Community Pharmacies Take a Bigger Role in Preventive Care as Testing Moves Closer to Patients

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Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Healthcare systems around the world are under increasing pressure to deliver preventive care earlier, faster, and closer to where patients live. Community pharmacies are emerging as a critical access point, particularly for cardiovascular screening and chronic disease monitoring, as governments look to relieve hospitals while improving population-level outcomes. Advances in point-of-care testing and cloud-based data integration are now making it possible for pharmacies to provide clinically rigorous services that were once confined to centralized labs.

Shares of Avricore Health Inc. (TSX-V: AVCR) (OTCQB: AVCRF) are on the move Wednesday after the company announced plans to expand its HealthTab™ platform across North East London. The rollout will add approximately 70 new community pharmacy sites, building on the success of NHS-linked cardiovascular programs delivered in collaboration with Barts Health NHS Trust.

The expansion comes amid growing national attention on the role pharmacies can play in frontline care delivery, including recent coverage by BBC News highlighting community-based cardiovascular services. Deployment of the additional sites is expected to occur in the coming weeks, reflecting strong engagement from pharmacies, rising clinical demand, and alignment with NHS priorities to shift more care from hospital settings into local communities.

Avricore Health is a pharmacy service innovator focused on acquiring and developing early-stage technologies that advance pharmacy practice and patient care. Through its wholly owned subsidiary HealthTab™, the company is working to create one of the largest networks of rapid testing devices embedded directly within community pharmacies, providing actionable health information at the point of care.

HealthTab™ is designed as a turnkey solution for distributed point-of-care testing networks. The platform integrates best-in-class diagnostic instruments, secure cloud software, standardized workflows, and comprehensive training and support into a single system. Its cloud-based infrastructure connects analyzers, patient results, and quality-control data across all locations, enabling consistent testing, real-time analytics, and streamlined public health reporting.

A central component of the platform is its emphasis on quality and accuracy. HealthTab™ operates a comprehensive quality management program through its partnership with CEQAL Inc., a global reference laboratory and member of the CDC Cholesterol Reference Method Laboratory Network. This program includes centralized monitoring of reagent lots, internal quality controls, regular external quality assessment events, and expert oversight designed to mirror the rigor of accredited clinical laboratories.

According to Avricore’s leadership, the North East London expansion reinforces the scalability of HealthTab™ within complex NHS environments and highlights its ability to meet strict clinical governance requirements. As pharmacy services continue to expand across England, the company believes HealthTab™ is well positioned to support both preventive screening initiatives and treatment-linked care pathways nationwide.

Shares of AVCR are up 6.7% to C$0.08 in Wednesday trading, while shares of AVCRF have slipped 6.4% to $0.048 on modest volume.

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