VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AVRICORE HEALTH INC. (TSXV:AVCR) (the "Company" or "AVCR") is pleased to announce its audited results for 2023. The Company nearly doubled its previous record revenues to $3,485,147 while gross profit increased by 163% to $1,203,396. The Company is currently in an early scale-up and growth period, and therefore has made substantial capital investments with on-hand cash during this period, and yet strong gross margins have allowed the Company to realize operational profitability. "Our team has been able to build the largest network of cloud-connected analyzers in pharmacy with HealthTab™ for the first time ever while maintaining rigorous fiscal discipline," said Hector Bremner, CEO of Avricore Health Inc. "We are seeing the pharmacy sector making major investments every day in this space and expect public policy to amplify opportunities ahead of us. Nobody is better prepared to deliver on the future of healthcare." Visit www.sedar.com and search AVCR to review the consolidated financials for the Company. HEALTHTAB™ – KEY DEVELOPMENTS Key developments have included: In the year ended December 31, 2023 revenue increased by 97% year over year to $3,485,147 and gross profit increased by 163% to $1,203,396. In the three months ended December 31, 2023 revenue increased by 39% year over year to $1,354,403 and gross profit increased by 197% to $501,466. Avricore has partnered with Ascensia Diabetes Care to integrate their blood glucose monitoring systems, CONTOUR®NEXT GEN and CONTOUR®NEXT ONE, with Avricore's HealthTab™ platform. The collaboration aims to improve diabetes management for patients and pharmacists in Canada by linking daily blood glucose testing data to the patient's HealthTab™ account. This integration will provide a more comprehensive health data tool for combating diabetes. The technical work is expected to be completed by Q3 of this year, with ongoing efforts to encourage patient engagement. Ascensia Diabetes Care is a global company focused on supporting people with diabetes and is a subsidiary of PHC Holdings Corporation. The Company has significantly expanded the number of Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies offering its HealthTab™ point-of-care testing platform under a renewed Master Service Agreement (MSA) to 776 locations nation-wide. In addition to Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies, this new MSA and corresponding Statement of Work (SOW) provides for affiliated locations under the Loblaws family of brands, to utilize HealthTab™ upon request. In September 2023, the Company announced its first testing location within Rexall's Pharmacy Walk-In Clinic in Sherwood Park, Alberta. That location, a first for Rexall as well, offers both the Afinion 2™ blood-chemistry analyzer as well as the ID Now™ molecular platform by Abbott Rapid Diagnostics, giving patients quick access to their test results, and allowing for immediate consultation with their pharmacist. After the initial launch, the Company was pleased to announce further expansion of HealthTab™ with Rexall Pharmacy Group ULC ("Rexall"). to deploy a minimum of another 20 locations spread out between stores in Alberta and Ontario. After each deployment, the teams will collaborate to assess deployment workflow, refine processes and identify further deployment opportunities based on patient and pharmacist feedback. Avricore's HealthTab™ platform has been selected by a collaborative effort involving Barts Heart Centre and HEART UK to assess the feasibility of community pharmacists in the UK providing cholesterol testing alongside blood pressure checks for cardiovascular risk evaluation. The study aims to build on the success of over 930,000 blood pressure checks conducted in 6,000 pharmacies as part of an NHS initiative. With NHS England allocating £645 million (approx. $1.1 billion CDN$) to increase access to primary care, HealthTab™ will support pharmacists in delivering vital support for chronic diseases. The innovative practice of pharmacist-led primary healthcare clinics is expected to expand, as provinces struggle to meet the health care needs of their residents and recruit more family physicians. The program's primary focus is to screen patients at-risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In-store signage and print material will let customers know they are able to request HealthTab™ tests, and existing patients will be made aware through direct outreach from their Shoppers Drug Mart® or Real Canadian Superstore® pharmacist based on their health profile. On March 28th, 2023, the Government of Canada tabled its budget for the year ahead, including a 10-year funding agreement with the Nation's provinces to increase healthcare funding. This new funding approach is novel for the fact that each province will have specific agreements, opposed to the more traditional generalized formula. This approach is expected to bring substantial innovations related to healthcare data and new healthcare service delivery, as the provinces agreed to make changes to rules and practices which have limited data-flow optimization and healthcare access. With the current healthcare sector trends of lower access to timely care form a family doctor to patients' overall expectation for technology to provide rapid and accurate insights into their health risk, HealthTab™'s demand continues to grow in pharmacy. The Company believes HealthTab™ has yet to realize its full potential, however, it has the right strategic approach and appropriate resources to maximize its revenues as opportunities matures. ANNUAL FINANCIAL RESULTS The following financial data for the three years is derived from the Annual Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements.     2023   2022   2021 Total revenue $ 3,485,147 $ 1,768,374 $ 122,808 Loss from operations $ 701,215 $ 818,228 $ 1,708,132 Loss per share – basic and diluted $ 0.01 $ 0.01 $ 0.02 Total assets $ 2,538,205 $ 2,568,983 $ 2,281,393 Total current liabilities (1) $ 529,218 $ 604,893 $ 84,477 Total non-current financial liabilities Nil Nil Nil         (1)   2022 Current liabilities include deferred revenue of $252,000 for which the Company completed delivery in Q1 2023. QUARTERLY FINANCIAL INFORMATION The following table highlights selected unaudited consolidated financial data for each of the eight most recent quarters that, in management's opinion, have been prepared on a basis consistent with the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023. These results are not necessarily indicative of results ...