Khiron Life Sciences Corp (CVE:KHRN) Skin Unit Director on Kuida Brand Multi-Channel Deals

Khiron Life Sciences Corp (CVE:KHRN) (OTCMKTS:KHRNF) (FRA:4KH) Skin Unit Director Elsa Navarro shares details of the company’s recent distribution deal with Fedco, one of Colombia’s most established beauty retailers. Navarro notes the agreement is significant because it provides Khiron with the opportunity to introduce consumers to its CBD products at Fedco’s 22 locations in the country. She also discusses the importance of securing an agreement with Linio for online distribution of Kuida-branded products in Colombia. Navarro explains how Khiron’s proprietary CBDERM technology delivers fast absorption rates with a higher percentage of antioxidants, a key ingredient in anti-aging formulas, than traditional cosmetic products. Navara underscores the importance of Khiron’s participation at the world’s largest beauty event, Cosmoprof Worldwide, in Bologna, Italy. Navarro is pleased with Khiron’s recently announced partnership to conduct clinical skin care trials with distinguished Colombian hospital Centro Dermatológico Federico Lleras Acosta (CDFLLA). The deal is the first of its kind for Latin America and puts Khiron in a leadership position in the cannabis dermacosmetics space.

Transcript:

James West:   Elsa Navarro joins me now. She’s the Skin Unit Director of Khiron Life Sciences, trading on the TSX Venture under the symbol KHRN. Elsa, welcome.

Elsa Navarro: Hi, James. So nice to say hi from Bogota.

James West:   Yeah, well, it’s great to speak to you from Bogota. Elsa, you guys have been making some incredible progress with your skin care cosmeceutical line under the brand name Kuida, and you’ve just recently announced a new partnership with one of Colombia’s top specialty beauty retailers. Can you tell us a bit about that, please?

Elsa Navarro: Yeah, well, as you know, we started with Farmatodo as an exclusive agreement for the launch of the brand last October, and as you said, we just closed another deal with Fedco. Fedco is one of the largest and oldest specialized beauty care retailers here in Colombia; it’s a really big step for us, because it’s a way to introduce CBD-based products to consumers.

James West:   And so, how many consumers for skin care products would there be just within Colombia, say?

Elsa Navarro: Well, you know, we have a population of nearly 40 million inhabitants here in Colombia. We have a big opportunity, a big market, but we’re not only considering right now Colombia as our backyard; we’re considering Latin America, and we’re considering a worldwide population. You know, the industry is considered to be $130 billion dollar, so it’s a big opportunity for us, not only in Colombia, but in the world.

James West:   You bet. And so Fedco is in all major cities in Colombia, 22 stores?

Elsa Navarro: 22 stores in the biggest retailers centres on the biggest cities in Colombia, that’s right.

James West:   Okay. So tell me a bit about the products. What exactly does the product line entail?

Elsa Navarro: Well, right now we have seven references. We take care of body and face needs, focusing on our major claim, that is the antioxidant action that we can provide through the synergy of regular cosmeceutical active ingredients and the CBD, of course, from cannabis. We have basic stuff. We have body lotion, we have a scrub that is our bestseller so far. We have a body mist, and we have for body care moisturizer, day and night cream, eye contour, anything that, everything that a current consumer may need for basic beauty care.

James West:   Sure. And so tell me: what is the effect of CBD on the skin, for example, and skin health?

Elsa Navarro: Well, what we can say right now through our products is that the CBDERM technology that we have created for Kuida is the synergy of CBD giving a more antioxidant coating action than other active ingredients that we already know in the market. So if you talk about antioxidant action, you’re talking about anti-aging, more elasticity into the skin, that gives a more radiant look. And we adapt with fast absorption formulation in order to be a really competitive product. Not only talking about CBD and cannabis, but being able to compete with other traditional brands.

James West:   You recently did a – you also introduced the product at a event in Bologna, Italy, did you not?

Elsa Navarro: Yes! This was a great achievement for us. This is the biggest expo for beauty care in the world. They handpick the best brands around the world to showcase in this yearly event. We were the first Colombian company to be invited to the show; we were in this special exhibition area that is called the Extraordinary Gallery, and we were able to show our brand to the world.

James West:   Right. The ability to sell CBD-infused skin products around the world, it’s not quite uniform yet thanks to the way the laws are. So, are there some countries you can sell it in now and some you can’t, or do you have to just make adjustments to the formulation to accommodate the laws of different countries? How do you go about selling it globally right now?

Elsa Navarro: Well, right now, it’s just being ready and understanding different regulations in order to get there as soon as we can. We have period formulations that are adaptable to most of the current regulations, but we’re doing is to preparing the landscape to be ready to get as soon as possible to a different market that are moving rapidly in order to get a regulation that is really similar to the one that we have in Colombia and Latin America.

As you know, we already have permits with some of our products to enter Peru, so that has been a good trial run for us to understand different markets.

James West:   Wow, that’s fantastic. Elsa, what other products do you envision creating for the cosmeceutical world in the years to come?

Elsa Navarro: Well, we just signed also an agreement, it’s the first agreement to do clinical trials with cannabis on skin, with one of the biggest research hospitals here in Latin America. And that really opens our scope in order to create new products – not only the cosmeceutical scope that we are right now, but also it allows us to get into dermacosmetics and maybe someday to treat pathologies or help pathologies into the skin.

James West:   That’s interesting. Do you have – are there other companies that are doing this in Colombia at this point? Are you guys the first?

Elsa Navarro: As we know, we’re the only ones, not only in Colombia, but Latin American. This is the first, as I told you, the first agreement that is selling in the region in order to do clinical trials on skin.

James West:   And I see that you’ve also got an agreement with Grupo S.A.C.I. Falabella. They’re a Chilean company, are they not, that basically have stores in every country in Latin America?

Elsa Navarro: We signed a deal with Lineo, that is the online platform that they acquired last year. So that gives us an entry opportunity not only to the e-commerce in Colombia, but also Latin America, as soon as regulations allow us to.

James West:   Is this skin products, like, you, is it something that you will see in, like, Vogue Magazine at some point in the future?

Elsa Navarro: I think we’re going to see that really soon, in that kind of publications. We worked really close with influencers and regular people that want to get into a trend. The difference that we do here in Khiron through Kuida is not only using it as a trend, but also dignifying the active ingredient, and looking it as a long-term relationship in order well we can create related to skin care.

James West:   And how have your – how have the events that you presented these products at, how are they being received by the clientele? How are the people who are trying them, liking it?

Elsa Navarro: Well, you know, it’s amazing, because every time is a different experience, and what we have realized is the most important part of these events is to get like that one-to-one communication with the consumer. You know, there’s a lot of misconceptions, a lot of myths, around cannabis and CBD, so it’s great to get to talk to people directly, not only through regular advertisement channels but to have that one-on-one is the thing that I think has allowed us to grow so rapidly.

James West:   Right. And is this something that will be available in the United States and Canada at any point?

Elsa Navarro: Well, you know, we’re really hoping to get into the US market really soon through our JV with Dixie Brands. So we’re working that.

James West:   Wow, that’s exciting. All right, Elsa, that’s a great update. We’re going to leave it there for now; we’ll come back to you soon. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Elsa Navarro: Thank you for your time. Nice to see you, James.

James West:   You bet. Bye for now.

Original article: Khiron Life Sciences Corp (CVE:KHRN) Skin Unit Director on Kuida Brand Multi-Channel Deals

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