Empower Clinics is diversifying its business lines to keep North Americans physically and mentally healthy

Empower is one of the largest operators of physician-staffed, medical cannabis-focused health care in the US Proprietary line of CBD products formulated by scientists and field experts Expanding into psilocybin and psychedelics research and patient treatment options Coronavirus antibody testing program using RAPID COVID-19 test kits to be rolled out nationally What Empower Clinics does: Empower Clinics Inc (OTCMKTS:EPWCF) (CSE:CBDT) is a diversified wellness company that is dedicated to keeping people healthy on several fronts. The Vancouver-based company owns a network of physician-staffed health clinics in Oregon and Arizona that serve more than 165,000 patients and provides tele-medicine options in Arizona, Oregon, Washington State, Nevada and California. Its franchise model allows for easy and fast scalability, increasing the distribution of its CBD-based product, Sollievo (which means ‘relief’ in Italian). Sollievo’s offerings include CBD lotion, tinctures, spectrum oils, capsules, lozenges, patches, topical lotions, gel caps, e-drinks, hemp extract drops and pet elixir hemp extract drops. Thanks to a massive influx of millions of new consumers and the entrance of large retailers, the CBD market is estimated to grow to a $23.7 billion industry through 2023, data from Brightfield Group indicates. Empower also supports remote patients using its telemedicine portal, enabling patients who do not live near one of its clinics and can’t get to a location, to still benefit from a doctor consultation. The firm has also signed a deal to acquire Dosed Wellness Ltd and a new dedicated website that leverages the operating assets of Empower. Dosed Wellness is uniquely positioned as an early mover in the psychedelics space with a network of physicians and clinics, advanced research opportunities, tele-medicine capabilities, and a growing base of over 165,000 patients. If that’s not enough, the company is jumping into the fight against the devastating coronavirus pandemic to become a front-line player in the testing space. How is it doing: Empower recently announced a deal to acquire Texas-based Kai Medical Laboratory LLC to help the company advance coronavirus (COVID-19) testing capabilities. Kai has taken an active role in COVID-19 testing, battling the pandemic through RT-PCR testing and serology testing. While the RT-PCR test identifies if a patient has an active virus, the serology or antibody test detects if a patient has previously been exposed to the virus. Both of these test results are vital to managing outbreaks and the potential spread of coronavirus. Currently, Kai has the capacity to complete in excess of 2,000 RT-PCR tests in one eight-hour shift by utilizing its Thermo Fisher QuantStudio 12k Flex testing machine. The lab also utilizes a Roche Cobas 6000 for COVID-19 antibody testing. In November, Kai received a record coronavirus test order expected to be worth more than C$1 million from a film and television production entity. The order includes 9,000 24-hour RT-PCR coronavirus tests, which Kai will process over a four-month period. The client is now a repeat customer, the company said, that previously paid for 1,000 tests to be processed over 30 days in early October. Meanwhile, the firm’s third-quarter financial results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2020, showed patient visits holding steadily above 5,000 throughout the challenges posed by COVID-related restrictions. Total revenue came in at US$629,854 on 5,044 patient visits, coming in above Empower’s own expectations, given the challenges posed by COVID-related restrictions. Year-to-date, the group is seeing strong revenue growth, with a total of 17,457 patient visits generating total revenue of $2,306,111, compared to 11,304 patient visits generating $1,409,143 for nine months ended September 30, 2019. Inflection points: US nationwide roll-out of COVID-19 antibody testing offering all phases of the company services to start in the third quarter of this year Launch of Dosed Wellness and opening a physical presence in Vancouver, including telemedicine capabilities Future acquisitions in the wellness, CBD and psychedelics space What the boss says: "Our 3Q 2020 performance overall exceeded our expectations, given the challenging operating environment in our key markets, yet the team managed to serve large quantities of patients while maintaining strict COVID-19 protocols for health and safety,” CEO Steven McAuley told shareholders in a statement accompanying Empower's quarterly results. "We also continue to implement numerous business development opportunities setting the stage for an exciting 4Q and 2021." Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas