Cellmid 2017 Annual Report 9
The 2017 financial year has been truly transformational for
Advangen with several major achievements. It started well
when in July 2016 we signed a distribution partnership with
Colour Collective, a group specialising in the branding and
launch of premium hair care products. Together with their
team we have developed the premium evolis® Professional
brand with three distinct ranges. The REVERSE, PROMOTE
and PREVENT ranges address different consumer needs
and they are free of silicon, parabens, SLE, SLS and
phthalates. These characteristics are increasingly important
as consumers demand transparency about the ingredients
in the products they use.
Our consumer experience study results with 79 participants
were outstanding and confirmed previous clinical study
observations. This was the first time we used the entire
range of evolis® Professional products including shampoo,
conditioner and activator. The information we have
gathered will continue to support our marketing for years
to come.
Manufacture of the the evolis® Professional range was
completed in June 2017, which allowed us to sign our
first retail partnership with Neiman Marcus. This is only
the beginning for our US market approach with retailers
and we expect to secure a number of similar relationships
across the USA.
Sales in Japan increased by 39% in FY2017 to $2.98
million. The best performing sales channel for the
Japanese business remained QVC during the period, with
salon sales also improving. In Australia consumer health
sales increased 81% to reach $1,468,303 in FY2017.
Although pharmacy remained the most significant channel,
website sales have also increased significantly. A dedicated
digital marketing team was appointed during the period
and ecommerce sales are expected to continue to grow.
Following an extensive search and negotiation process
we have been able to secure premises in Tokyo’s premium
shopping district, Ginza, for the first concept store. The
launch of the Advangen Hair Biology store is expected in
the second half of 2017. Initially stocked with the Japanese
products, especially Jo-Ju®, the store will take advantage
of the brand awareness built through two years of
television shopping channel presence. The global évolis®
Professional branded shampoos, conditioner and activators
are expected to become available in the concept store in
late 2018.
After a lengthy application process Chinese import permits
for the Jo-Ju® and Lexilis® branded products have been
received. With these import permits now in place shipment
of products has recommence in FY2018.
The publication of our FGF5 inhibitor clinical study results
in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology,
a peer reviewed journal, in March 2017 signalled to
the markets again that Advangen is the leader in FGF5
science, and in hair science generally. We are planning
on presenting the data in a poster form and in plenary
sessions in dermatology and hair biology conferences in
the coming months.
The 2018 financial year is promising to be just as exciting
with plans for a new global evolis® website. Improving
functionality, payment and customer management systems,
adding repeat purchase capabilities and optimising search
engine access is expected to result in significant sales
growth in the direct to consumer channel.
The evolis® Professional range will be launched in salons in
Australia and in the US in FY2018, with discussions in other
countries on foot. We have new product launches planned
in Australia and Japan, increasing turnover in existing
channels. We are also planning to explore additional
opportunities in television shopping in Australia, USA
and China.