Ted Karkus: Shaping the Future of Healthcare

Mr. Ted Karkus is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ProPhase Labs, Inc. As the CEO, Mr. Karkus oversees corporate strategies, product development, sales and marketing, and R&D.

Mr. Karkus started his career on Wall Street nearly four decades ago, with a keen interest in investing in small-cap development stage companies. He believed these companies have the most potential for growth if selected wisely. Over time, he learned that even if a company has an excellent product or service, it will only succeed with a competent management team that can execute its plans effectively.

Mr. Karkus’ achievements in turning around and growing businesses can be attributed to his unwavering focus on execution, ability to pivot, and commitment to hiring the best talent. He forced the restructuring of ID Biomedical, a struggling Canadian Biotech company, which was later sold to Glaxo Smith Kline for $1.4 billion. Following this success, Mr. Karkus turned his attention to ProPhase Labs, where he was a large shareholder and was unhappy with its direction. So, he initiated a proxy contest, successfully won two federal lawsuits and won a hotly contested shareholder’s vote to gain control of the company.

In 2012, ProPhase’s stock price bottomed at $0.65 per share. Since then, Mr. Karkus and his team turned the company around and sold the Cold-EEZE Cold Remedy brand for $50 million, paying out $2.40 in special stock dividends and increasing the stock price to over ten times its initial value.

The Differentiating Factor

Mr. Karkus takes pride in ProPhase Labs’ ability to execute and create value for its shareholders. Over the past decade, the company has collaborated with top-notch management consultants to develop a world-class management team that is committed to delivering results and maximizing shareholder value.

“We’re incredibly resourceful. We find a way where others can’t. We are skilled at solving our clients’ challenges with creative solutions—challenges that industry leaders are afraid to tackle because they are too complex,”- states Mr. Karkus. “We aren’t afraid to be bold and make smart, rapid, well-informed decisions. We know how to connect the dots in ways that others can’t: from e-commerce to retail, from invention to commercialization, from U.S. to Global.”

Tackling the Most Critical Moment

ProPhase successfully navigated the pandemic by pivoting into Covid testing and generating over $200 million in revenue over the past few years. ProPhase’s exceptional execution, coupled with the industry’s best turnaround time and top-notch services, enabled the company to win the trust of schools, government agencies, and healthcare partners during the most critical moments in recent history. With decreasing demand for Covid testing, Mr. Karkus is leading the company to transition into a growth-oriented and diversified diagnostics, genomics, and biotech company. ProPhase is now leading the genomics revolution with a world-class team of experts, advisors, and pioneers making Whole Genome Sequencing accessible to the masses – and using that as the starting point to unlock a world of health solutions. This strategic move has placed the company at the forefront of personalized medicine.

“We’re building the type of diversified medical science and technology company to lead the future of health and wellness. We are bold. We innovate constantly. And our commitment to execution ensures we keep our promises with all those who count on us daily to make their lives better,” says Mr. Karkus.

Pivoting to Other Businesses

Over the past two years, Mr. Karkus led ProPhase to successfully diversify its business, utilizing its platform and infrastructure to build several subsidiaries with even greater potential. Some of these subsidiaries are already operating at an exceptional level, and Mr. Karkus predicts that revenues from the Pharmaloz Manufacturing subsidiary are estimated to triple over the next two years. On the other hand, Nebula Genomics is growing even faster, with estimated revenue growth of more than 100% in 2023 without distribution in retail stores, which could dramatically increase once the major retailers accept it. Additionally, ProPhase’s BE-Smart Esophageal Cancer Test has demonstrated excellent clinical study results to date, with ongoing testing at mProbe in collaboration with Dr. Hartley and The Mayo Clinic. Mr. Karkus believes the BE-Smart test has multi-billion-dollar potential with minimal competition and significant unmet needs. He plans to commercialize it later this year as an LDT (Laboratory Developed Test) for cash payments, potentially expanding to insurance reimbursement once CPT codes are potentially obtained early next year. ProPhase BioPharma is also showing potential. Clinical studies are underway for Equivir (OTC), a broad-based anti-viral, and the Linebacker cancer compound (LB-1), demonstrating excellent pre-clinical results as a potential cancer co-therapy. Mr. Karkus believes that the knowledge gained from the BE-Smart test could also lead to significant opportunities for therapeutic applications for Esophageal Adeno Carcinoma (EAC) in the long term.

ProPhase’s diversification strategy for its diagnostics laboratory is also proceeding nicely, with its clinical and genomics labs fully constructed and equipment installed. They are currently in the final stages of completing clinical validations to ensure testing accuracy for regulatory obligations, with the genomics laboratory potentially becoming the low-cost provider of whole genome sequencing in the United States and a leading provider of other genomics tests.

The Future

Mr. Karkus has always dreamed of building a multi-billion-dollar company and is determined to make it a reality.

“My goal and my destiny are to build a multi-billion-dollar company. We now have the platform, capital, infrastructure, and most importantly, assets with enormous potential to fulfill my goals,”– he says.

Being the largest shareholder in the company, and based on his demonstrated loyalty to ProPhase’s long-term shareholders, Mr. Karkus’ primary focus has always been on building value and return on investment on both an absolute and per-share basis. Despite his focus on the bottom line, Mr. Karkus is equally concerned with long-term sustainability. He knows that achieving his goals would require a balancing act between short-term performance and long-term growth. But he is determined to do whatever it takes to make his dream a reality. Personally, Mr. Karkus has been married for 28 years and raised two incredible young men, and he continues to marvel and look forward to how they continue to grow in the coming years.