Globally integrated biopharmaceuticals company Immuron Ltd (NASDAQ:IMRN, ASX:IMC) has had a bumper year for its over-the-counter gastrointestinal and digestive health immune supplements, with global sales of Travelan® and Protectyn® increasing 136% in FY23 to A$1.8 million.
Australia-based sales were also much higher, a massive 478% increase on last financial year’s sales to A$1.16 million, despite the target market of overseas short-term departures only reaching 82% of their 2019 levels, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
US Travelan® sales this year reached A$643,000, a 28% increase on the year previous, due to increasing sales in both Passport Health Travel Clinics and distributor sales.
Inventory shortages due to high sales
In fact, Travelan® sales were so strong, the company experienced short-term stock outages in some wholesalers and pharmacies in the June 2023 quarter in Australia and the US.
While Immuron does have inventory of Travelan® Australia ready to release, it wasn’t able to do so before it has received GMP Clearance from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
Even though Immuron has transferred (and validated) the packaging to another supplier which has a valid/current GMP certificate from the TGA, the TGA has not given Immuron a timeline for GMP Clearance.
The TGA advised IMC that it is experiencing extremely high volumes of GMP Clearance extension applications, resulting in delays to processing timeframes.
Immuron says it will continue to press for an early resolution of this issue with the TGA.
In the US, the company was hampered by supply constraints, which have reportedly been resolved. Immuron now has inventory of Travelan® USA on hand, which it says is of sufficient volume to meet the needs of its current customers and to expand into new market segments.
IMC has shipped inventory to Amazon with launch anticipated in the next couple of weeks.