Empower Clinics Inc. (CSE:EPW, OTCQB:EPWCF) said its subsidiary, EPW Curesearch LLC, has signed two new research services agreements with leading physicians and researchers to support clinical trials services at its first research site in Dallas, Texas.
The additions bring the active count of professional investigators at the site to three and paves the way to conducting multiple research projects across a variety of specialties and disease states. The researchers are practicing medical doctors who are specialists or internists with previous research and clinical trials experience that are integral to the success of the trial process.
Empower intends to operate as a Site Management Organization (SMO) at the Dallas site, which means it liases with both the contract research organization (CRO) and the sponsor to create a three-way contract for research and clinical trials with the professional investigators.
As the SMO, Empower oversees the process of day-to-day patient management, site management, technology management and general oversight of the process. Each month Empower as the SMO submits a detailed invoice to the CRO for patient management services and participation from the prior month.
Empower said it anticipates much-improved cash flow economics each month and quarter, which are expected to improve as scale is achieved.
"This model represents an entirely different and superior cash model for Empower, which runs with very low overhead and internal headcount," commented Steven McAuley, Empower chairman and CEO in a statement.
"This absence of substantial capital requirements is not only a smarter business but is also incredibly timely given the difficulties small-cap companies are facing accessing capital for operations in this challenged environment," he added.
The company also announced that it entered agreements with creditors on April 19, 2023, for the settlement of debt in the aggregate amount of C$202,149, which was settled through the issuance of an aggregate of 8,085,960 common shares at a deemed issue price of $0.025 each and the issue of a 24-month warrant exercisable at a price of $0.05 with an expiry date of April 20, 2025.
Empower is an integrated healthcare company with multi-disciplinary clinics, a Canadian medical device company and has launched its first clinical research site becoming a Site Management Organization (SMO) in Dallas, Texas.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com