Akoya Biosciences Inc (AKYA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Akoya Biosciences's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 Akoya Biosciences 的 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

And I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Priyam Shah, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的第一位發言人，投資者關係主管 Priyam Shah。請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and thank you to everyone who's joining us today on this call. I'm Priyam Shah, Head of Investor Relations at Akoya Biosciences. On the call today, we have Brian McKelligon, Chief Executive Officer; and Johnny Ek, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，也感謝今天加入我們這次電話會議的所有人。我是 Priyam Shah，Akoya Biosciences 投資者關係主管。今天的電話會議由執行長 Brian McKelligon 主持。約翰尼‧艾克 (Johnny Ek)，財務長。

Earlier today, Akoya released financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023. A copy of the press release is available on the company's website.

今天早些時候，Akoya 發布了截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的第四季度財務業績。該新聞稿的副本可在該公司網站上取得。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that management will make statements during this call that include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Federal Securities laws, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained in this call that relates to expectations or predictions of future events, results, or performance are forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，管理層將在本次電話會議期間發表聲明，其中包括聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性聲明，這些聲明是根據美國《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款制定的。1995 年。本次電話會議中包含的任何與對未來事件、結果或績效的預期或預測相關的陳述均為前瞻性陳述。由於多種因素，實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。

For a list and description of the risks and uncertainties associated with Akoya's business, please refer to the risks identified in our filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, to be filed today, March 4, 2024. We urge you to consider these factors, and you should be aware that these statements are considered estimates only and are not a guarantee of future performance.

有關與 Akoya 業務相關的風險和不確定性的清單和描述，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中確定的風險，包括我們截至年度 10-K 表格年度報告中的風險因素2023 年12 月31 日，將於今天（2024 年3 月4 日）提交。我們強烈建議您考慮這些因素，並且您應該意識到這些陳述僅被視為估計值，並不是對未來績效的保證。

This conference call contains time-sensitive information and is accurate only as of the live broadcast today, March 4, 2024. Akoya disclaims any intention or obligation, except as required by law to update or revise any financial projections or forward-looking statements whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. The audio portion of this call will be archived on the Investors section of our website later today under the heading Events.

本次電話會議包含時效性訊息，僅截至今天（2024 年 3 月 4 日）直播時準確。Akoya 不承擔任何意圖或義務，除非法律要求更新或修改任何財務預測或前瞻性陳述，無論是因為新資訊、未來事件或其他原因。本次電話會議的音訊部分將於今天稍後存檔在我們網站的投資者部分的「活動」標題下。

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Brian.

現在，我將把電話轉給布萊恩。

Thank you, Priyam, and good afternoon or evening to everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. During today's conference call, I will begin by giving a broad overview of our performance in the fourth quarter and full-year 2023. I will review our business advancements and provide insights into the latest developments in our product offerings. Following that, Johnny will go deeper into our financials, key trends, and provide an outlook for the future of the business.

謝謝 Priyam，祝大家下午好或晚上好。我們感謝您今天加入我們。在今天的電話會議上，我將首先概述我們第四季和 2023 年全年的業績。我將回顧我們的業務進展並提供有關我們產品的最新發展的見解。接下來，約翰尼將更深入了解我們的財務狀況、主要趨勢，並提供對業務未來的展望。

As preannounced at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in January, Akoya had a strong fourth quarter in 2023, with record-breaking revenue of $26.5 million and full-year 2023 revenue of $96.6 million, representing a 29% annual growth from prior year.

正如1 月份摩根大通醫療保健會議上預先宣布的那樣，Akoya 在2023 年第四季度表現強勁，營收達到創紀錄的2650 萬美元，2023 年全年營收為9660 萬美元，較上年增長29 %。

We exited the year with gross margin of 62.7% in the fourth quarter.

我們第四季的毛利率為 62.7%。

In parallel to a strong top-line growth and margin expansion throughout the year, we made efforts to leverage our cost structure limiting our 2023 operating expenses to only a 4% growth from prior year, enabling a more substantial portion of revenue growth to fall to our bottom line.

在全年強勁的營收成長和利潤率擴張的同時，我們努力利用我們的成本結構，將 2023 年的營運費用限制在比上年僅 4% 的範圍內，從而使收入成長的大部分下降到我們的底線。

Within our 2024 forecast, we expect both strong top-line growth and margin expansion while we continue to manage our costs. And we are projecting operating cash flow breakeven by the end of this year. Johnny will touch upon this in greater detail later in the call.

在我們的 2024 年預測中，我們預計營收將實現強勁成長，利潤率將擴大，同時我們將繼續管理成本。我們預計到今年底營運現金流將達到損益兩平。約翰尼將在稍後的電話會議中更詳細地談到這一點。

Our cumulative installed base now stands at nearly 1,200 instruments, the largest in the field, and covers the entire spectrum of spatial biology markets from discovery to translational, and ultimately, to clinical. Throughout 2023, we invested in key strategic areas, including reagent menu expansion, throughput and workflow simplification, and improved software capabilities collectively contributing to meaningful raise and revenue expansion and increases in the pull-through across our platforms.

目前，我們的累積安裝量已達近 1,200 台儀器，是該領域最大的，涵蓋了從發現到轉化、最終到臨床的整個空間生物學市場。在整個 2023 年，我們在關鍵策略領域進行了投資，包括試劑菜單擴展、吞吐量和工作流程簡化，以及改進的軟體功能，共同促進了有意義的融資和收入擴張以及跨平台的拉動。

In the fourth quarter, we saw continued signs of the return on these investments as recent revenue grew 52% from the prior year period. We are pleased to report that we now have over 1,160 peer-reviewed publications citing Akoya's technologies as of year-end 2023, a 50% growth from the prior year period demonstrating the widening adoption and utility of Akoya's solutions by our customers.

在第四季度，我們看到了這些投資持續回報的跡象，近期收入較去年同期成長了 52%。我們很高興地報告，截至 2023 年底，我們現在有超過 1,160 篇同行評審出版物引用 Akoya 的技術，比去年同期增長 50%，這表明我們的客戶對 Akoya 解決方案的採用和實用性不斷擴大。

Akoya has achieved important milestones in a short period of time that has solidified our market leadership position and will continue to pay dividends. As noted, Akoya has the largest and an actively publishing customer base that will continue to highlight and scientifically promote the current and future capabilities of our offerings.

Akoya 在短時間內取得了重要的里程碑，鞏固了我們的市場領導地位，並將繼續帶來紅利。如前所述，Akoya 擁有最大且活躍的出版客戶群，他們將繼續突出並科學地推廣我們產品當前和未來的功能。

Next, we provide complete end-to-end solutions with high throughput workflows that deliver high-quality spatial phenotyping at any level of multiplexing.

接下來，我們提供完整的端到端解決方案和高通量工作流程，可在任何復用水準上提供高品質的空間表型分析。

And finally, our solutions span the entire continuum from discovery to clinical applications. The result, as noted, is a clear path to operating cash flow breakeven by year's end.

最後，我們的解決方案涵蓋從發現到臨床應用的整個連續過程。如前所述，其結果是到年底實現營運現金流損益平衡的明確途徑。

Our R&D and operational efforts have been optimized to deliver enhancements and workflow efficiencies and drive an expanding menu of high-value applications.

我們的研發和營運工作經過最佳化，可提供增強功能和工作流程效率，並推動高價值應用的持續擴展。

Let me briefly review our key recent product line improvements and two additional high-value partnerships.

讓我簡要回顧我們最近的主要產品線改進和另外兩個高價值合作夥伴關係。

First, the recent rollout of the PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 represents a noteworthy milestone, setting a new industry standard in capacity, multiplexing, and data quality. Customers can now process twice as many samples per week compared to previous capabilities, establishing the PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 as the highest throughput spatial discovery platform available in the market, providing multiplexing across a broad range from just a few proteins to up to 100.

首先，最近推出的 PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 代表了一個值得注意的里程碑，在容量、多路復用和資料品質方面樹立了新的行業標準。與以前的能力相比，客戶現在每周可以處理兩倍的樣品，將PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 確立為市場上吞吐量最高的空間發現平台，提供從幾個蛋白質到多達100 個蛋白質的廣泛範圍的多重分析。

In parallel, we released our PhenoImager HT 2.0 upgrade for our translational and clinical research customers. Like the Fusion 2.0, this upgrade similarly represents a transformative enhancement resulting in a fivefold increase in workflow speed. More than half of our customers have received a 2.0 fuel upgrade across both platforms as of year end 2023. These upgrades and the ongoing expansion of Akoya's PhenoCode content menu were the main drivers, the increases in consumable revenue in the fourth quarter.

同時，我們為轉化和臨床研究客戶發布了 PhenoImager HT 2.0 升級版。與 Fusion 2.0 一樣，此升級同樣代表了變革性的增強，導致工作流程速度提高了五倍。截至 2023 年底，我們超過一半的客戶已在兩個平台上獲得了 2.0 燃油升級。這些升級和 Akoya PhenoCode 內容選單的持續擴展是第四季度耗材收入成長的主要推動力。

We also recently announced two groundbreaking partnerships. First, we announced our partnership with Thermo Fisher to deliver advanced spatial multiomics workflows by combining the Thermo Fisher ViewRNA technology with a Akoya's spatial biology solutions.

我們最近也宣布了兩項突破性的合作關係。首先，我們宣布與 Thermo Fisher 合作，透過將 Thermo Fisher ViewRNA 技術與 Akoya 的空間生物學解決方案相結合，提供先進的空間多組學工作流程。

Second, along with our partners at Enable Medicine, we announced the release of MaxFuse, an AI and reinforced learning driven multimodal data integration algorithm on the Enable Medicine cloud platform. This next-generation analytical methodology allows our customers to directly integrate into one analysis Akoya's spatial proteomic data with single-cell RNA data. As a result, our customers' single-cell RNA-seq data, which is not spatial, is mapped to Akoya's spatial proteomic data, creating an informatically-derived spatial multiomics data set.

其次，我們與Enable Medicine的合作夥伴一起宣佈在Enable Medicine雲端平台上發布MaxFuse，這是一種人工智慧和強化學習驅動的多模態資料整合演算法。這種下一代分析方法使我們的客戶能夠將 Akoya 的空間蛋白質組數據與單細胞 RNA 數據直接整合到一次分析中。因此，我們客戶的非空間單細胞 RNA-seq 數據被映射到 Akoya 的空間蛋白質組數據，創建一個資訊衍生的空間多組學數據集。

This transformative solution allows customers using Akoya's platforms and single-cell RNA-seq platforms to leverage and integrate these independent datasets from different platforms to drive profound new multiomic discoveries. This is likely the first of many such AI-based analytical approaches to come.

這項變革性解決方案允許使用 Akoya 平台和單細胞 RNA-seq 平台的客戶利用和整合這些來自不同平台的獨立資料集，以推動意義深遠的新多組學發現。這可能是許多此類基於人工智慧的分析方法中的第一個。

Our platform improvements and partnerships further strengthen our position to lead the market in offering powerful new spatial phenotyping solutions and we remain committed to continuing to lead the market, providing the industry's best end-to-end solutions across multiple market segments. While these new solutions certainly expand our discovery horizons, downstream we are also witnessing a continued expansion and acceleration of the clinical utility of spatial technologies.

我們的平台改進和合作夥伴關係進一步鞏固了我們在提供強大的新空間表型解決方案方面引領市場的地位，我們仍然致力於繼續引領市場，在多個細分市場提供業界最佳的端到端解決方案。雖然這些新的解決方案無疑擴大了我們的發現視野，但在下游，我們也見證了太空技術臨床應用的持續擴展和加速。

Spatial phenotyping is becoming central to emerging clinical biomarker efforts in immunooncology and the rapidly growing antibody-drug conjugate market. Our 78% growth in our services revenue compared to the prior year is a clear indication of this as we secure additional late-stage clinical trial partnerships. Our demonstrated organization clinical expertise, the capabilities of the PhenoImager HT platform, our co-marketing partners with Agilent, and our companion diagnostic partnership with Acrivon are all key drivers of the expansion of this part of our business.

空間表型分析正在成為免疫腫瘤學領域新興臨床生物標記工作和快速成長的抗體藥物偶聯物市場的核心。與前一年相比，我們的服務收入成長了 78%，這清楚地表明了這一點，因為我們獲得了更多的後期臨床試驗合作夥伴關係。我們展示的組織臨床專業知識、PhenoImager HT 平台的功能、我們與安捷倫的聯合行銷合作夥伴以及我們與 Acrivon 的伴隨診斷合作夥伴關係都是我們這部分業務擴展的關鍵驅動力。

Now importantly, Acrivon also received breakthrough device designation on the ACR-368 ACR-368 OncoSignature assay, run on our HT platform through our CLIA Lab and Fast Track designation for their therapeutic ACR-368. And we look forward their Phase 2 clinical trial interim results in the near future.

現在重要的是，Acrivon 還獲得了ACR-368 ACR-368 OncoSignature 檢測的突破性設備指定，該檢測通過我們的CLIA 實驗室在我們的HT 平台上運行，並獲得了治療性ACR-368 的快速通道指定。我們期待他們的 2 期臨床試驗中期結果在不久的將來。

We continue to expand our qualified service provider network that includes the industry's top contract research organization. Akoya qualifies these partners and provides ongoing white glove to support to help ensure their success and offering lab services on Akoya's platforms. The network serves as a valuable commercial amplifier and helps advance the adoption of our platform in translational studies and clinical trials. We are humbled and appreciative that these successes and ongoing efforts have attracted preeminent global thought leaders in immunobiology to join our newly established scientific advisory board.

我們繼續擴大我們的合格服務提供者網絡，其中包括業界頂級的合約研究組織。Akoya 對這些合作夥伴進行資格認證，並提供持續的白手套支持，以幫助確保他們的成功，並在 Akoya 的平台上提供實驗室服務。該網路作為一個有價值的商業放大器，有助於推動我們的平台在轉化研究和臨床試驗中的採用。我們感到謙卑和感激的是，這些成功和持續的努力吸引了免疫生物學領域的全球傑出思想領袖加入我們新成立的科學顧問委員會。

Dr. Garry Nolan, Akoya's founder and the inventor of the PhenoCycler and co-inventor of MaxFuse, has transitioned from his role on the Board of Directors to serve as the new chair of the scientific advisory board. Accompanying him will be Dr. James Allison, 2018 Nobel Laureate and the father of the immunooncology revolution; as well as Dr. Padmanee Sharma, a visionary physician scientist in the field of immunooncology and immunotherapy, both currently at MD Anderson. These three initial members of Akoya's scientific advisory board will inform Akoya's strategic direction and provide expertise in translational, clinical, and diagnostic applications of Akoya's spatial biology solutions.

Akoya 的創辦人、PhenoCycler 的發明者和 MaxFuse 的共同發明者 Garry Nolan 博士已從董事會職位轉任科學顧問委員會的新主席。陪同他的還有2018年諾貝爾獎得主、免疫腫瘤學革命之父詹姆斯·艾利森博士；以及 Padmanee Sharma 博士，他是免疫腫瘤學和免疫治療領域富有遠見的醫師科學家，目前都在 MD 安德森癌症中心工作。Akoya 科學顧問委員會的這三名初始成員將為 Akoya 的戰略方向提供信息，並提供 Akoya 空間生物學解決方案的轉化、臨床和診斷應用方面的專業知識。

Lastly, like others in the industry, we observe some ongoing macro pressures impacting capital equipment purchases for long instrument sales cycles and continued underperformance in our business in China. We anticipate these challenges to persist at least through the fourth quarter of 2024.

最後，與業內其他公司一樣，我們觀察到一些持續的宏觀壓力影響了長儀器銷售週期的資本設備採購，以及我們在中國業務的持續表現不佳。我們預計這些挑戰至少會持續到 2024 年第四季。

In summary, our focus for 2024 revolves around three key initiatives. First, expand applications and implement continued workflow efficiency improvements on the PhenoCycler-Fusion and the PhenoImager HT to drive the continued high growth of our reagent revenue, resulting in increases in system culture.

總之，我們 2024 年的重點圍繞著三項關鍵措施。首先，擴大應用範圍並持續改進 PhenoCycler-Fusion 和 PhenoImager HT 的工作流程效率，以推動我們的試劑收入持續高速成長，從而增加系統培養。

Second, achieve operating cash flow breakeven by year end 2024 by focusing on improving efficiencies, cost effectiveness, and gross margin expansion.

其次，透過專注於提高效率、成本效益和毛利率擴張，到 2024 年底實現營運現金流損益平衡。

Third, continue to drive our clinical partnerships to achieve our goal of delivering menu of high-value companion diagnostics to advanced patient care.

第三，繼續推動我們的臨床合作夥伴關係，以實現我們為高級患者護理提供高價值伴隨診斷菜單的目標。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Johnny to discuss our financial results. Johnny?

現在，我將把電話轉給約翰尼，討論我們的財務表現。強尼？

Thanks, Brian. As Brian highlighted, total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $26.5 million, a 25% growth compared to the same period in 2022. Full-year 2023, revenue was $96.6 million, representing a 29% growth from the prior year. Our robust year-over-year growth was seen globally across our diversified revenue channels and strong portfolio of products and services.

謝謝，布萊恩。正如 Brian 所強調的那樣，2023 年第四季的總收入為 2,650 萬美元，與 2022 年同期相比成長 25%。2023 年全年營收為 9,660 萬美元，較上年成長 29%。我們透過多元化的收入管道以及強大的產品和服務組合在全球範圍內實現了強勁的同比增長。

Product revenue, including instruments, reagents and software, totaled $16.7 million for the fourth quarter. We sold 51 instruments, of which 15 were PhenoCyclers and 36 were from the PhenoImager portfolio, generating a total instrument revenue of $9.2 million for the quarter.

第四季產品收入（包括儀器、試劑和軟體）總計 1,670 萬美元。我們銷售了 51 台儀器，其中 15 台是 PhenoCyclers，36 台來自 PhenoImager 產品組合，本季儀器總收入為 920 萬美元。

As Brian noted earlier, continued macro pressures and underperformance in China impacted our results, and we expect this trend to continue in the near term. Our global installed base now comprises 1,183 instruments, including 342 PhenoCyclers and 841 PhenoImagers. A total of 230 Fusion instruments have shipped since the full commercial launch at the start of 2022, and we now have a total installed base of 205 for the combined PhenoCycler-Fusion system. The majority of PhenoCyclers are being sold in combination with the Fusion, and we expect this combination to drive an increased reagent pull through with an expanding menu of panels and faster workflows from the ongoing 2.0 field upgrades.

正如布萊恩早些時候指出的，中國持續的宏觀壓力和表現不佳影響了我們的業績，我們預計這種趨勢將在短期內持續下去。我們的全球安裝基礎目前包括 1,183 台儀器，其中包括 342 台 PhenoCyclers 和 841 台 PhenoImagers。自 2022 年初全面商業發布以來，總共已出貨 230 台 Fusion 儀器，目前 PhenoCycler-Fusion 組合系統的總安裝量為 205 台。大多數 PhenoCyclers 與 Fusion 結合出售，我們預計這種組合將透過不斷擴展的面板選單和正在進行的 2.0 現場升級來加快工作流程來推動試劑的增加。

Approximately half of the installed base of PhenoCycler-Fusions and HTs in the field have been upgraded to 2.0 models as of year end 2023. And we expect the majority of the remaining instruments in the field to upgrade throughout the remainder of 2024. All new PhenoCycler-Fusion and HT systems are being sold directly as a 2.0 model as of the start 2024.

截至 2023 年底，該領域約一半的 PhenoCycler-Fusions 和 HT 安裝基數已升級至 2.0 車型。我們預計該領域剩餘的大部分儀器將在 2024 年剩餘時間內進行升級。從 2024 年初開始，所有新的 PhenoCycler-Fusion 和 HT 系統都將作為 2.0 型號直接銷售。

We delivered $6.9 million in reagent revenue in the fourth quarter, reflecting a 52% increase from the prior year period. The annualized fourth-quarter reagent pull through applicable to both PhenoCycler and HT is now in the high-$30,000 range. This is a notable improvement compared to the annualized pull through per instrument 2022, which was in the high-$20,000 range to the low-$30,000 range for both the PhenoCycler and the HT. This growth can be attributed to the increased utilization of PhenoCyclers paired with the Fusion, faster workflows, and a growing utility of PhenoCode panels across the instrument portfolio.

第四季我們實現了 690 萬美元的試劑收入，比去年同期成長了 52%。適用於 PhenoCycler 和 HT 的第四季度試劑年化價格目前處於 30,000 美元的高點。與 2022 年每台儀器的年化拉動相比，這是一個顯著的進步，PhenoCycler 和 HT 的年化拉動都在 20,000 美元的高至 30,000 美元的低範圍內。這種增長可歸因於 PhenoCyclers 與 Fusion 配合使用的增加、工作流程加快以及整個儀器組合中 PhenoCode 面板的實用性不斷提高。

We are strategically positioning reagents to play a more significant role in our revenue mix with customers increasing their utility and pull through across our platforms as we pair more PhenoCyclers with Fusion in the field, enhance instrument portfolio through the 2.0 upgrades, and refine our reagent manufacturing operations planning and supply chain efforts.

我們正在策略性地定位試劑，以便在我們的收入組合中發揮更重要的作用，隨著我們在現場將更多PhenoCyclers 與Fusion 配對，透過2.0 升級增強儀器產品組合，並完善我們的試劑製造，客戶可以提高其效用並在我們的平台上實現突破營運規劃和供應鏈工作。

Services and other revenue totaled $9.8 million for the fourth quarter, an increase of 78% over the prior year period. Services have been a substantial growth segment for us as our instrument warranty and field service revenue have rapidly expanded, in addition to our lab services business continuing to drive higher-value studies through new and existing biopharma partnerships.

第四季服務和其他收入總計 980 萬美元，比去年同期成長 78%。服務一直是我們大幅成長的部分，因為我們的儀器保固和現場服務收入迅速擴大，此外我們的實驗室服務業務繼續透過新的和現有的生物製藥合作夥伴關係推動更高價值的研究。

Gross profit was $16.6 million in the fourth quarter, representing a 38% growth over the prior year period. And gross margin was 62.7% for the fourth quarter versus 56.8% in the prior year period.

第四季毛利為1,660萬美元，較去年同期成長38%。第四季毛利率為 62.7%，去年同期毛利率為 56.8%。

The timing and contribution of revenue from our lab services business contributed approximately 250 basis points of margin to the strong fourth-quarter gross margin results. As we drive increases in our reagent revenue mix, execute on our identified operation optimization efforts for reagents, and leverage recent manufacturing investments, we expect to further drive the expansion of our gross margin in 2024 and beyond in the range of a couple of hundred basis points annually.

我們的實驗室服務業務的收入時機和貢獻為第四季度強勁的毛利率結果貢獻了約 250 個基點的利潤率。隨著我們推動試劑收入組合的增加、執行我們確定的試劑營運優化工作以及利用最近的製造投資，我們預計將在 2024 年及以後進一步推動我們的毛利率擴大數百個基點的範圍每年積分。

Operating expense for the quarter totaled $26.1 million as compared to $29.6 million in the prior year period, indicative of a reduced spend pattern throughout 2023, while we continued our meaningful top line growth.

本季的營運費用總計 2,610 萬美元，而去年同期為 2,960 萬美元，顯示 2023 年全年支出模式有所減少，同時我們的收入繼續實現有意義的成長。

Total OpEx for 2023 grew only 4%, while top-line revenue grew 29% from the prior year, and gross margin expanded further indicating that our efforts to leverage our cost structure have been very impactful throughout 2023.

2023 年總營運支出僅成長 4%，而總收入較上一年增長 29%，毛利率進一步擴大，顯示我們在 2023 年利用成本結構的努力產生了非常大的影響。

Through ongoing strategic efforts, we expect to further lower our operating costs this year, helping us achieve projected operating cash flow breakeven as we exit 2024. We ended the quarter with approximately $83.1 million of cash and cash equivalents.

透過持續的策略努力，我們預計今年將進一步降低營運成本，幫助我們在 2024 年退出時實現預計的營運現金流量損益平衡。本季結束時，我們擁有約 8,310 萬美元的現金和現金等價物。

Common shares outstanding and fully diluted shares, including the impact of outstanding options and unvested restricted stock awards are 49.1 million as of December 31, 2023.

截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，已發行普通股和完全稀釋股份（包括未行使選擇權和未歸屬限制性股票獎勵的影響）為 4,910 萬股。

In summary, we are pleased to report another exceptional quarter with record-breaking revenue of $26.5 million and full-year 2023 revenue of $96.6 million, a 29% growth over the prior year.

總而言之，我們很高興地報告又一個出色的季度，營收達到破紀錄的 2650 萬美元，2023 年全年營收達到 9660 萬美元，比上年增長 29%。

Akoya's installed base has now reached nearly 1,200 instruments, solidifying our position as an industry leader in spatial biology. Our strategic focus for 2024 remains on driving reagent revenue growth and increasing pull through across our growing installed base to realize the scalability of spatial biology. We've also implemented important operational changes to enhance efficiency, drive gross margin improvement, and achieve cost advantages, all while maintaining strong top-line growth. As such, we are confident in our ability to sustain strong growth throughout 2024 and beyond and we project reaching our very important goal of operating cash flow breakeven as we exit 2024.

Akoya 的安裝基礎現已達到近 1,200 台儀器，鞏固了我們作為太空生物學產業領導者的地位。我們 2024 年的策略重點仍然是推動試劑收入成長，並增加對我們不斷增長的安裝基礎的拉動，以實現空間生物學的可擴展性。我們也實施了重要的營運變革，以提高效率、推動毛利率改善並實現成本優勢，同時保持強勁的營收成長。因此，我們對在 2024 年及以後保持強勁增長的能力充滿信心，並預計在 2024 年退出時實現營運現金流盈虧平衡這一非常重要的目標。

At this time, we are providing a revenue guidance range of $114 million to $118 million for 2024.

目前，我們提供的 2024 年收入指引範圍為 1.14 億美元至 1.18 億美元。

And back to you, Brian.

回到你身邊，布萊恩。

Thank you, Johnny. We're pleased to report a strong quarter and announced multiple exciting new developments across our product portfolio. We look forward to executing on our strategic objectives throughout the remainder of the year, as we drive the business towards positive cash flow.

謝謝你，強尼。我們很高興地報告一個強勁的季度業績，並宣布了我們產品組合中多項令人興奮的新開發成果。我們期待在今年剩餘時間內執行我們的策略目標，推動業務實現正現金流。

We're thankful for the hard work of our fellow dedicated Akoyans, as well as for the support of our customers and shareholders. Akoya remains very well positioned for growth, and we're excited about the opportunities that lie ahead, as we deliver new spatial solutions from discovery to the clinical markets.

我們感謝 Akoyan 同事的辛勤工作，以及客戶和股東的支持。Akoya 仍保持著良好的成長勢頭，我們對未來的機會感到興奮，因為我們提供從發現到臨床市場的新空間解決方案。

At this point, we will open the call for questions. Operator?

此時，我們將開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Subbu Nambi, Guggenheim.

（操作員指示）Subbu Nambi，古根漢。

Hey, guys. Thank you for taking my question. The first topic I want to cover is gross margins. How should we think about quarterly pacing for gross margin throughout the year? And as you think about puts and takes, a big one is your progress towards bringing a lot of these reagents manufacturing in house in the long term. How will this benefit gross margins? And in the near term, that is being transitory pressure?

大家好。感謝您回答我的問題。我想討論的第一個主題是毛利率。我們該如何考慮全年毛利率的季度節奏？當您考慮投入和採取時，最重要的是您在長期內部生產大量此類試劑方面的進展。這將如何有利於毛利率？在短期內，這是暫時的壓力嗎？

And then I have one follow-up.

然後我有一個後續行動。

Yeah, this is Brian. I'll let -- thank you, Subbu, for your question. I'll let Johnny maybe dig into some of the details. Largely speaking, the positive gross margins for the quarter were really a function of two things.

是的，這是布萊恩。我會讓－－謝謝你，Subbu，提出你的問題。我會讓約翰尼深入研究一些細節。很大程度上來說，本季的正毛利率實際上是由兩件事造成的。

Number one is the mix. You saw the reagent revenue number was -- we had a significant expansion of our reagent revenue in the fourth quarter as a result of a lot of the efforts that we've been putting in over the last year or so. That was one large contributor, and obviously those regions are much higher in their margins.

第一是混合。您看到試劑收入數字是——由於我們在過去一年左右的時間裡付出了很多努力，我們的試劑收入在第四季度顯著增長。這是一個很大的貢獻者，顯然這些地區的利潤率要高得多。

And the second one is our service revenue, with the advancements of a lot of our clinical programs also took a significant step up. And now we're really at a place where we're able to leverage that infrastructure and that cost basis. So as that revenue grows, it does start to contribute to the bottom line.

第二個是我們的服務收入，隨著我們許多臨床計畫的進步，也有了很大的進步。現在我們確實能夠利用基礎設施和成本基礎。因此，隨著收入的成長，它確實開始為利潤做出貢獻。

In terms of bringing the manufacturing in-house, the facilities are all built out, personnel are there, and we really are just now beginning to put on the shelf reagents that were manufactured internally. And that is really the other driver for longer-term gross margin contribution.

在內部生產方面，設施都建好了，人員也到位了，我們內部生產的試劑現在才剛開始上架。這確實是長期毛利率貢獻的另一個驅動因素。

And then I'll let Johnny maybe give some color on the specifics of the gross margin throughout the year.

然後我會讓約翰尼對全年毛利率的具體情況進行一些說明。

Yeah. Thanks, Subbu, and thanks Brian. As Brian mentioned, we had a couple of hundred basis point contribution in Q4 from some milestones achieved in the ABS business, which as you've been seeing in Q4 lifted that margin to a healthy 63%. Our operating, if you exclude that ABS and the operating gross margin, really, the exit was in the 60%, 61%. And so we expect that to move ratably through the year.

是的。謝謝，蘇布，也謝謝布萊恩。正如布萊恩所提到的，我們在第四季度從ABS 業務中實現的一些里程碑中獲得了幾百個基點的貢獻，正如您在第四季度所看到的那樣，該利潤率提高到了健康的63 %。我們的運營，如果排除 ABS 和營運毛利率，實際上，退出是在 60%、61% 之間。因此，我們預計這一數字將在今年大幅成長。

It will be a bit lumpy as events happen. Certainly, from any of the ABS revenue may move that. But from an operating gross margin, as Brian highlighted, we have begun the operation to some of the manufacturing in-house, and it's really a factor of how much of that transitions in-house over time as we also scale and start to achieve more and more efficiency through the year, which is -- so I would look at it as a pretty linear pacing.

隨著事件的發生，它會有點不穩定。當然，任何 ABS 收入都可能改變這一點。但從營運毛利率來看，正如布萊恩所強調的，我們已經開始經營一些內部製造，這實際上是隨著時間的推移，隨著我們規模的擴大並開始實現更多目標，其中有多少轉變為內部的一個因素。全年效率更高，所以我將其視為一個相當線性的節奏。

It will be impacted by mix, of course, as mix happens through the year. If we happen to have a quarter where reagents are stronger than the instruments, et cetera, maybe, yes, it will move. But generally, it's a relatively linear pacing to get to our exit which allows for movement of a couple of hundred basis points from our baseline that we've established exiting '23.

當然，它會受到混合的影響，因為混合全年都會發生。如果我們碰巧有四分之一的試劑比儀器更強，等等，也許，是的，它會移動。但總的來說，到達出口是一個相對線性的節奏，這允許我們從我們在 23 年建立的退出基線上移動數百個基點。

Super helpful. Thank you, both. Regarding again the reagents, which is largely PhenoCode signature and discovery panels, I'm guessing. First, what is the expected contribution you embedded in the full-year guidance?

超有幫助。謝謝你們倆。再次關於試劑，我猜主要是 PhenoCode 簽名和發現面板。首先，您在全年指導中提出的預期貢獻是多少？

And then second is what point in the year would you expect contributions to become more material?

第二個問題是，您預計今年的什麼時候捐款會變得更加實質？

And lastly, do you expect an increase in penetration of these reagents in your CRO and large pharma accounts this year?

最後，您預計今年這些試劑在您的 CRO 和大型製藥客戶中的滲透率是否會增加？

Yes, it's a good question. I think we're beginning to realize some of the benefits of our content strategy. So I think it's going to continue to be an accelerant for us throughout the year. I don't -- we're now at a point where we're beginning to realize some of those benefits. With respect to your question on our content expansion efforts, your question on CROs in biopharma, yeah.

是的，這是一個好問題。我認為我們已經開始意識到內容策略的一些好處。所以我認為它將繼續成為我們全年的促進劑。我不認為——我們現在正開始意識到其中一些好處。關於您關於我們內容擴展工作的問題，您關於生物製藥領域 CRO 的問題，是的。

I do think, specifically, our targeted signature panels that are really to be run on the HT or within the field of immunooncology, those dose ready-made panels, I think we really start to get to scaled studies, Subbu. And around the second half, we're going to be doing some very large-scale studies. I think that is one of the contributors why we expect to see continued regional expansion throughout the year.

我確實認為，具體來說，我們的目標簽名面板確實要在 HT 上運行或在免疫腫瘤學領域內運行，這些劑量現成的面板，我認為我們真的開始進行規模化研究，Subbu。下半年左右，我們將進行一些非常大規模的研究。我認為這就是我們預計全年區域擴張持續的原因之一。

One clarification one -- at least it may get lost, when we say ABS, we're referring there to our CLIA Lab services, our Advanced Biopharma Solutions Group. So ABS really is lab services synonymous. So, thank you, Subbu.

需要澄清一點——至少它可能會丟失，當我們說 ABS 時，我們指的是我們的 CLIA 實驗室服務，我們的高級生物製藥解決方案小組。所以 ABS 確實是實驗室服務的代名詞。所以，謝謝你，蘇布。

Thank you so much, guys.

十分感謝大家。

Kyle Mikson, Canaccord.

凱爾米克森，Canaccord。

Hey, thanks, guys. Congrats on they year-end quarter. I want to break down the guidance a little more, Brian, Johnny. So some of these assumptions here. Could placements slow down this year given the recent launches and the upgrades?

嘿，謝謝，夥計們。恭喜他們的年終季度。我想進一步分解指導，布萊恩，約翰尼。所以這裡有一些假設。鑑於最近的發布和升級，今年的投放速度是否會放緩？

And then on pull through, could that increase by another like $10,000 by the end of this year, even though most of the tailwinds seem to be in '23? Or at least the inflection pointing to be that year, at least that's what the indications seem to be?

然後，到今年年底，即使大部分順風似乎是在 23 年，這一數字是否會再增加 10,000 美元？或者至少是那一年的拐點，至少跡像看起來是這樣？

And then on services, like -- sounds like a great backlog there. Just talk about visibility that you have at this point. And then, of course, like China, how to stabilize (inaudible) onto 1Q, but maybe how are you thinking about that in the second half of the year? Thanks.

然後在服務方面，聽起來好像積壓得很厲害。只談談您此時所擁有的可見性。然後，當然，就像中國一樣，如何穩定（聽不清楚）第一季度，但也許你在下半年如何考慮這個問題？謝謝。

So I think I got all those and if I don't, Kyle, you know. So the 2.0 isn't going to slow down placements. Those are field upgrades. I think they're just going to make those installs even more powerful in terms of their pull through. And it is those upgrades that was a contributor to the reagent acceleration that we saw in the second half. And we do think -- as we course of the year, we do think quarter over quarter, we'll see that reagent number continue to climb.

所以我想我已經得到了所有這些，如果我沒有，凱爾，你知道。所以 2.0 不會減慢展示位置。這些是現場升級。我認為他們只會讓這些安裝的影響力變得更強大。正是這些升級促成了我們在下半年看到的試劑加速。我們確實認為，隨著這一年的進程，我們確實認為每個季度，我們都會看到試劑數量持續攀升。

The services business is growing for your question, solely because of the nature of the partnerships that we're securing. There are much later stage, there of much higher value. And the 70%-plus bump you saw in that portion of our business is probably the strongest indicator that one can see it externally of the type of projects that we're taking on of being later-stage, higher-value projects, that really give us a lot of confidence that we will realize our clinical strategy of securing additional clinical trial assays and companion diagnostic deals.

對於你的問題，服務業務正在成長，這僅僅是因為我們所確保的合作夥伴關係的本質。還有更後期的階段，價值更高。您在我們這部分業務中看到的 70% 以上的成長可能是最有力的指標，表明人們可以從外部看到我們正在承擔的後期、更高價值項目類型的項目，這確實給了我們很大的信心，我們將實現我們的臨床策略，以確保更多的臨床試驗測定和伴隨診斷交易。

And we will achieve our goal of having CDx products in the Q contributing a significant portion of our revenue in the near future. So that's sort of the commentary, I think, on everything. I think I got everything you you asked about, Kyle.

我們將實現我們的目標，在不久的將來讓 Q 中的 CDx 產品為我們的收入貢獻很大一部分。我認為這就是對一切的評論。我想我已經得到了你問的一切，凱爾。

Yeah. Just on China also, if you have any sense on the back half of the year? Thanks.

是的。就中國而言，您對下半年有什麼看法嗎？謝謝。

Yeah. Look, I think consistent with many of our peers, we're going to assume that the first half is still pretty challenging. And if there is recovery, it's going to be incremental in second half. It's just not something you count on. And as we look at our aim of achieving operating cash flow breakeven, we've got to do that within the context of a revenue goal that takes advantage of our diversified portfolio from cert lab services to reagents and instruments, but it's not so aspirational that we put that profitability goal at risk.

是的。看，我認為與我們許多同行一致，我們將假設上半年仍然相當具有挑戰性。如果有復甦，下半年將會逐步復甦。這不是你所指望的。當我們考慮實現營運現金流盈虧平衡的目標時，我們必須在收入目標的背景下做到這一點，利用我們從認證實驗室服務到試劑和儀器的多元化產品組合，但這並不是那麼理想我們將盈利目標置於危險之中。

So we're trying to be very balanced and having a top line goal and a margin goal that doesn't require significant changes in the current business environment.

因此，我們試圖保持非常平衡，並制定不需要對當前業務環境進行重大改變的營收目標和利潤目標。

Okay, that was great, Brian. Thanks so much. Just a quick one on MaxFuse algorithm with Enable. Definitely differentiated from a clinical perspective. I heard Gary Nolan talking about that. Could you just maybe walk through that a bit more, just double-click on the clinical side of that.

好吧，那太好了，布萊恩。非常感謝。只是簡單介紹一下有 Enable 的 MaxFuse 演算法。從臨床角度來看肯定是有差別的。我聽到加里·諾蘭談論這個。能否再詳細介紹一下，只需雙擊其臨床方面即可。

And then I'm -- yeah, go on.

然後我——是的，繼續。

Sorry, Kyle. [Go ahead, sorry.]

對不起，凱爾。[繼續吧，抱歉。]

Just wondering if that's like the first of many unique one-off software solutions for the ecosystem that you roll out with other partners to? Just in addition to Enable you have other partners, right? So just curious about that.

只是想知道這是否是您與其他合作夥伴推出的針對生態系統的許多獨特的一次性軟體解決方案中的第一個？除了Enable之外你們還有其他合作夥伴吧？所以只是對此感到好奇。

We do. Look, the way I look at that with [mine] is sort of simple, Brian. If you play with ChatGPT or some of the image creators, you have at least a qualitative sense of the power that these sorts of approaches can bring. I would largely say, Kyle, in the near term, this is really a tool for discovery researchers.

我們的確是。聽著，我對[我的]的看法有點簡單，布萊恩。如果您使用過 ChatGPT 或某些圖像創作者，您至少會對這些方法所帶來的力量有一個定性的認識。我主要想說的是，凱爾，在短期內，這確實是發現研究人員的工具。

And effectively, as I noted on the call, what it allows you to do, it allows you to take single-cell RNA-seq data and leveraging the MaxFuse algorithm. And the PhenoCycler-Fusion high-plex protein data, you informatically make that non-spatial data spatial by using the MaxFuse algorithm.

實際上，正如我在電話中指出的那樣，它允許您做什麼，它允許您獲取單細胞 RNA-seq 數據並利用 MaxFuse 演算法。對於 PhenoCycler-Fusion 高複數蛋白質數據，您可以使用 MaxFuse 演算法以資訊方式將非空間數據空間化。

So this allows our customers not to do a multiomics study one at a time, but rather leveraging the large, large data sets that exist for single-cell whether it's an internally or with third parties to leverage that dataset and your request PhenoCycler-Fusion data to make it special.

因此，這使我們的客戶不必一次進行一項多組學研究，而是利用單細胞現有的大量數據集（無論是內部數據集還是與第三方合作）來利用該數據集和您請求的PhenoCycler -Fusion 數據讓它變得特別。

I would encourage everybody to go read the two Nature papers that Dr. Nolan has done on this. t really is quite astounding and they validated it to a pretty deep extent. So I do think this is many of additional approaches to common, and we'll continue to look at partners like Enable or others as vehicles to implement these in a user-friendly manner, knowing that a skilled [informatician] could get that type approaches regardless.

我鼓勵大家去閱讀諾蘭博士就此發表的兩篇《自然》論文。這確實是相當令人震驚的，他們在相當深的程度上驗證了它。因此，我確實認為這是許多常見的其他方法，我們將繼續尋找像Enable 或其他這樣的合作夥伴作為以用戶友好的方式實施這些方法的工具，因為我們知道熟練的[資訊學家]可以採用這種類型的方法不管。

Okay. That's helpful. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

好的。這很有幫助。多謝你們。欣賞它。

Thanks, Kyle.

謝謝，凱爾。

Tejas Savant, Morgan Stanley.

Tejas Savant，摩根士丹利。

Hey, guys. Hey, good evening. How are you?

大家好。嘿，晚上好。你好嗎？

Hey, Tejas.

嘿，特哈斯。

Brian, just to kick things off over your -- placements came in a little bit light in the fourth quarter even on a sequential basis. I think in the third quarter you've done almost -- I think it was in the high-60s, if I remember right. Can you just walk us through that dynamic? Was it entirely driven by macro and some of those elongated purchase decision cycles that you called out in China as well? Or was there any shift in the competitive landscape, specifically -- I mean the one that we've been getting questions on is Lunaphore. So just curious as to any -- if you could parse out that dynamic and the sequential step down in placements?

布萊恩，只是為了開始你的工作——即使按順序來看，第四季度的排名也有點輕微。如果我沒記錯的話，我認為在第三季你的成績幾乎達到了 60 多分。您能向我們介紹一下這種動態嗎？這完全是由宏觀經濟以及您在中國提出的購買決策週期延長所驅動的嗎？或者競爭格局是否有任何變化，特別是——我的意思是我們一直收到問題的是 Lunaphore。所以只是好奇 - 如果你能解析出這種動態和展示位置的順序步驟？

Yes. Tejas, I think the question is certainly the former that's driving it. I mean what we saw, Tejas, in Q3 and Q4 was quarters were becoming increasingly backloaded in month three. So that's largely -- that is the largest dynamic, the largest driver there.

是的。Tejas，我認為問題肯定是前者在推動。我的意思是，Tejas，我們在第三季和第四季看到的是第三個月的季度積壓越來越多。所以這在很大程度上是最大的動力、最大的驅動力。

I think the visibility of Lunaphore and the question I think is largely a result of them being integrated with Bio-Techne and having a lot more visibility and marketing power. And we'll see how that competitive dynamic shakes out over the coming quarters, because I think they're really just getting going.

我認為 Lunaphore 的知名度和我認為的問題很大程度上是因為它們與 Bio-Techne 整合並擁有更多的知名度和行銷能力。我們將看到未來幾季的競爭動態如何變化，因為我認為他們真的才剛起步。

Got it. Fair enough. And then in terms of just the academic budget environment, last couple of weeks we've had a few inbounds and just cracks over in Europe and horizon and some questions around the continuing resolution here in the US as well. You guys are obviously over-indexed there, like a lot of your spatial peers. So just curious as to what you're baking into the guide and what you're hearing from your academic customers at the moment?

知道了。很公平。然後就學術預算環境而言，過去幾週我們在歐洲和視野中遇到了一些問題，並且在美國也出現了一些圍繞持續解決方案的問題。你們顯然在那裡過度索引，就像你們許多空間的同行一樣。那麼只是想知道您在指南中添加了什麼內容以及您目前從學術客戶那裡聽到了什麼？

Yeah. I would say, Tejas, I think similar to my prior commentary to Kyle, what we've tried to bake into our guide is really a continuation of the existing market pressures that we were all feeling in Q3 and certainly Q4 on the capital side. So I think that's going to be our approach. We -- feels like we've been living in continuing resolutions and questions on the NIH budget for over a decade. It's just perhaps a little bit more acute now.

是的。我想說，Tejas，我認為與我之前對凱爾的評論類似，我們試圖納入指南的內容實際上是我們在第三季度，當然是第四季度資本方面感受到的現有市場壓力的延續。所以我認為這將是我們的方法。我們感覺十多年來我們一直生活在關於 NIH 預算的持續決議和問題中。現在情況可能更加嚴重了一些。

So that's how we're looking at it. What is, Tejas, in our control and I think where we're realizing some successes, is in areas that are less prone to being impacted by macros, which is the reagent utilization on our platform and the advancing of our clinical opportunities which are in the well-funded arenas of immune-ontology, as I noted on the call. So we're going to continue to focus on those areas. They are again less prone to some of these macro dynamics, and the ROIs are significant for us. So that'll be our key areas of focus to mitigate any instrument pressures.

這就是我們的看法。Tejas 在我們的控制下，我認為我們正在取得一些成功，是在不太容易受到宏影響的領域，這是我們平台上的試劑利用率以及我們臨床機會的推進正如我在電話會議中指出的那樣，免疫本體論領域資金充足。因此，我們將繼續關注這些領域。他們同樣不太容易受到某些宏觀動態的影響，而且投資報酬率對我們來說非常重要。因此，這將是我們減輕任何工具壓力的重點領域。

Got it. And then one final one. One for you, Brian, and one for Johnny.

知道了。然後是最後一張。一份給你，布萊恩，一份給強尼。

Brian, I know you've like shifted the focus a little bit in '23 to optimizing existing solutions, driving consumables, growth, et cetera, but how should we think about the product development roadmap, perhaps not in 2024, but over the next couple of years here?

Brian，我知道您喜歡在 23 年將重點轉移到優化現有解決方案、推動消耗品、增長等方面，但我們應該如何考慮產品開發路線圖，也許不是在 2024 年，而是在下一個在這裡幾年？

And Johnny, obviously people are pretty happy to see operating cash flow breakeven by year-end, but is it fair to assume that 2025 will be the first full year of cash flow breakeven for you guys?

強尼，顯然人們很高興看到年底營運現金流實現損益平衡，但假設 2025 年將是你們第一個全年現金流損益兩平的年份是否公平？

So I'll take the first part first, and then Johnny the second. So you can think of our product development priorities focused on workflow simplifications throughout this year, and getting over the clinical finish line, and getting additional partnerships; whether or not we speak to those publicly is to be determined. So that is the priority now. But you're correct, longer-term, in terms of platforms, there are really two areas that I think are opportunities for the company.

所以我先講第一部分，然後強尼講第二部分。因此，您可以認為我們今年的產品開發重點是簡化工作流程、克服臨床終點線以及獲得更多合作夥伴關係；我們是否公開與這些人交談還有待確定。所以這是現在的首要任務。但你是對的，從長遠來看，就平台而言，我認為確實有兩個領域對公司來說是機會。

Number one is ensuring that we have an IBD grade system, because we will have a menu of products. So it's ensuring that that roadmap is solidified. On the other extreme, in the upstream discovery market, we are going to -- we are already at a place where spatial biology is going to be done at scale; large scale studies, large scale database studies, so getting the instruments to a place where they can do that, having the reagents at a place where they can support that, and algorithms like MaxFuse to be able to leverage these large data sets.

第一是確保我們有一個 IBD 等級系統，因為我們將有一個產品選單。因此，它要確保路線圖得到鞏固。在另一個極端，在上游發現市場，我們將——我們已經處於一個將大規模開展空間生物學的地方；大規模研究、大規模資料庫研究，因此將儀器放在可以做到這一點的地方，將試劑放在可以支援的地方，以及像 MaxFuse 這樣的演算法能夠利用這些大型資料集。

Spatial is going to go the direction that we've seen all other powerful life sciences tools go, which is studies are getting larger and larger at scale, and there is true sample elasticity in this market. You make the systems faster, easier and more affordable to use, and there will be more samples. So longer-term, Tejas, those are the two avenues of full, additional platform development opportunities for us.

Spatial 將沿著我們所看到的所有其他強大生命科學工具的發展方向，即研究規模越來越大，並且這個市場存在真正的樣本彈性。你可以讓系統使用起來更快、更容易、更實惠，並且會有更多的樣本。因此，從長遠來看，Tejas，這些是我們獲得完整、額外平台開發機會的兩個途徑。

And Tejas, to your question on 2025, certainly we haven't guided obviously to 2025, but we don't expect to move top line or margin. We expect those to continue to be strong, continue to grow, and really, it's about maintaining a reasonable OpEx, which we absolutely expect to be able to do which drives a good full-year cash flow from ops in 2025, that's positive. So the building blocks sort of build themselves. If we continue to execute and maintain that OpEx where we expect it to, that's our target absolutely.

Tejas，對於你關於 2025 年的問題，我們當然沒有明確指導 2025 年，但我們預計營收或利潤率不會改變。我們預計這些將繼續強勁，繼續成長，實際上，這是為了維持合理的營運支出，我們絕對希望能夠做到這一點，從而在 2025 年推動全年營運現金流良好，這是積極的。因此，構建塊可以自行建造。如果我們繼續按照我們的預期執行和維持營運支出，這絕對是我們的目標。

Got it. Thanks, guys. Appreciate the time.

知道了。多謝你們。珍惜時間。

John Sourbeer, UBS.

約翰‧索比爾，瑞銀集團。

Good evening, and thanks for taking my question. I was wondering if you could just talk a little bit more on the announcement with Thermo and the ViewRNA assays. I guess, any initial feedback from customers there? And what is the demand you're seeing on the multiomic capabilities?

晚上好，感謝您提出我的問題。我想知道您是否可以多談談 Thermo 和 ViewRNA 檢測的公告。我想，那裡的客戶有什麼初步回饋嗎？您對多組學能力的需求是什麼？

Yeah. I think for us in reverse order, John -- thank you for the question and for your time, we look at RNA as something that's complementary to our high-plex protein technology platform on the PhenoCycler-Fusion. So we really are focused on integrating an RNA solution that is at a plex level that's consistent with that theme. And the ViewRNA technology is perfectly suited to do that. It's really a high resolution, amplified single-cell resolution platform. And so we're just beginning to integrate and roll that stuff out. We just announced it, so a lot of the hard work is happening right now. I think we'll probably be talking more about some of those details at AACR.

是的。我認為對我們來說是相反的順序，約翰——謝謝你的提問和抽出時間，我們將 RNA 視為對我們 PhenoCycler-Fusion 上的高複合蛋白技術平台的補充。因此，我們真正專注於整合與該主題一致的複合體層級的 RNA 解決方案。ViewRNA 技術非常適合做到這一點。它確實是一個高解析度、放大的單細胞解析度平台。所以我們才剛開始整合並推出這些東西。我們剛剛宣布了這一消息，所以現在正在進行很多艱苦的工作。我想我們可能會在 AACR 上更多地討論其中一些細節。

And the demand from our customers to have a complementary RNA technology is strong. And I think both the ViewRNA implementation -- but equally important, perhaps John and we'll see how it plays out, I think algorithmic approaches like MaxFuse do represent a transformative addition on how people leverage not just their own data, but publicly available data to get informatically derived multiomic solutions. So I think both are important.

我們的客戶對互補 RNA 技術的需求非常強烈。我認為 ViewRNA 實現 - 但同樣重要，也許 John 和我們會看到它如何發揮作用，我認為像 MaxFuse 這樣的演算法方法確實代表了人們如何不僅利用自己的數據，而且利用公開數據的變革性補充獲得信息衍生的多組學解決方案。所以我認為兩者都很重要。

Thanks. And as a follow-up, you have customers who started adopting Fusion in '22. Now I guess you have 50% at 2.0 upgrade. What is the runway you think here that you have for some of these users to hit full utilization? And just talk about longer term, where you think the pull-through could go?

謝謝。作為後續行動，您的客戶在 22 年開始採用 Fusion。現在我猜你在 2.0 升級時有 50%。您認為讓其中一些用戶達到充分利用的途徑是什麼？談談更長期的問題，您認為拉動的方向會是什麼？

I realize now Kyle asked a little bit about specifics on pull through. So we have right now, John, about two-thirds of all the PhenoCyclers are sitting with the Fusion. And we'll probably get through most of those upgrades kind of throughout this year. And as we look at pull-through on that system, like as Johnny noted, kind of in the high-30s, as we exited last year, somewhere around the high-20s or so. So I think that trend line continues throughout 2024 and into 2025, doing 40, 50, 60s. I think we can easily get to that realm.

我現在意識到凱爾問了一些關於成功的細節。所以，約翰，我們現在大約有三分之二的 PhenoCyclers 都在使用 Fusion。我們可能會在今年完成大部分升級。當我們觀察該系統的拉動時，就像約翰尼指出的那樣，大約在 30 多歲左右，去年我們退出時，大約在 20 多歲左右。因此，我認為趨勢線將持續整個 2024 年並持續到 2025 年，持續 40、50、60 秒。我認為我們可以很容易地達到這個境界。

Many of our high-end users are operating at 5x-plus, that average pull through number. So I think there's an opportunity for us to really raise the curve on all of them.

我們的許多高階用戶的運行速度都在 5 倍以上，即平均拉力值。所以我認為我們有機會真正提高所有這些方面的曲線。

What we're seeing, particularly with the 2.0, John, is a real pressing need amongst our PhenoCycler-Fusion users to really start to press the plex level even more. So you're 50-, 60-, 70-plex, and they're doing that with more samples and that's why the PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 users are the highest pull-through users. So it's about moving all of those customers up to that 2.0.

我們看到，尤其是 2.0，John，我們的 PhenoCycler-Fusion 用戶真正迫切需要真正開始進一步提高複合水平。所以你有 50、60、70 重，他們用更多的樣本來做到這一點，這就是為什麼 PhenoCycler-Fusion 2.0 用戶是最高拉動用戶的原因。因此，我們需要將所有這些客戶升級到 2.0。

Thanks for taking the questions in queue.

感謝您在隊列中提出問題。

Thanks, John.

謝謝，約翰。

Mark Massaro, BTIG.

馬克·馬薩羅，BTIG。

Hey, guys, thanks for taking the questions and congratulations on a strong 2023. I guess my first one is on the guidance. $114 million to $118 million, I think it calls for 18% to 22%. In your preannounced in January, you talked about 20%-plus, so obviously you're in line with that. I'm just curious if the 18% somehow might be factoring in pressures related to macro, or China, or elongated sales cycles.

嘿，夥計們，感謝您提出問題，並祝賀您在 2023 年取得了輝煌的成績。我想我的第一個是在指導上。 1.14億美元到1.18億美元，我認為需要18%到22%。在你一月份預先宣布的消息中，你談到了 20% 以上，所以顯然你是同意的。我只是好奇這 18% 是否會以某種方式考慮到與宏觀、中國或延長的銷售週期相關的壓力。

And then, maybe can you just give us a sense for the demand environment in the US? Obviously, that's been a stronger territory for you with respect to other geographic regions. So just give us a sense for perhaps anything you have on geographic growth and how we should think about that this year.

然後，您能否讓我們了解美國的需求環境？顯然，相對於其他地理區域，這對您來說是一個更強大的領域。因此，請讓我們了解您對地理成長的看法，以及我們今年應該如何考慮這一點。

Yeah, I'll do those. Thanks, Mark. I appreciate your question and your time. So if you go through and look at our growth across the regions, North America, as you noted, was the strongest and we think it will continue to be the strongest. It was in the high-30% realm, and I think it'll probably stay there. And I don't think these geographic trends change meaningfully in 2024.

是的，我會做這些。謝謝，馬克。感謝您的提問和您的時間。因此，如果你仔細觀察我們在各個地區的成長，正如你所指出的，北美是最強勁的，我們認為它將繼續是最強勁的。它處於 30% 的較高水平，我認為它可能會保持在那裡。我認為這些地理趨勢在 2024 年不會發生有意義的變化。

EMEA was in the low-20s, Mark, in terms of its year-over-year growth in 2023. And then APAC was like high-single-digits. And most of that was because the team was able to pivot to other regions, Japan, Australia, et cetera, Korea, South Korea, to get -- to compensate for the contraction in APAC. I think those trends continue into 2024.

馬克，歐洲、中東和非洲地區 2023 年的年成長率處於 20 左右。然後亞太地區就像高個位數。其中大部分是因為團隊能夠轉向其他地區，例如日本、澳洲等韓國、韓國，以彌補亞太地區的萎縮。我認為這些趨勢將持續到 2024 年。

I think you're right in terms of the low end of the range is really intended to account for those pressures being even more pronounced. One thing though, if and when we do, Mark, secure more partnerships like Acrivon, those are largely additive to our guide. There may be a portion of those that's embedded within our expectations for continued growth of our services business.

我認為你是對的，範圍的低端確實是為了解釋那些更明顯的壓力。但有一點是，馬克，如果我們這樣做，就能獲得更多像 Acrivon 這樣的合作夥伴，這些在很大程度上會成為我們指南的補充。其中一部分可能包含在我們對服務業務持續成長的預期中。

But additional large scale CDx deals, like another Acrivon with a large biopharma, that would be additive to that range. And certainly, if and when those do occur, we'll clarify that. So hopefully that answers your questions.

但其他大規模伴隨診斷交易，例如另一家 Acrivon 與一家大型生物製藥公司的交易，將增加該範圍。當然，如果這些確實發生，我們會澄清這一點。希望這能回答您的問題。

Yeah, that's helpful. And then, my last question, could you may be zero in a little bit about what you're seeing in terms of customer demand for PhenoCode discovery and signature panels?

是的，這很有幫助。然後，我的最後一個問題是，您所看到的客戶對 PhenoCode 發現和簽名面板的需求是否可能為零？

And then, any way to -- as we're tuning up our models, how should we think about reagent growth? Obviously, this is a year where -- you're coming into the year with about 1,200 systems. Just give us a sense for how you think reagent growth might track relative to prior years.

然後，當我們調整模型時，我們應該如何考慮試劑的成長？顯然，今年將有大約 1,200 個系統。請告訴我們您認為試劑成長相對於前幾年可能會如何變化。

Yeah. I'll let Johnny speak to how much detail we want to give, because we don't guide on a product basis. But I would say, Mark, that reagents is going to be in terms of dollars, are probably our largest growth driver because it's moving so quickly as you saw from, I think, it was a $5.7 million in Q3 and $6.9 million in Q4.

是的。我會讓約翰尼談談我們想要提供多少細節，因為我們不以產品為基礎進行指導。但馬克，我想說的是，試劑將以美元計算，可能是我們最大的成長動力，因為正如你所看到的，它的發展速度非常快，我認為，第三季為570 萬美元，第第四季為690 萬美元。

So you can see we're beginning to realize the benefits of many of the workflow solutions that we put on the market. And then we think those trends, maybe not linearly, continue throughout the year. So that's how I would look at that.

因此，您可以看到我們開始意識到我們投放市場的許多工作流程解決方案的好處。然後我們認為這些趨勢，也許不是線性的，會持續一整年。這就是我的看法。

And Johnny, I don't know if you want to add any more color in terms of the specifics on reagents?

約翰尼，我不知道您是否想在試劑的具體細節方面添加更多顏色？

No. Only to say -- to highlight what you said, which I think look back to 2022, obviously, it wasin that $4 million range, moved into the $5-plus million range in 2023, and really exited 2023 in that $7 million per quarter, and we expect that to continue. It's naturally taken, these steps, and certainly will be an important focus that will help to drive the margin goals that we have as well in 2024.

不。只是想說- 強調你所說的，我認為回顧2022 年，顯然，它是在400 萬美元的範圍內，在2023 年進入5 多萬美元的範圍，並真正以每季度700 萬美元的價格退出2023 年，我們預計這種情況會持續下去。這些步驟是自然而然地採取的，而且肯定會成為一個重要的焦點，將有助於推動我們在 2024 年實現的利潤率目標。

Okay. Actually, if I can sneak one more in, great progress on getting to that operating cash flow breakeven by year-end 2024, certainly a year ahead of expectations from recent comments. There's been a decent amount of M&A. Some of it's been larger; some of it's been smaller, but as you're about to turn the corner to cash flow break-even, are there certain assets out there even if they are of the tuck-in variety that might be enticing to you? And maybe just speak, if you will, about the M&A environment broadly?

好的。事實上，如果我能再多說一句，到 2024 年底實現營運現金流盈虧平衡方面將取得巨大進展，這肯定比最近評論的預期提前了一年。併購數量相當可觀。有些更大；有些則更大。其中一些規模較小，但當您即將扭轉現金流收支平衡時，是否存在某些資產，即使它們屬於可能對您有吸引力的收藏品種？如果你願意的話，也許可以廣泛地談談併購環境？

Yeah. I think you've got a couple of buckets of M&A, Mark. I think you've got some activity that's really driven around companies trying to find synergies as a way to continue to capitalize their business. And then you've got these larger deals like the Olin deal. I think they're kind of falling into those two buckets.

是的。我認為你已經進行了幾輪併購，馬克。我認為你已經開展了一些活動，這些活動確實是圍繞著公司試圖尋找協同效應來繼續利用其業務進行的。然後你就會得到一些更大的交易，像是奧林交易。我認為他們屬於這兩個類別。

I think for us, Mark, our number one priority for 2024, we have everything that we need in our technology stack. It's really just delivering on what we need to in terms of growth with the reagents at the center of that, and then securing additional -- and then continue to expand our biopharma business. So there's nothing that is of immediate need that would be better done with an M&A.

我認為，馬克，對我們來說，2024 年的首要任務是，我們的技術堆疊中擁有我們需要的一切。它實際上只是滿足我們在以試劑為中心的成長方面所需要的，然後確保額外的——然後繼續擴大我們的生物製藥業務。因此，沒有什麼比透過併購更好地解決當前迫切需要的事情了。

That said, we are always keeping our head on a swivel, and looking at opportunities and trying to do that in a reasonable resource method.

也就是說，我們始終保持頭腦清醒，尋找機會並嘗試以合理的資源方法來實現這一目標。

Okay. Thanks for the time.

好的。謝謝你的時間。

Thanks, Mark.

謝謝，馬克。

Rachel Vatnsdal, JP Morgan.

雷切爾·瓦特斯達爾，摩根大通。

Perfect. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. So I want to follow-up on some of my earlier questions around placements. Can you just walk us through what are your base case assumptions for placements this year in 2024? In the past, you've talked about a run rate of a few hundred instruments per year. Should we model that for this year as well? And then, what are the potential sources of upside and downside on that this year? Thanks.

完美的。午安.感謝您提出問題。因此，我想跟進我之前關於展示位置的一些問題。您能否向我們介紹一下您對 2024 年安置的基本狀況假設是什麼？過去，您談到了每年數百台儀器的運作率。今年我們也應該這樣做嗎？那麼，今年的潛在上行和下行來源是什麼？謝謝。

Yeah. Thank you, Rachel. Your numbers are right. I think a couple hundred is fair. We probably wouldn't get more specific than that.

是的。謝謝你，雷切爾。你的數字是對的。我認為幾百個是公平的。我們可能不會得到比這更具體的資訊。

And then, I think the upsides, I think we still have upsides certainly on reagents as we expand our content, as we get the two Os fully utilized in the field with their increased capacity, as software solutions like MaxFuse become more prominent, and our panels continue to rollout. So I think there's certainly upside there. I also feel like we have opportunities to continue to advance our clinical partnership portfolio hopefully to secure additional significant partnerships in that realm. And much of that would be additive to our top line whether it's this year or next year.

然後，我認為優點，我認為隨著我們擴展內容，我們在試劑方面仍然有優勢，因為我們在現場充分利用了兩個作業系統，其容量增加了，隨著像MaxFuse 這樣的軟體解決方案變得更加突出，我們的面板繼續推出。所以我認為這肯定有好處。我也覺得我們有機會繼續推進我們的臨床合作夥伴關係組合，希望在該領域獲得更多重要的合作關係。無論是今年還是明年，其中大部分都將增加我們的收入。

We have not baked into our base financial fundamentals and assumption around additional significant CDx deals, but when they do come, as I noted earlier, that would be a source of upside.

我們還沒有考慮到我們的基本財務基本面和關於額外重大 CDx 交易的假設，但正如我之前指出的那樣，當它們確實到來時，這將是上漲的一個來源。

Great. And then, I just wanted to touch on the macro backdrop a little bit more. You talked about how 4Q continue to have some of those macro pressures impacting capital equipment purchases. Can you talk about how that trend has continued into January and February as customers have had some of these budgets reset on Jan 1?

偉大的。然後，我只想多談談宏觀背景。您談到了第四季度宏觀壓力如何繼續影響資本設備採購。您能否談談這種趨勢如何持續到 1 月和 2 月，因為客戶在 1 月 1 日重置了部分預算？

And then you highlighted that China was an area of weakness from some of this capital purchase spending, but were there any other geographies that were notably impacted by the macro backdrop as well? Thanks.

然後您強調說，中國是部分資本購買支出的薄弱領域，但是否還有其他地區也受到宏觀背景的顯著影響？謝謝。

Obviously, you can have exchange rate issues that effectively drives up your ASP, but that's not to the point I think where beyond the macros, it's really impacting our top line. And as I noted earlier, it's really, Rachel, just about some budget tightening, but also an increased in diligence and approval circles around many capital purchases just like we do internally with our own capital purchases. So those are the large scale dynamics at play.

顯然，匯率問題可能會有效推高平均售價，但我認為，除了宏觀因素之外，這還沒有真正影響我們的營收。正如我之前指出的，雷切爾，這實際上只是一些預算緊縮，但也增加了圍繞許多資本購買的盡職調查和審批週期，就像我們內部對自己的資本購買所做的那樣。這些都是大規模動態在發揮作用。

Great. And then just on January, February trends, could you walk us through how some of those conversations trended in January and February so far?

偉大的。然後就一月、二月趨勢而言，您能否向我們介紹迄今為止一月和二月其中一些對話的趨勢？

Yeah. I mean I'm hesitant to give any specific guidance on Q1 other than to say we have, as an expectation, our full-year guide, the market trends that we saw in second half and in Q4 will continue into Q1 and the rest of the year.

是的。我的意思是，我不願意對第一季度給予任何具體指導，除了說我們有全年指導，我們在下半年和第四季度看到的市場趨勢將持續到第一季和其餘時間。那一年。

Thank you. I'm not showing any further questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the call back over to Brian McKelligon for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我不會在隊列中顯示任何其他問題。我想將電話轉回給布萊恩‧麥凱利根 (Brian McKelligon)，讓其結束語。

Yeah. Well, thank you, Victor, for hosting us. Thank you to everybody for your time.

是的。好吧，謝謝你，維克多，招待我們。感謝大家抽出時間。

I think for Akoya, we have and we'll continue to demonstrate and realize the benefits of our strategy, with ultimately that being as we know that hitting operating cash flow breakeven by the end of the year, with our reagent growth and the margin expansion along with that being core contributors.

我認為對於 Akoya 來說，我們已經並將繼續展示和實現我們策略的好處，最終我們知道，隨著我們的試劑成長和利潤率擴張，到年底實現營運現金流盈虧平衡除此之外，還有核心貢獻者。

But again, as I noted, we're also seeing real significant movement and opportunities for us to take that next leap as a company and continue to advance our portfolio from a research-based product to additionally a clinical-based product. And we'll continue to share those successes with all of you as part of future calls. So I thank you for your time, and I look forward to following up with each of you soon.

但正如我所指出的，我們也看到了真正重大的變化和機遇，使我們作為一家公司能夠實現下一次飛躍，並繼續將我們的產品組合從基於研究的產品推進到基於臨床的產品。作為未來電話會議的一部分，我們將繼續與大家分享這些成功經驗。因此，我感謝您抽出寶貴的時間，並期待盡快與大家聯繫。

Thank you for participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。大家，祝你有美好的一天。

All right. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。