East Coast based medicinal cannabis company Rua Bioscience has recorded a loss of $6.17m, but chief executive Rob Mitchell says this was expected.
Photo: Unsplash / Shane Rounce
This comes after Rua went live on the NZ stock exchange in October and raised $20m in an initial public offering.
Rua Bioscience CEO Rob Mitchell says the result was not a shock to Rua as it's still trying to build the company.
He says the result of last financial year does not make him concerned for the future of the company.
"Rua is very well capitalised, we raised $20m through the IPO, and we have no issues or growing concerns. We have a very clear path to revenue. We are comfortable where we are at because it's where we thought we would be," Mitchell said.
Rua recorded a loss before tax of $6.17m. The investment in research and development was $1.90m, and the total other income received was $0.45m.
Cash and investments at 30 June 2021 were $16.4m. Total investment in property, plant and equipment as at 30 June 2021 was $6.17m.
Rua has been focussing on building solid foundations for growth such as developing partnerships, places, process and people it needs to create a sustainable medicinal cannabis business model.
Part of this growth was completing the facilities in Ruatorea and Gisborne and starting the process of getting a GMP certificate for manufacturing.
"The GMP is a key component to generate revenue locally and through exports," Mitchell said.
Mitchell is looking forward to getting a medicinal cannabis product out in New Zealand.
Rua anticipates having product available for New Zealand patients as a prescription-only medicine in 2022, once it has obtained GMP certification, completed the New Medicines Application process and Ministry of Health's Quality Standard assessment which is required for all new products.
Mitchell says the vision of Rua is always to create opportunity in the Tairāwhiti region.
"As at balance date, we had 30 staff working for us, half of them have whanau connections of whakapapa to Tairawhiti. It important we are employing locals from the region where ever we can. It's important in sustaining our business."
He says Rua is fully focussed on the Tairāwhiti region and has no plans to extend out of the region.