Welcome to Medicure's earnings conference call for the year ended December 31st, 2023. My name is Paul, and I will be your operator for today's call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Before we proceed, I would like to remind everyone that this presentation contains forward-looking statements relating to future results, events, and expectations, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, those described in the company's most recent annual information form and Form 20-F. Later, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. Please note that this conference call is being recorded, and today's date is April 9th, 2024.
I would now like to turn the conference call over to Dr. Albert Friesen, Chief Executive Officer of Medicure, Inc. Please go ahead, Dr. Friesen.
Thank you, moderator, and good morning to all on the call. We appreciate your interest and participation in today's call. Joining me today for the 2023 financial statements are Dr. Neil Owens, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Rahul Gautam, Medicure's Chief Financial Officer. We are pleased to report that in 2023, Medicure was cash flow positive for the year, adding CAD 1.5 million in cash. The net revenue for the year 2023 decreased a bit from the previous year, that being CAD 21.7 million compared to CAD 23.1 million for the previous year. It was mainly due to reduced revenue from AGGRASTAT, the reduction due to some generic competition, which was anticipated in the budget. Revenue from other sources were all up for the year.
Net loss for the year was CAD 922,000 or CAD 0.09 per share compared to a net gain of CAD 1.4 million and CAD 0.13 per share in the previous year. The net loss was due primarily to non-cash items like depreciation and stock option expenses. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for the year was CAD 1.9 million positive compared to adjusted EBITDA of CAD 3.3 million in the previous year. The 4 focuses of the business continue: sales and profits of AGGRASTAT, growing ZYPITAMAG revenue and profit, growing the Marley Drug online pharmacy business, and the development of MC-1 for PNPO deficiency. The acquisition of Marley Drug, the online pharmacy delivering to homes in all 50 states and other territories through mail, was to expand our sales reach for ZYPITAMAG and its growing contributor to Medicure's business. We continue to explore the acquisition of additional pharmacies with a promising outlook.
We believe the investments and experience over the last 25 years positions Medicure on a steady path for continued success. I now would like to turn the call over to our CFO, Rahul Gautam, to review and provide color on the 2023 financial statements.
Thank you, Dr. Friesen. A couple of quick items to note before I start. All dollar figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted by each presenter. As a reminder, you can obtain a complete copy of our financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 2023, along with previous financial statements on the investors page of our website. Alternatively, a copy of all financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis can also be obtained from SEDAR.com. I will now provide some key highlights of our financial performance for the year ended December 31st, 2023. Total revenues for the year ended were CAD 21.7 million compared to CAD 23.1 million for the prior year. Net revenues earned from AGGRASTAT during the current year totaled CAD 9.7 million, a decrease from the prior year where net revenue from AGGRASTAT was CAD 11.7 million.
The decrease in AGGRASTAT revenue during the current year is a result of lower volume of units sold. Net revenue earned from ZYPITAMAG through the traditional insurance channel during the current year totaled CAD 2.4 million, which is a decrease from the CAD 3.6 million net revenue earned during the prior year. The decrease in ZYPITAMAG sales can be attributed to increased wholesaler fees and increased rebate payments to pharmacy benefit managers. Moving on to Marley Drug. Net revenues from Marley Drug during the current year totaled CAD 9.6 million during the year ended December 31st, and this is an increase from the CAD 7.8 million earned from Marley Drug during the prior year. The increase in Marley Drug sales during the current year is due to an increased volume of sales, including an increase in ZYPITAMAG sales through Marley Drug, which is included within this figure.
The increase in Marley Drug sales is offset by decreases in pharmacy benefit manager reimbursements on insured product sales. The company continues to focus on growing Marley Drug and growing the sales of Zypitamag through Marley Drug into 2024 and beyond. Moving on to cost of goods sold. AGGRASTAT cost of goods sold for the year ended December 31st totaled CAD 3 million, a decrease from the prior year where cost of goods sold totaled CAD 3.4 million. The decrease in cost of goods sold is a result of a lower volume of AGGRASTAT sold, offset by an increase in cost of goods sold caused by inventory batches, which were damaged in transport. ZYPITAMAG cost of goods sold for the year ended December 31st totaled CAD 974,000, a decrease from the prior year where ZYPITAMAG cost of goods sold was CAD 1.2 million.
Included within cost of goods sold for the current year is CAD 597,000 relating to products sold to customers, CAD 611,000 for amortization of the ZYPITAMAG intangible assets, and these expenses are offset by a recovery of CAD 234,000 relating to royalties on the sale of ZYPITAMAG resulting from the acquisition of the product in September 2019. The decrease in cost of goods sold noted during the current year is due to the conclusion of the company's royalty obligation on the sale of ZYPITAMAG , in addition to the company recognizing a recovery of royalties during the current period offset by a higher volume of ZYPITAMAG units sold during the current year. Marley Drug cost of goods sold totaled CAD 3.8 million during the year ended December 31st, 2023, an increase from the prior year where cost of goods sold totaled CAD 2.4 million.
The increase in cost of goods sold during the current year is a result of a higher volume and nature of products sold through the mail order and e-commerce platform during the current year. Selling expenses totaled CAD 8.3 million for the year ended December 31st, 2023, in comparison to CAD 8 million for the year ended December 31st, 2022. Selling expenses slightly increased in the current year due to inflationary increases from the company's third-party logistic provider, in addition to higher selling expenses through Marley Drug consistent with the higher revenue earned through Marley Drug as indicated earlier. General and administrative expenses totaled CAD 4.1 million for the year ended December 31st, 2023, in comparison to CAD 4.2 million during the year ended December 31st, 2022.
The slight decrease in general and administrative expenses to the company was a result of less non-capitalized expenditures in the current year in comparison to the prior year with regards to improvements made to the Marley Drug e-commerce platform. This is offset by higher share-based compensation during the current year as a result of stock options which were granted during 2023. Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31st, 2023, totaled CAD 2.4 million compared to CAD 2.8 million during the prior year. The decrease during the current year is primarily due to the timing of research and development expenditures relating to each development project the company is currently undertaking.
During the year end, December 31st, 2023, the company did not record any gains or losses through other income related to their revaluation of the contingent consideration pertaining to the Marley Drug acquisition compared to a CAD 346,000 gain recorded in the prior year. As of December 31st, 2023, there are no liabilities recorded on the consolidated financial statement of financial position with respect to contingent consideration stemming from the Marley Drug acquisition. The company recorded finance income of CAD 65,000 during the year ended December 31st, 2023, compared to finance expense of CAD 206,000 in the prior year. The finance income recorded during the current year consisted primarily of interest income earned on cash held by the company, in addition to a recovery of accretion expense pertaining to the AGGRASTAT royalty obligation, which ended in May of this year.
Offsetting finance income was bank charges and finance expenses on the company's lease obligations. The company recorded a foreign exchange loss during the year ended December 31st, 2023, of CAD 108,000 compared to a foreign exchange gain of CAD 52,000 during the prior year. The change relates to changes in the U.S. dollar exchange rate during the respective years, which led to an unfavorable foreign exchange loss during the current year. Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31st, 2023, was CAD 1.9 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA of CAD 3.3 million during the year ended December 31st, 2022. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA during the current year is due to a decrease in operating income, which primarily stemmed from decreased revenues from the sale of AGGRASTAT and ZYPITAMAG, offset by higher revenue through Marley Drug.
In addition, the decreased pharmacy benefit manager or PBM rebates on insurance products sold through Marley Drug resulted in the company losing revenue yet still incurring cost of goods sold expenditures. Offsetting these factors, which resulted in the company's net loss, was a slight decrease in research and development expenses during the current year. As of December 31st, 2023, the company had cash totaling approximately $6.4 million, an increase from the $4.9 million of cash held as of December 31st, 2022. The company does not have any debt on its books. I want to remind you that there will be an opportunity at the end of today's call for you to ask questions regarding the financial results of the company as a whole. And with that, I would like to turn the call over to our President and Chief Operating Officer, Dr.
Neil Owens, for some additional commentary regarding our operations.
Thank you, Haaris, and good morning, everyone. I would like to start with some further details on our Marley Drug business. Net revenue increased by 23% compared to the prior year to $9.6 million for 2023. This is due to a 53% increase in volume of ZYPITAMAG products sold through Marley Drug and a 24% increase in other brand and generic medication sales. We continue to invest in further improvements to the e-commerce website to improve customer experience, and through additions to the website, Marley Drug has become a leader in search engine traffic results for online pharmacies. Net revenue was impacted by low PBM reimbursements for insured prescriptions, which does reinforce our focus on cash business. Medicure still plans to leverage Marley Drug's reputation for customer service and national distribution capabilities in more business partnerships.
One example is the start of the sale of BRENZAVVY tablets through Marley Drug in late 2023, which is an accessible alternative SGLT-2 inhibitor to brand Jardiance and Farxiga through a low cash price. While still early, we are seeing significant growth and will continue to focus on it and other branded solutions in 2024. The company is still focused on growing brand awareness through multiple media channels and through PR publicity. Overall, we continue to look for ways to rapidly expand the pharmacy business. Further on Zypitamag, net revenue through insured channels and the standard retail pharmacy model fell from $3.6 million in 2022 to $2.4 million in 2023, despite just a 9% difference in product volume distributed. That's due to increases in wholesaler fees, coverage gap fees, lower PBM reimbursement, and through product returns. This also reinforces why selling Zypitamag through Marley Drug is such an effective approach.
Overall, we continue to build brand awareness through efforts of our sales and marketing team and are focused on lowering our customer acquisition cost and increasing customer retention. The market opportunity remains very large, and we are reinvesting profit into sales and marketing of ZYPITAMAG . In terms of our AGGRASTAT business, net revenue was impacted in 2023 by generic tirofiban entries. As a result, revenue fell from CAD 11.7 million in 2022 to CAD 9.7 million in 2023. The decrease is due to both a decrease in volume of products sold and pricing. Medicure remains the only manufacturer of the 3.75 milligram bolus vial format, which is typically administered before the infusion unit. We continue to provide support to our more than 1,200 U.S. hospital accounts and promote the brand in order to maintain market share.
Medicure's R&D focus is primarily on its phase III study to seek approval of MC-1 as the first FDA-approved therapy for patients with PNPO deficiency, which is a rare pediatric disease leading to seizures and is ultimately fatal if untreated. In parallel to the planned phase III clinical study, Medicure is conducting several non-clinical studies to support the approval of MC-1 as requested by the FDA, most of which are now complete. If successful, use of Medicure's legacy product MC-1 could lead to a priority review voucher, which can be redeemed or sold and provide significant value. One issue the company needed to address before the start of the study is that some patients may need to crush their tablet, and the FDA had requested additional data on the impact of crushing on product quality. The crush tablet study was completed, and the FDA granted approval to start enrollment.
And so the company is now in the launch phase of the study. Medicure remains debt-free and cash flow positive. For 2023, we are able to report a positive adjusted EBITDA of CAD 1.9 million. However, due to the noted adjustments in Q4 2023, there was a net loss of CAD 922,000. Our goal is to grow revenue, control our costs, and make Medicure a long-term success. With that, I'd like to turn the call back to Dr. Friesen for final comments.
Thank you, Neil. The acquisition of Marley Drug has been very good, strengthening Medicure's business, including the sales and marketing of Zypitamag. We continue to explore growing this side of the business. We are thankful for the continued strength of AGGRASTAT market share and a strong balance sheet. We continue to focus on the growing of the business with a pipeline of products that will further diversify our revenue and asset base, carefully investing to grow profitability. My goal, and that of the management board and staff, is to continue to build this business with a stable, long-term outlook generating value for shareholders. And as always, I want to express my sincere appreciation to the outstanding team of employees we've been blessed with. Thank you, our shareholders, for continued support and interest. And now I'll turn it back to the moderator for Q&A.
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we pull for questions. And once again, that's star one if you would like to ask a question today. And there were no questions from the lines. I will now hand the call back to Dr. Friesen for closing remarks.
Thank you for everyone that's on the call, for our shareholders, and thank you to our team. Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.