy a solid cash position relative to our peers. We will have less than CAD 2.5 million in debt on closing, and we have unencumbered ownership of all of our major assets. This strong balance sheet is expected to provide confidence in the combined company's ability to execute on our strategic growth roadmap despite the current challenging state of capital markets for cannabis. Beyond the VIVO transaction, MediPharm continues to explore additional M&A activity.
Given our strong balance sheet with virtually no debt and CAD 24 million in cash at year-end, we are actively positioning MediPharm as an acquirer of choice. We are taking a very focused approach here. There are many opportunities for companies urgently in need of partners. Opportunities need to build on our unique capabilities in the pharma, global, and Canadian business segments, and help in our MOIC profitability. We are working with experienced advisors to identify and vet further opportunities in Canada and internationally for follow-on transaction opportunities. MediPharm has a strong foundation, and our team will be very prudent with our cash, our balance sheet, and with our equity as we actively look for deals that would further our strengths while driving returns for shareholders. Outside of M&A, MediPharm has been busy solidifying our business fundamentals in 2022.
In October, we closed the previously announced sale of MediPharm Labs Australia, allowing us to further leverage our GMP facility in Barrie. The sale generated just over CAD 6 million in cash proceeds. We have already begun producing and shipping EU-bound volume from our Barrie, Ontario facility. I'm happy to share that through the Australian closure and significant Canadian OpEx and headcount reductions, we reduced our quarterly EBITDA burn rate of CAD 6.6 million in Q4 2021 to CAD 3.6 million in Q4 2022. Regarding working capital, the team has done a good job in bringing rigor to the cash management cycle. Subsequent to year-end, we also settled a previously written-off bad debt with a B2B customer from 2020.
This resolution eliminated a potential purchase obligation and resulted in our receipt of CAD 1.7 million worth of cannabis raw material at no charge that will be used as part of our 2023 production. We will continue to focus on tight cash management and expect further improvements in 2023. With respect to gross profit, we have completed a review of our product portfolio and have been increasing prices, decreasing costs, and eliminating or exiting unprofitable product lines. These and other initiatives helped our Q4 results, which showed a positive gross profit for the first time in two years, despite lower revenues due in part to the closure of our Australian facilities. As gross profit improvement initiatives start showing results over the coming quarters, we expect our margins to continue to improve.
Turning to growth, I want to again stress the transformation in our business over the last several years. We have transitioned from a largely Canadian B2B oil and extract supplier to a diverse international multi-segment business with growing revenues in our pharmaceutical, adult wellness, and medical platforms, both domestically and internationally. While our B2B business has decreased from CAD 28 million in 2020 to just CAD 3.7 million in 2022, our other segments combined have grown from CAD 8 million to CAD 18 million over the same period. Despite year-over-year revenues showing minimal growth, we actually have a strong growth trend buried in our results, and VIVO will help us to build on this trend. Our team continues to make progress on all fronts: pharma, international, medical, and in the Canadian adult-use market.
As a reminder, though, a key MediPharm strategy remains to position us as the go-to pharma-grade cannabinoid API supplier, pointed towards the international pharma cannabinoid space where our unique GMP Drug Establishment License and API capabilities differentiates us. We recently shared some of our early-stage clinical R&D work with various pharma and academic partners. We all recognize that these are longer-term plays, but we continue to make progress. We've provided a detailed response to a recent FDA facility inspection in Barrie, an important milestone for any DMF submission. We are confident that we continue to progress long-term opportunities in the pharma space with partners for both NDAs, new drug applications, and ANDAs, abbreviated new drug applications, opportunities. In the pharma space, we are creating relationships to provide API and finished dose formats for future marketable drug products. We are becoming the go-to supplier for several academic and pharma partners.
A great example of this is the recent US FDA innovative new drug approval of a study our partner, the University of Southern California, is leading using MediPharm Labs products. This US NIH-funded RCT study has recruited patients over multiple sites. We anticipate delivering the clinical trial product soon. As we have shared, we are supplying API to several ongoing drug development and research efforts. We have partnered with an international pharmaceutical company to supply API to support an abbreviated new drug application filed with the FDA. Last quarter, we let you know that the ANDA has been filed. Now we can update that this has led to the FDA doing an in-depth review of our Drug Master File, including a site inspection. We have responded to the FDA's inspection report. We are providing ongoing information and updates as required.
This is representative of the type of partnership that we will continue to focus on. Remember, it only takes one of the several longer-term pharma products in development to be successful to completely change the face of this company. While we progress these longer-term opportunities, we will continue to drive growth and profitability through the international, medical, and Canadian businesses as a solid bridge to these larger opportunities. Turning our attention to possible changes in the Canadian OTC market. As patients and consumers turn to cannabinoids as a wellness product, in 2023, we will further prepare to participate in a possibly emerging Canadian OTC over-the-counter CBD market. With proposed legislation anticipated later this year, this could classify certain CBD products in Canada as natural health products, or NHPs, under the current Canadian Food and Drugs Act.
Our Drug Establishment License and our NHP GMP license, combined with our award-winning CBD product portfolio, make us the only purpose-built cannabis facility ready to participate in this market today. Subject to how some of these recommendations are implemented, we believe MediPharm is already uniquely positioned to supply a full portfolio of NHP and GMP-compliant products. Our GMP pharma-quality approach positions us today to be one of the few ready players to address this potential new market. To summarize, 2022 was a turning point for MediPharm Labs as we successfully transformed away from a narrow B2B business to a diversified global business. We have focused on reducing costs, driving revenue growth in selected segments, progressing our pharmaceutical milestones, and pursuing synergistic M&A. As discussed, we are committed to being EBITDA positive by the first half of 2024. I will now pass the call over to Keith.
Thanks, David. In 2022, we completed the optimization of sales segments to focus mainly on MediPharm Labs branded finished goods and international medical products, with a step away from unpredictable Canadian B2B sales. We now have a robust presence in pharma, medical, and Canadian adult use markets. All of these diverse segments have been built from a base near zero, and all are growing today. MediPharm branded products net revenue in Canada was CAD 13.3 million in 2022, up 71% from CAD 7.8 million in 2021. Q4 adult use sales grew 24% from Q3. This is driven by clear leadership in the Canadian cannabis wellness space, headlined with our award-winning cannabis oils. MediPharm continues to focus on leading in the Canadian wellness space.
According to Hifyre, in 2021, we were the number five producer in the Canadian cannabis oil market. In Q4 2022, we became the number two producer in the oil category with 20% market share, a number we continue to see trend upwards. This is clearly an area where we can win, given our quality, expertise, and differentiated product line. In 2023, domestic sales and innovation will be focused on new, more dosable medical and wellness formats, like capsules, that serve to refresh our current portfolio and improve margins. Internationally, new markets in 2022 included commercial sales of GMP finished goods for Brazil and the U.K.. With the sale of our Australian redundant operations, all international GMP product is now being shipped from our Canadian manufacturing site. We anticipate international sales will grow throughout 2023.
In Germany in particular, our main customer, the large pharmaceutical company, STADA, continued to grow market share in the medical cannabis oil category, starting the year with 4% market share and ending the year with over 10% market share. We are now second in market share in the German cannabis oil market. In 2022, we also completed R&D and commercial scale development on the pharmaceutical drug Dronabinol, which is a 95% pure THC isolate used as a pharmaceutical API and widely used by compounding pharmacies in Germany. In that market, Dronabinol is the second highest prescribed drug product behind pharmaceutical drug EPIDIOLEX. Our unique positioning in the Canadian domestic wellness, international medical, and pharmaceutical markets will enable MediPharm to scale rapidly without the need for additional capital, licenses, or resources.
Before turning to Greg to discuss financials, let me tell you about some of the changes we have made to our revenue segmentation. As you recall, in previous periods, we reported revenue as private label, white label, and tolling. We now have three new reported segments as follows: Canadian adult use and wellness, international medical cannabis, and pharmaceutical and business to business. Canadian adult use and wellness. This includes cannabis-based products such as cannabis oil, vapes, dry flower, pre-rolls, and soft chews. These products are sold to the provincial distributors and domestic medical channels such as Aurora or Canopy medical cannabis platforms. International medical cannabis, which includes GMP tinctures and GMP dry flower to international customers such as STADA. Pharmaceutical and business to business, which includes bulk cannabis concentrate-based products such as distillate and isolate to domestic and international customers.
Bulk isolate includes pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoids in isolate form produced using our Canadian Drug Establishment License and sold to pharmaceutical customers. For our pharma and academic partners, we also provide a range of clinical and R&D capabilities, including clinical trial materials for approved drug trials. Included in this segment are contract manufacturing revenues. I'll now pass the call to Greg to discuss MediPharm Labs financials.
Thanks, Keith. Good morning, everyone. As David and Keith discussed, 2022 was a pivotal year for MediPharm as we continue to reshape our business by growing our revenue base through organic and inorganic initiatives, reducing cash burn, and driving towards profitability as key priorities. Before reviewing the results for the quarter, let me add some additional commentary on the progress we made on these priorities in Q4 and 2022. Revenue for 2022 of CAD 22.1 million was marginally improved versus 2021 revenue of CAD 21.7 million. As Dave and Keith mentioned, as you look deeper into our revenue segments, you will see some very positive trends. Revenue to our provincial distributors increased 71% from CAD 7.8 million in 2021 to CAD 13.3 million in 2022.
This was offset by a decline in our business-to-business revenue as we look to transform our business into more profitable end products and increase focus on medical and pharmaceutical segments. Adjusted EBITDA improved from negative CAD 27 million in 2021 to negative CAD 21 million in 2022. Our quarterly adjusted EBITDA was approximately negative CAD 6 million per quarter in 2021 and the early part of 2022. We have been successful in reducing that to negative CAD 3.6 million in Q4, with continued plans to further improve in 2023. As discussed last quarter, at the end of Q3 2022, we completed the execution of a restructuring plan that saw a 30% reduction in the Canadian non-manufacturing headcount. This initiative will save over CAD 3 million on an annualized basis, with Q4 being our first quarter to show the benefits, as I will discuss later.
In addition, on October 6th, we closed the transaction to sell our Australian facility for AUD 7.25 million or approximately CAD 6.4 million. As a reminder, this transaction has several key benefits. One, it will reduce our annual operating expense by CAD 4 million. Two, it will consolidate our global supply chain and production capabilities into our GMP facility in Barrie to drive further efficiencies. Three, it strengthens our balance sheet with the additional CAD 6.4 million of cash received in Q4. Together, the Canadian restructuring and the sale of our Australian facility will save CAD 7 million on an annualized basis, with these savings showing benefit in our Q4 financials, which I will discuss shortly.
In Q4, we signed a transformational agreement to acquire VIVO Cannabis, which will see our revenue more than double and expecting to achieve synergies between CAD 7 million-CAD 9 million on an annualized basis starting in Q2 2023. Turning to the P&L performance for the fourth quarter. Revenue for the fourth quarter decreased sequentially as expected from CAD 7.3 million in Q3 to CAD 5.6 million in Q4, largely driven by the sale of our Australian subsidiaries. Revenue in the Canadian adult use and wellness segment grew 24% on a sequential basis and 71% on a year-to-date basis as sales increased to CAD 4.5 million in Q4 and CAD 13.3 million year-to-date. This growth is driven by our new and innovative products, the launch of our Shelter Wildlife brand in May 2022, and select investments in sales and marketing.
Revenue in the international medical segment decreased on a sequential and year-to-date basis to CAD 0.7 million in Q4 and CAD 5.1 million year to date. This decrease is driven by several factors, including the sale of our Australian subsidiary and eliminating products with low or negative growth margins. We have said in prior quarters, this segment will fluctuate as the market matures. Revenue in the pharmaceutical and B2B segment decreased on a sequential and year-to-date basis to CAD 0.5 million in Q4 and CAD 3.7 million year to date. This shift is in line with our strategy as we are decreasing our reliance on the less stable and less profitable B2B market segment and increasing focus on the more sticky and profitable Canadian adult use and wellness, international medical, and pharmaceutical markets.
As the pharmaceutical market continues to develop and mature, this segment will begin to grow. In 2022, we had approximately CAD 300,000 in revenue with both pharmaceutical companies and academic clinical trial partners. Gross profit for Q4 was CAD 0.2 million compared to Q3 gross profit of negative CAD 1.2 million. This improvement was driven by the sale of our Australian subsidiary, the full implementation of our Canadian restructuring plan at the end of Q3, the elimination of unprofitable products, and improved utilization of our Barrie production facility. General and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter decreased sequentially from CAD 3.5 million in Q3 to CAD 3.4 million in Q4.
Excluding transaction fees, general and administrative expenses decreased from CAD 3.3 million in Q3 to CAD 2.6 million in Q4 due to the sale of our Australian subsidiary and the full implementation of our Canadian restructuring plan. Marketing and selling and R&D expenses of CAD 1.6 million and CAD 140,000 respectively in Q4 were consistent with Q3. These investments will vary as we selectively allocate resources to advance our capabilities and product portfolio with a vision to become one of the most sophisticated cannabinoid producers in the world and capture a sustainable portion of the global cannabinoid medical and pharmaceutical markets. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 improved CAD 1.4 million from negative CAD 5 million in Q3 to negative CAD 3.6 million. Moving to a few notable items on the balance sheet.
Trade and other receivables declined from CAD 13.7 million at Q3 to CAD 12.9 million at Q4, with a continued focus on collections. As discussed in previous quarters, there is 1 large customer owing a total of approximately CAD 8.5 million at the end of Q4, which is subject to legal proceedings. During Q2 of 2022, we received a favorable summary judgment with respect to this legal proceeding, awarding MediPharm CAD 9.8 million. Subsequent to this summary judgment, the customer appealed the decision, and a court date has been scheduled for May 23, 2023. Adjusting for this 1 customer, trade and other receivables is CAD 4.4 million.
Our focus on cash and working capital is continuing to pay off as our cash balance on December 31 was CAD 24 million, which increased CAD 4.6 million from September 30, largely driven by the sale and collection of proceeds from our Australian subsidiary. Although we still have work to do to get to profitability and become cash flow positive, 2022 was another step in the right direction. Sales and adjusted EBITDA improved relative to 2021. CAD 7 million of annualized savings was realized with the implementation of our restructuring plan and the sale of our Australian subsidiary. Cash burn reduced relative to prior quarters, with continued improvements on working capital and expense reduction. At year-end, we had CAD 24 million of cash, full ownership of assets, and virtually no debt.
Finally, given the strength of our balance sheet relative to our peers, we are very well positioned as we look to integrate VIVO, drive CAD 7–9 million in annualized synergies, and continue to look at the M&A landscape for additional transformational opportunities. With that, I'll turn it over to the operator to open the line for questions.
At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. Your first question comes from the line of Scott Fortune from ROTH MKM. Your line is open.
Good morning. Thank you for the questions here. As you evaluate the consolidated business now with VIVO and closing that shortly, obviously, congratulations. How are you looking at kind of full product portfolio suite now that you have an area of focus? Are there under representative or missing categories of interest? Can I just focus on kind of the interest of different categories potentially going forward now from that standpoint?
Okay. I'll start that and then turn it over to Keith Strachan. Thanks for the question, Scott. Dave. First of all, on the portfolio suite, there's a few rationalization sort of a line-by-line, code-by-code exercise that we've gone through on our side, which is sort of weeding out and making sure that everything we sell is profitable. That has either resulted in increasing prices, exiting certain product lines, or looking at the cost structure. We've kind of done that line-by-line thing on our side. We've started that on the VIVO side, obviously, that is early on in our taking over, we're going to do this sort of same line-by-line review. The beauty of
one of the beauties of this deal is that our product portfolios don't really overlap, either geographically or on a product line basis. Obviously, their main focus, being they grow flower and we purchase that externally. There's not an obvious, you know, two different product lines, and we pick one. It's more a case of making sure every line is profitable. The great thing is we have channels, and they have channels that we can put our respective products through. They have a much bigger presence in Australia, and we can push some of our products through their channel. They have a medical channel.
We can push some of our products through the medical channel, we probably have a stronger Canadian adult adult use presence that we can put some of their products through. It's very. There's a good opportunity on a whole bunch of fronts there. Certainly the line-by-line, code-by-code review is a critical thing for all companies to do. Some of our value that you've seen hopefully in these results is starting to come from that. I mean, I don't know, Keith, if you want to add to that.
Yeah. Thanks, Dave. Good morning, Scott. I just the only thing I would add, I think, you know, all great points. I think what's really clear with the combination acquisition of VIVO is our further access to direct-to-patient or direct-to-consumer. As you can see for our 2002 results, we've really turned the business to kind of own that customer. When you look at their international business, they have a great brand called Beacon Health or Beacon Medical. In Australia, that's one of the top brands. Beacon Health has been in the, you know, top buys of flower there. It allows us to get direct to patient or direct to consumer, and then we'll expand the portfolio under the Beacon Health name.
Internationally where they sell flower today, we can also add in things like oil or even, you know, things like GMP cartridges. A lot of opportunity there as we get closer to the patient and closer to the consumer to really own that customer.
Got it. I appreciate the color. Just follow on that, kind of you mentioned M&A and then potential opportunities there. Obviously, there's a lot of distress consolidation going on, in the cannabis industry. Kind of just a little bit highlight of potential opportunities for the different segments that you're seeing. Are you seeing valuations, come significantly off yet, or you're still being kind of patient and looking for something that's going to be really accretive and kind of, you know, booster, bolster each of the segments, per se? Kind of a little more color on M&A outlook and thoughts around that.
Yeah. I'll take a cut at that, and then Greg or Keith can jump in. First of all, I'll just say we're gonna be very cautious. We have to first do an excellent job of consolidating VIVO and prove that we can be very effective in that. We're gonna make sure that that goes really well. I think you mentioned that there's lots of distressed properties on the market now, and we have, as everyone does, all of those are on our desk, like everyone else's. I think the trick is making sure that it's not just, you said, are we waiting for the valuations to go lower?
The valuations are extremely low right now, and it's more a question of when is the right time for assets that you value. Just the fact that you can get a really good deal in buying a company that's stressed, that's not enough for us to be of interest. It has to have, like VIVO has, some strategic interest that either furthers our sort of pharmaceutical platform or it furthers our. 40% of our revenues now are global. We're also looking on the international front, and those assets are not as distressed. We're being very thoughtful in what we would pursue. Certainly, accretive is critical.
There are some assets that are on the market now that are close to accretive or while they're out of cash, and they have to do a transaction, they actually are generating or close to generating positive EBITDA. Those are obviously of more interest. We are not interested in picking and won't pick up, you know, highly indebted companies. We are very proud, and I think has made us very strong to have a balance sheet that includes, you know, not very much debt. Even after the even after the VIVO transaction, we'll have less than CAD 2.5 million in debt. That's given us a lot more cash. That's given us great flexibility. I'd say we're gonna be really thoughtful about what we do. It's gonna be strategic.
We're not gonna buy a fire sale for the sake of having a fire sale and getting bigger. Having said that, we are very actively looking at everything that's on the market today. I don't know if Keith or...
I think that's great. The only thing I would add is to, just our general philosophy, as you know, the intro of the hindsight is, not everything will consolidate. Unfortunately, some of the businesses, especially within North America, just won't survive through this next kind of segment of the business and timeline of the business. Not every single thing will consolidate. As Keith said, we won't be doing acquisitions with what is like a large amount of debt or any of that. We expect to see less companies in the field going forward, which creates opportunities as well.
Is probably good for the industry that the oversupply gets dealt with by some of this capacity actually completely going away. Maybe the only other comment is for entities that are already in bankruptcy or close. You know, that changes the dynamic in terms of not taking up the debt. Is it a damaged brand? We're also following the story of many companies that are either close to the wire or have already gone over into CCAA. Hope that gives some clarity.
Yeah. No, I appreciate that. Congratulations on the strong balance sheet to get through this tough time for the industry. I'll jump back in the queue. Thanks.
Thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of Aaron Grey from AGP. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning, and thank you for the questions. I'll add in, you know, being good stewards of capital definitely helps you guys traverse this current environment. I just wanted to touch a bit on international. It looks like it was down quarter-over-quarter. Australia and Germany more want to talk about 2023. If you look at it on a pro forma basis, like obviously Australia is gonna grow because you're gonna bring on the Beacon with VIVO and otherwise. Just that on a pro forma basis, how do you think about the growth ops internationally and what's gonna present the most growth opportunities and maybe any specific, you know, catalysts you're gonna be looking towards as well? Thank you.
Yeah. I'll have a high-level comment, and then I'll pass it over to the others. There's a great opportunity in Australia, essentially. The Beacon brand is extremely strong on the flower front, and the market is very ripe for GMP products to be entered into the market. As you're probably aware, the regulations change in July. I'll oversimplify and say they're tightening up, and that's gonna make that's very helpful for us that already has TGA approval. Probably the biggest growth opportunity is, and it's really immediate, is getting some of our other non-flower products through the Beacon brand into Australia. That's a significant growth driver and part of the revenue synergies that we see and probably the Easiest tough word pick.
It's probably the fastest, most obvious, and clearly doable opportunity. I'll turn it over to the other guys for some of the insights on the dollars.
Yes. Thanks for the question. Yeah, from an international growth pro forma, obviously Australia is one, as Dave talked about, as we bring on the Beacon brand and look to continue with that one. In addition, as we've talked about with expansion into markets like Brazil, we do expect to see some nice growth in the Brazilian market with oil as we ship there. As well, one of our bigger markets existing in Europe, although the Beacon brand is there and smaller, combined with MediPharm Labs, we do expect to see some nice growth in Europe, particularly in Germany. As new markets that we entered into in 2022 as well, with the U.K.
Yeah. I think, Aaron, just to address this with you, just to address the, also just the Q4 of the international. That dip in sales could be attributed to two things. We closed our Australian facility through a sale to OneLife. With that, we did some customer load-ins in Q3 to make sure that the transition was smooth for those patients internationally that were getting supplied from Australia that now get supplied from Canada. We saw a small dip there. Traditionally for us, December's been a slow month as regulators in places like Germany, not as much import-export action going on. We continue to see strong demand signals at the end user point as the pharmacist, and that's continued into Q1 of this year.
We're seeing growth in that category, so we're still very bullish on the international.
Okay, great. Thanks so much for the color. Then just on the merger there, the $7 –$9 million in savings starting in Q2. Can you just give us a reminder again of the split between gross margin and SG&A, and how you expect the timing of those savings to be realized? You know, what's more of the low-hanging fruit we can expect sooner, and then some of those savings that might take a little more time to be realized? Thank you.
Okay. I'll take a cut at that and then give it to Greg for the details. you know, the CAD 7 – 9 million, Greg will correct me, but around half is on the cost side, on the pure cost synergy side. I would say those are the more obvious, easier and short term and clearly controllable. Obviously, we talked about some of the revenue synergies we have very clear plans that we've actually already started working with VIVO on how to get those. We're feeling reasonably confident on those, but we're feeling very confident on the cost side.
We have very clear plans that we will be implementing literally next, you know, on day one, on the cost side and super confident on those, 'cause they're completely controllable. Actually, the actions we need on the revenue side have all started also. Yeah, I think my comment at 60,000 feet was we're very confident in delivering in that range. Maybe I'll turn it over to Greg for some color.
Yes. Yeah, thanks for the question. Yeah, the CAD 7 –9 million in annualized synergies, you know, we expect obviously, given the transaction's gonna close here shortly, you know, CAD 3 –4 million of that to be realized within the calendar 2022 or 2023 year. To your question on the split OpEx versus gross profit. You know, we're expecting in the neighborhood of CAD 8 million annualized revenue, you know, at a 30%–40% gross margin. You can do the math at somewhere in the CAD 3 – 5 million. Then on the OpEx side, on an annualized basis, somewhere in the CAD 4 –5 million annualized synergy, of which, you know, CAD 2 – 3 million will be recognized within the calendar 2023 year. Again, just given transaction timing.
You know, one of the reasons, again, as we get confident, as Dave said, you know, we've already started to recognize on the revenue synergies where, you know, MediPharm product is now shipping from the Canna Farms Medical platform. We've already had discussions, in-depth discussions on MediPharm product within the other channels like Australia as well. As Dave said, confident in the CAD 7 –9 million annualized synergies.
All right, great. Thank you very much. I'll jump back into the queue.
Thank you.
Again, if you'd like to ask a question, it's star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Tamy Chen from BMO Capital Markets. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for the question. First I wanted to ask with respect to Germany, specifically STADA. You mentioned that through 2022, they've gained share in the market from, you said it was 4% beginning of the year to 10%. My question is, like, even if I look on an annual basis, your sales to Germany, like it's still kind of flat, with some volatility quarter to quarter. I'm just wondering, I guess I would have expected some more consistent growth even on an annual basis on your end, given that they're gaining share.
Yeah. Thanks, Tamy. Good morning. It's Keith. I think when you look at some of the sales year-over-year in 2021, and even the beginning of 2022, we would've had more German customers. Just like we saw in other jurisdictions when the annuity came, there was a flood of companies that has matured and some of those are no longer in the business or have done some strategic rationalization themselves and focused on things like flower products. Some places where we delivered, we didn't do follow-up deliveries, but we've continued with our consistent customers, led by STADA other customers like Ajax, who continue to deliver to on a regular basis. We're really encouraged by their market share increase. Then when we specifically spoke to the market share that they have for oil.
When we also look at cannabis oil sales, because they have great shelf life and stability for a MediPharm product, we do load it in chunks to help with cost as far as spray and releasing product and labeling product. We'll continue to see that to be a little bit lumpier in the future, but a lot more consistent as they have more and more patients on specific Stata scripts.
Got it. Okay. Next, I wanna ask a little bit more about VIVO. Could you just go back and talk a little bit more about the clinic? To clarify, Beacon Medical in Australia, is that just a brand of their product, or is that also, l ike, do they have clinics in Australia? Can you talk about, I think they also have this medical platform in Canada too, correct? Can you talk a little bit more about that?
Yeah. I'll start and then Keith can clarify. First of all, yeah, Beacon is a brand and product, and it's a product business in Australia, so there's no clinic business in Australia. In Canada, I appreciate it's a little bit confusing. Think of it as two different business segments in Canada. One is HMED, and that is their clinic business, where they actually have clinics seeing patients and recommending products. That's one business segment. They have a medical, a medical business platform selling products through that medical channel, just like Shoppers or other medical channels. Maybe, Keith, you can build some clarity on that.
No, I think that's a great explanation. Yeah, if you think of it as two separate businesses, so that HMED or Harvest Medicine Clinic, they're brick-and-mortar clinics where people can go see a clinician, like a physician or a nurse practitioner for a prescription related to cannabis if they, if they deem that appropriate. Not all of those patients end up within the VIVO, which is called Canna Farms Medical platform, so anywhere between, you know, 20%–25%. Then other patients may get referred to another medical cannabis provider, whatever's best for the patient. Then on the Canna Farms side, those are actually a sort of a medical platform where those are registered.
A lot of that revenue is driven by veterans that are on the platform, and they have full coverage with the federal government for cannabis use if deemed appropriate. That is a great driver, and that gives us an opportunity to sell our wellness products and our pharmaceutical products, as well as the existing VIVO products on a platform direct to patients without having to pay the provincial distributors, which can be a large piece of our margin in some cases in Canadian domestic sales.
Maybe the only thing I'd add about the medical business is it's a fairly stable business and a fairly sticky business, over time. They were one of the early, they were early to the platforms in the Canadian market, and it sort of established a lot of long-term patients. I think that they've had 60,000 patients since inception. I think that's a good and somewhat stable business.
When I look at their financials, I look in 2022 annual, the majority of their revenues is Canada. Like I presume from how you're talking about it, the lion's share of that Canada segment revenues would be the two medical businesses that they have in Canada, because you mentioned that in terms of Canadian rec, like their presence there is probably a bit smaller than your presence in Canadian rec.
Thanks, Tamy. It's Greg here. I can clarify that a little bit. Actually, when you look at their 2022 annual revenues, approximately CAD 25 million, you know, the split of that is actually, let's say, you know, between CAD 10 million and CAD 11 million of that is Australia with the Beacon brand. The other CAD 10 –CAD 11 million is through the medical channel that Keith and Dave had talked about. The HMED clinic is in the range of, you know, CAD 3 million annualized. Their adult rec and wellness business, as we now term it, is relatively modest, you know, between CAD 1 – 2 million annually. That's kind of their revenue breakdown for 2022 that we look to build upon.
Okay. That's helpful. If I can add one last question here is, I'm not sure what to think with respect to their gross margin, because just looking at, once again, their financials, 2022, the margins look pretty good. I think in the mid-teens %, I'm talking gross margin before bioassets. 2021, it was much lower than that, although the revenue lines were quite similar between the two years. I think at one point to an earlier question, you were talking about CAD 8 million annualized revenue at 30%–40% gross margin. I wasn't sure what that was in reference to. Thanks.
On their gross margin, you're right. You know, if you look at their 2022 gross margin, it's around about 17% full year before biological, as you said, and they have improved relative to prior year through a number of initiatives. No different than what we've been doing, whether it's pricing, cost saving initiatives, inventory management resulting in fewer write-offs. That's really the color on that. In terms of the revenue synergies where we see 30%–40%. A lot of that is if you think about from a contribution margin perspective. You know, there's obviously fixed costs in the business to drive it today.
As we add additional capacity, whether it be capacity in sales from the MediPharm perspective or through VIVO, there's no additional fixed costs required to be added because we have capacity. That's where the 30%–40% gross margin then comes in.
Just for clarity, I think the CAD 8 million that Greg was referring to is revenue growth from synergistic revenue growth incremental, and the margin is sort of contribution margin associated with that incremental growth. It was in response to the question of how are you growing, what are the synergies? That just to tie that out if that's clear.
I thought the CAD 7 million-CAD 9 million annualized, it's like half cost, half revenues. Did I hear that incorrectly?
The CAD 7 million-CAD 9 million ballpark, when you take the revenue to gross profit, it's about half from gross profit and then half from OpEx. Correct.
Oh, that's what you're saying. Okay. Understood.
Yeah.
Got it.
The CAD 7 million-CAD 9 million is EBITDA synergy, so gross profit plus OpEx, and again, directionally it's half gross profit, half OpEx.
Got it. Okay. I understand now. Thank you.
Yep.
There are no further questions at this time. Mr. David Pidduck, I turn the call back over to you for some final closing remarks.
Thank you, operator. Thanks for the questions. Thanks for joining the call. We're looking forward to our integration with VIVO, and we look forward to speaking with you again in May at our Q1 call. Everyone enjoy your weekend.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.