Safe Supply Streaming Co. Ltd (SPLY:CSE; SSPLF:OTCQB; QM4:FSE) is expanding the areas within safe supply in which it will invest to include medical testing and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered healthcare technology, it announced in a news release.
"Medical testing and technology present the biggest opportunity for growth in our sector," Chief Executive Officer Bill Panagiotakopoulos said in the release. "We have identified fast-growing revenue streams, attracted institutional capital and see substantial potential in this market."
Safe supply, or safer supply as it is sometimes called, involves providing prescribed medications to illegal drug users as a safer alternative and preventing and reducing harms associated with the illicit drug market, most significantly overdose and death, as defined by the Canadian government and the U.S.' National Institutes of Health.
Safe Supply Streaming, having developed a proprietary pipeline of mergers and acquisitions targets over the past two years, is well-positioned and will continue to explore partnerships and transaction structures. Its focus going forward will be on "total addressable markets offering the most accretive revenue opportunities in the short term," the release explained.
"You look at the market trends and the shift, and you see that there's going to be a huge opportunity to be to be able to do some good," Panagiotakopoulos said in an interview.
Earlier this year, for example, Safe Supply Streaming invested in Safety Strips Tech Corp., which is commercializing fentanyl and xylazine test strips for public use, at places like music festivals, concerts, addiction houses and education centers.
In other corporate news, the Toronto, Ontario-based firm suspended funding to 2683450 Ontario Inc. and CannaLabs as of May 30, to focus on more lucrative investments. It also halted alternative forms of financing, including at the market and listed issuer financing exemptions.
Significant Sector Growth Forecasted
One of the markets in which Safe Supply Streaming is expanding into, global medical diagnostic testing, is "experiencing rapid growth," reported BioSpace in a March article.
Worldwide, the market, a cornerstone of healthcare, is estimated to reach US$449.78 billion (US$449.78B) in value by 2033, more than double its value in 2023 or US$211.27B. Thus, its expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is 7.9%.
"The diagnostic testing market in North America is thriving, primarily fueled by the region's expanding elderly population," BioSpace wrote.
In the U.S., in the same 10-year period, the market is expected to experience a 6.5% CAGR, rising in value to US$158.77B from US$84.85B.
A prominent trend in medical diagnostic testing is the use of AI, noted BioSpace. AI-powered algorithms lead to improved data analysis, in turn resulting in better diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Machine learning applications identify patterns, also beneficial in data interpretation.
Additional AI applications include patient data and risk analysis, remote patient monitoring, drug discovery, mental health and precision medicine.
The AI-powered healthcare market, another of Safe Supply Streaming's targets, is forecasted to burgeon globally at a remarkable CAGR, of 48.1%, between 2024 and 2029, according to a Markets and Markets report. Specifically, the market's value is expected to increase sixfold over the next five years, going from an estimated US$20.9B to US$148.4B.
In this forecast period, it is projected that North America will account for much of the market.
Need for Solutions to Opioid Crisis
During the past 10 years, deaths from drug overdose in Canada and the U.S. have reached "unprecedented levels," wrote the authors of a 2024 article in Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.
"This crisis has resulted from an increasingly toxic and volatile unregulated drug supply, contaminated with fentanyl and its analogues, combined with benzodiazepines and other non-opioid sedatives," they explained. Non-opioid sedatives include xylazine (called "tranq" or "the zombie drug") and more recently, as reported by NPR, medetomidine.
The statistics bear this out. In Canada, about 22 people died from an opioid overdose every day throughout the first six months of 2023 alone, according to the national Health InfoBase. The total of deaths, 40,642, was 5% higher than in the same period in 2022.
In the U.S., one fentanyl-related death occurs about every five minutes, and at least 7 in 10 counterfeit pills are deadly, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency data indicate. Last year, more than 70,000 Americans fatally overdosed on fentanyl.
Fentanyl is the No. 1 killer of adults aged 18−45, and the age group seeing the fastest rise in fentanyl poisoning deaths is children under 14.
Safe Supply as a Remedy
Proponents of safe supply, a subject of controversy and debate, purport that it works. Safe Supply Streaming's CEO Panagiotakopoulos is one of them.
"I think it would be a better situation if you gave these people a reliable clean source of drugs, so they're not going to criminals to source their drugs, they're not taking poisons that they're getting tricked into taking, fentanyl or xylazine," he said in an interview, "and regulating it and of course taxing it and of course helping people."
According to the Canadian government, research studies have shown safe supply results in: lower rates of overdose and individual overdose risk; less use of fentanyl and other street-acquired substances; reduced hospital admissions and emergency room visits; fewer infections; stronger connections to general medical care, housing and social support; and overall improvements in health and social well-being.
In North America, Canada has been leading the way in safe supply and harm reduction since 2016. Its efforts today include prescribed safer opioid supply programs, easier and expanded access to naloxone (a drug that temporarily reverses the effects of opioid overdoses), syringe safe-use supply programs and safe consumption sites (supervised and non-supervised rooms for safe drug use).
In the U.S., some similar efforts, notably around naloxone, syringe supply and safe consumption spaces, started coming online in the early 2020s but today "fall well short of peer nations," according to The Commonwealth Fund, a U.S. nonprofit organization working to improve the country's healthcare system.
The Catalyst
Safe Supply Streaming expects to deploy capital into additional entities in the safe supply realm, the company said. Developments of this nature could boost its stock.
Ownership and Share Structure
According to Reuters, three strategic investors own 6.44%, or 4.95 million (4.95M) shares, of Safe Supply Streaming. They are CEO Bill Panagiotakopolous with 6.12% or 4.71M shares, Director Najla Guthrie with 0.18% or 0.14M shares and Ronan Levy with 0.13% or 0.1M shares.
Retail investors own the remaining 93.56% of the company. There are no institutional investors at this time.
Safe Supply Streaming has 76.92M outstanding shares and 71.97M free float traded shares.
Its market cap is CA$2.8M, and its trading range over the past 52 weeks is CA$0.035−$0.37 per share.
| Want to be the first to know about interesting Healthcare Services investment ideas? Sign up to receive the FREE Streetwise Reports' newsletter. | Subscribe |
