Guardion Health Sciences, Inc. (“Guardion” or the “Company”)
(Nasdaq: GHSI), a clinical nutrition and diagnostics company that
develops clinically supported nutrition, medical foods,
supplements, and medical devices, issued the following Letter to
Shareholders:
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
I am delighted to be able to communicate
directly with you and share all the developments that have occurred
involving Guardion over the last year.
During the course of the past year, we have been
working non-stop toward re-creating your company into becoming a
premier provider of clinically proven, trusted health and wellness
products. I feel like it is safe to say that the Guardion that
began 2021 is not the same Guardion finishing the year 2021, and
that we are optimistic regarding our future in 2022 and beyond.
Our transformation effectively began mid-year
with the acquisition of the Viactiv brand in June, which has
significantly altered our product mix, revenue stream and organic
growth potential. Since then, our focus has been on growing those
revenues through improved and enhanced business and marketing
practices, as well as optimizing our results from our existing
business through improved internal financial management tools and
aggressively seeking and evaluating opportunities to expand our
market share.
We have regularly communicated our confidence
that exploitation of the Viactiv brand will be the cornerstone of
our future success. This success will rely on our providing ample
and adequate support to that brand through the following means:
- Brand awareness – Viactiv was initially launched by
well-respected industry leaders Mead Johnson/Johnson & Johnson
over 20 years ago. This history, along with the product’s marketing
campaigns, taste profile, and receipt of consistently positive
consumer reviews, has led to strong consumer awareness and
acceptance. While we have continued to reap the benefits from this
brand awareness, we are also keenly aware of the necessity of
enhancing it by maximizing every opportunity to continue to build
the brand while capitalizing on its established track record.
- Experienced management – As
part of the Viactiv acquisition, Guardion appointed Craig Sheehan
as the Company’s Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Sheehan was the
senior executive responsible for the Viactiv brand as a member of
the executive leadership team at Adare Pharmaceuticals, the
previous owner of the brand. Craig has been actively building the
team that we believe will drive improvements in not only the
Viactiv brand, but Guardion’s other products as a whole.
- Sales channels – Guardion’s
team is evaluating opportunities to increase product
commercialization through better access to sales channels. The
Viactiv products enjoy established distribution through traditional
“brick and mortar” retailers and online eCommerce retailers.
Guardion’s other clinical nutrition products are sold directly to
consumers via the Company’s website (www.guardionhealth.com). By
leveraging Guardion’s collective experience selling in these
channels, Guardion is seeking to increase distribution of its
products. Viactiv’s products are currently marketed through many of
the nation’s largest retailers, including, among others, Walmart
(retail and online), Target, CVS and Amazon. The distribution
infrastructure and know-how that we acquired with the Viactiv
acquisition positions us well to expand the presence of all of our
current and future brands and drive sales. Management is actively
focusing on supply chain matters in light of industry-wide supply
chain constraints. Through September 30, 2021, the Company had not
experienced material negative impact to its supply chain, and while
the Company cannot make any assurances about future periods, we are
focused on being able to meet consumer demand for our
products.
- Product development
potential – The Viactiv brand has promising organic growth
potential through expanded product development, increased marketing
programs, and line extensions. For example, Viactiv recently
launched its Calcium Plus Immune product, and we are actively
exploring and developing other complementary products that we plan
to bring to market. Among Guardion’s key values is the importance
of a robust body of clinical evidence to back up the value
propositions of our products. We intend to continue to grow our
body of evidence on both existing and future products to ensure
both consumer and shareholder confidence.
- Track record of
profitability – The Company expects the acquisition of Viactiv
to contribute increasing revenue and consistent operating margins,
as well as a multitude of growth opportunities, to the
Company.
In addition to the importance of strengthening
our operations in general, we have also focused on many initiatives
that we believe will improve the Company’s operating performance as
follows:
- Strengthening management –
Guardion is continuing to seek experienced and qualified management
resources who have demonstrated successful track records in
generating sustained, profitable growth in the clinical nutrition
industry. In addition to hiring Craig Sheehan in June 2021, we
hired Jeffrey Benjamin as the Company’s Chief Accounting Officer in
2021. Mr. Benjamin is an experienced corporate controller with both
public and private company experience, and is responsible for the
Company’s accounting, financial and SEC reporting functions.
Strengthening the board of directors – Guardion
appointed Michaela Griggs, a seasoned healthcare executive to its
Board of Directors in December 2021. Mrs. Griggs currently serves
as Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles-based Southern California
Reproductive Center. From 2017 through 2020, Mrs. Griggs served as
Executive Vice President at Barco Uniforms’ Health Care &
Identity Divisions. For nearly 20 years prior to Barco, Mrs. Griggs
held key executive marketing positions at Allergan, Bayer
Healthcare, 3M Unitek and Tria Beauty, where she was instrumental
in developing and improving brand, retail and distribution
strategies for global brands such as Botox®, Juvederm®, and
One-A-Day® multi-vitamins, as well as other key brand
portfolios.
- Efficiency initiatives focused on
increased profitability:
- Logistics – We decided to
relocate our ocular products inventory to a third-party logistics
provider (“3PL”) earlier this year. After analyzing product
handling, storage and transportation, we determined that a 3PL
would provide additional and improved customer service while also
reducing our cost structure.
- Office costs – We have moved
our executive offices from San Diego, California to Houston, Texas.
This move has greatly reduced our office footprint. In addition,
the Houston healthcare community and life sciences community are
well-suited to support our strategy to create products backed by
clinical evidence. Finally, the move provided additional
advantages, including a less expensive business environment.
- Portfolio and business line
evaluation – We continue to evaluate the Company’s entire
product portfolio and related business lines, with the objective to
identify efficiencies and insuring fit with the Company’s strategic
direction. We intend to focus on those products and technologies
that possess the greatest opportunity for commercial success within
a reasonable period of time, and with a reasonable deployment of
capital. For example, we decided to increase our focus on our
Viactiv and ocular products this past fall. We are currently
reviewing the NutriGuard brand in relation to the overall Viactiv
strategy. This process includes an evaluation of our current
products and potential new products.
- Information technology – We
are evaluating opportunities to leverage information technology to
increase efficiency and marketing effectiveness, and to manage
risk.
In addition to the commercialization and
business development activities described above, we are regularly
seeking opportunities to utilize mergers and acquisitions and
similar transactions to advance the Company’s business strategy and
provide immediate opportunities to rapidly scale our business.
Targets that would advance Guardion’s business strategy and focus
include companies with an established brand presence, growing
revenues, strong distribution channels and/or profitable sales,
commercialized products that could strengthen our product
portfolio, and products that present strong growth opportunities
and unique science or technology profiles.
Finally, the Guardion management team is looking
forward to increasing the frequency of shareholder communications
to be able to report on achieving measurable and tangible
milestones as part of the Company’s overall long-term progress.
Over the long-term, I believe that Guardion’s
success will depend on our ability to create value in
well-differentiated and robust brands comprised of strong
clinically proven products that address consumer needs in growing
markets. We are committed to bringing compelling products to market
under meaningful and differentiated brands that are supported by
strong science.
The activities in 2021 allow us to be in a much
better position to create value for our shareholders primarily as a
result of the Viactiv acquisition. We also recognize that we have
much to accomplish in 2022 and beyond and management and the Board
are committed to doing the hard work necessary to benefit our
shareholders. We are looking forward to continuing to execute on
the plans outlined above, and to sharing the incremental progress
of many of those activities, through additional shareholder
communications. In the meantime, we wish all of our shareholders a
prosperous, safe and healthy holiday season and look forward to a
strong 2022.
Sincerely, Bret D. ScholtesChief Executive
OfficerGuardion Health Sciences, Inc.
About Guardion Health Sciences,
Inc.
Guardion Health Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GHSI),
is a clinical nutrition and diagnostics company. Guardion’s
portfolio of science-based, clinically supported nutrition, medical
foods, and diagnostic products support healthcare professionals,
their patients, and consumers in achieving health goals. Guardion’s
commercial and developmental initiatives are supported by equally
impressive scientific and medical advisory boards, led by seasoned
business executives and physicians with many years of experience.
This combination of expertise and scientific knowledge forms the
foundation of Guardion’s growing position within the clinical
nutrition marketplace. Information and risk factors with respect to
Guardion and its business, including its ability to successfully
develop and commercialize its proprietary products and
technologies, may be obtained in the Company’s filings with the U.
S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)
at www.sec.gov.
Forward-Looking Statement
Disclaimer
With the exception of the historical information
contained in this news release, the matters described herein may
contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These
forward-looking statements contain information about our
expectations, beliefs, plans or intentions regarding our product
development and commercialization efforts, research and development
efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations,
strategies or prospects, and other similar matters. Statements
preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words
“believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “projects,”
“estimates,” “plans,” “hopes” and similar expressions or future or
conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may” and
“could” are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical
facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the
foregoing. These statements are based on management’s current
expectations and assumptions about future events, which are
inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in
circumstances that are difficult to predict, and involve unknown
risks and uncertainties that may individually or materially impact
the matters discussed herein for a variety of reasons that are
outside the control of the Company, including, but not limited to,
the Company’s ability to raise sufficient financing to implement
its business plan, the integration of new management team members,
the implementation of new financial, management, accounting and
business software systems, the integration of the Viactiv
acquisition and possibly additional acquisition targets, the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, operations and
the economy in general, the Company’s ability to successfully
develop and commercialize its proprietary products and
technologies, and the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with
Nasdaq’s listing requirements. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as actual
results could differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to
read the risk factors set forth in the Company’s filings with the
SEC, which are available at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). The
Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
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