Cure sells $20M in intellectual property, replaces CEO and CFO
Oxnard-based Cure Pharmaceutical, a drug delivery platform and CBD products company, will be selling a portion of its intellectual property and related assets for $20 million, the company announced July 28.
The buyer was a company called TF Tech Ventures, and the deal closed July 22, Cure said in a July 28 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The $20 million came in the form of $4.15 million in debt forgiveness, a $2 million secured loan and the remaining $13.85 million in cash.
When the deal closed, Cure also replaced its CEO, Robert Davidson. He remains on the Cure board and was replaced as CEO by Nancy Duitch, who is also the CEO of a Cure subsidiary called Sera Labs, a CBD wellness and beauty brand. Cure’s CFO, Michael Redard, also stepped down on the July 22 closing date, and was replaced by Joel Bennett, Sera Labs’ CFO.
In a news release, Cure stated some of the proceeds from the sale would go toward paying down its debt and growing its intellectual property portfolio in its wellness and beauty brands.
Cure said it will retain some of its platform technology, which it intends to monetize through the commercialization of the technology or through its licensing or sale.
Cure acquired Sera Labs in 2020 for $20 million. Davidson told the Business Times in April 2021 that obtaining Sera Labs was “vital” to Cure, allowing the company to have the opportunity to “take off from here.”
Sera accounted for half of Cure’s 2020 revenue despite only being part of the company for the last three months of the year.
In 2021, Cure generated $6.1 million in revenue a more than 200% increase, with Sera Labs accounting for $5 million of that revenue.
Cure, which trades on an over-the-counter marketplace, saw shares dip 19% the day after announcing its sale, on record volume, to close at 26 cents per share on July 29. Shares were up more than 30% on the morning of Aug. 1, though, trading at around 34 cents mid-day.
Cure shares have not closed at over $1 since March 2021 and are down 95% from their peak of $5.20 in July 2019.
