BioLife Solutions Inc (BLFS) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the BioLife Solutions Q4 2023 shareholder and analyst conference call. (Operator Instructions)

下午好，女士們先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 BioLife Solutions 2023 年第四季股東和分析師電話會議。（操作員說明）

Please also note, today's event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Troy Wichterman, Chief Financial Officer of BioLife Solutions. Please go ahead.

另請注意，今天的活動正在錄製中。我現在想將電話轉給 BioLife Solutions 財務長 Troy Wichterman。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining the BioLife Solutions 2023 fourth-quarter earnings conference call. On this call, we will cover business highlights, financial performance for the quarter, and 2024 revenue guidance.

謝謝你，接線生。大家下午好，感謝您參加 BioLife Solutions 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。在本次電話會議上，我們將介紹業務亮點、本季財務表現以及 2024 年收入指引。

Earlier today, we issued a press release announcing our financial results and operational highlights for the fourth quarter of 2023 and 2024 revenue guidance, which is available at biolifesolutions.com.

今天早些時候，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了 2023 年第四季度和 2024 年收入指引的財務業績和營運亮點，該新聞稿可在 biolifesolutions.com 上取得。

As a reminder, during this call, we will make forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that can be found in our SEC filings. These statements speak only as of the date given and we undertake no obligation to update them. We will also speak to non-GAAP or adjusted results. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP or adjusted financial metrics are included in the press release we issued this afternoon.

提醒一下，在這次電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性陳述。這些聲明存在風險和不確定性，這些風險和不確定性可以在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中找到。這些聲明僅代表截至日期的情況，我們不承擔更新這些聲明的義務。我們也將討論非公認會計原則或調整後的結果。我們今天下午發布的新聞稿中包含了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 或調整後的財務指標的調整。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Rod de Greef, Chairman and CEO of BioLife.

現在我想將電話轉給 BioLife 董事長兼執行長 Rod de Greef。

Thanks, Troy. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for BioLife's fourth quarter and full-year 2023 conference call. It has been a busy four months since rejoining the company as CEO, and I'm encouraged by our team's ability to navigate one of the more challenging environments for the life sciences industry in recent memory, not to mention their consistent execution throughout the organizational changes related to our strategic refocusing on higher margin recurring revenue streams.

謝謝，特洛伊。下午好，感謝您參加 BioLife 2023 年第四季和全年電話會議。自從重新加入公司擔任執行長以來，這是忙碌的四個月，我們的團隊有能力應對生命科學產業近年來最具挑戰性的環境之一，這讓我深受鼓舞，更不用說他們在整個組織變革過程中一致的執行力與我們策略重新關注更高利潤的經常性收入流有關。

Over time, BioLife has become the industry standard in terms of biopreservation media and has established itself as a leading provider of premium bioproduction tools and services, the critical picks and shovels that support the fast-growing cell and gene therapy industry. This is our mission, and I'm convinced more than ever that BioLife is in an excellent position to benefit as the space matures, expanding upon our already dominant share of the market and offering diversified exposure to the nascent industry, which we expect to grow at 20% to 25% CAGR through 2033.

隨著時間的推移，BioLife 已成為生物保存介質的行業標準，並已成為優質生物生產工具和服務的領先供應商，這些工具和服務是支持快速增長的細胞和基因治療行業的關鍵鎬和鏟子。這是我們的使命，我比以往任何時候都更加相信，隨著空間的成熟，BioLife 處於有利的地位，能夠擴大我們已經佔據主導地位的市場份額，並為我們期望增長的新興行業提供多元化的投資機會到 2033 年，複合年增長率為 20% 至 25%。

As we look back on an undeniably challenging year for the CGT industry, we recognize that BioLife was not alone as companies large and small felt the impact of inventory destocking, a constrained funding environment, and weaknesses in China. Our full-year results were certainly impacted by these challenges, but our initiatives to divest the freezer product lines and refocus helped us exit the year with positive momentum.

當我們回顧 CGT 行業無可否認的充滿挑戰的一年時，我們認識到 BioLife 並不孤單，大大小小的公司都感受到了庫存去庫存、融資環境緊張和中國弱點的影響。我們的全年業績肯定受到這些挑戰的影響，但我們剝離冰箱產品線並重新聚焦的舉措幫助我們以積極的勢頭結束了這一年。

With encouraging early signs that the macro headwinds facing the industry may have begun to subside. We similarly saw evidence of stabilization and momentum in the CGT industry and our business, as demonstrated by our fourth-quarter cell processing platform revenue growing 11% sequentially over Q3 and across our top 50 biopreservation media customers who account for 90% of total media revenue growing 14% compared to the third quarter.

令人鼓舞的早期跡象表明，該行業面臨的宏觀阻力可能已經開始消退。我們同樣看到了 CGT 行業和我們業務穩定和發展勢頭的證據，第四季度細胞處理平台收入比第三季度連續增長 11%，以及佔媒體總收入 90% 的前 50 名生物保存媒體客戶與第三季度相比成長14%。

It is early, and as we have said, we will need to continue to work closely with our customers to manage inventory at normalized levels, which we believe positions us well for what could be a sustained recovery as 2024 progresses.

現在還為時過早，正如我們所說，我們需要繼續與客戶密切合作，將庫存管理在正常水平，我們相信這將使我們能夠在 2024 年實現持續復甦。

With that, let's take a closer look at our full-year 2023 results. Total revenue for '23 was $143.3 million, an 11% decrease compared to 22. Ex-COVID, revenue decreased 4% for the year as there was no COVID-related revenue in '23.

接下來，讓我們仔細看看 2023 年全年業績。23 年的總收入為 1.433 億美元，比 22 年下降了 11%。排除新冠疫情影響，由於 2023 年沒有與新冠肺炎相關的收入，因此當年收入下降了 4%。

Looking across our platforms, for the full year of '23, our cell processing platform revenue declined 4% to $65.8 million from 2022 due to a 6% decrease in our biopreservation media revenue, which was partially offset by a 9% increase in our other cell processing tools, which include CellSeal, HPL, and CT automated fill product lines. In '23, our top 20 media customers accounted for 78% of media revenue and were up slightly year over year by 1%. And our all other category decreased by a total of 26%. In '23, distributors accounted for 40% of total media revenue compared to 38% in '22.

縱觀我們的平台，23 年全年，我們的細胞處理平台收入較2022 年下降4%，至6580 萬美元，原因是我們的生物保存介質收入下降了6%，但我們其他業務收入增長9%部分抵消了這一影響。細胞處理工具，包括 CellSeal、HPL 和 CT 自動填充生產線。2023年，我們的前20名媒體客戶佔媒體收入的78%，較去年同期小幅成長1%。我們所有其他類別總共下降了 26%。23 年，發行商佔媒體總收入的 40%，而 22 年為 38%。

Customers with commercially approved therapies accounted for an estimated 52% of direct media revenue in '23 compared with 49% in '22, keeping in mind that some of this revenue is related to validation, R&D, and other clinical work in addition to patient dosing. Our full-year '23, biostorage and services platform revenue decreased 2% to $25.9 million. However, excluding prio-year COVID-related revenue, this platform grew a strong 61% as Garrie Richardson's team did an excellent job of replacing the lost COVID revenue.

擁有商業批准療法的客戶估計佔 23 年直接媒體收入的 52%，而 22 年為 49%，請記住，其中一些收入與除患者劑量外的驗證、研發和其他臨床工作有關。我們 23 年全年生物儲存和服務平台收入下降 2% 至 2,590 萬美元。然而，排除前一年與新冠病毒相關的收入，該平台強勁增長了 61%，因為 Garrie Richardson 的團隊出色地彌補了新冠病毒損失的收入。

We are currently in the process of consolidating our two Boston area facilities, which we expect will save approximately $0.5 million in annual operating costs and which should be completed early in the third quarter. Our '23 freezer and thaw platform revenue declined 23%, or $15.1 million from 2022, primarily due to a difficult capital equipment environment and the competitive disadvantage generated by the divestiture process.

我們目前正在整合波士頓地區的兩個設施，預計將節省約 50 萬美元的年度營運成本，並應在第三季初完成。我們的 23 年冷凍和解凍平台收入較 2022 年下降了 23%，即 1,510 萬美元，這主要是由於資本設備環境困難以及剝離過程產生的競爭劣勢。

As you know, we have been in the process of divesting the CBS and Stirling freezer entities since August of last year. We recently signed two separate LOIs for the sale of these freezer product lines, and our goal is to close these transactions within the next 45 to 60 days. All in all, this has been a difficult and time-consuming process, and we expect no net proceeds, and in fact, we'll realize an initial cash outflow. This initial cash outflow will be offset by the elimination of future cash burn and certain long-term debt, as well as future product warranty liabilities, while materially improving our overall '24 financial performance and margin profile.

如您所知，自去年八月以來，我們一直在剝離 CBS 和斯特林冰箱實體。我們最近簽署了兩份單獨的冰櫃產品線銷售意向書，我們的目標是在未來 45 至 60 天內完成這些交易。總而言之，這是一個困難且耗時的過程，我們預計不會有淨收益，事實上，我們將實現初始現金流出。這一初始現金流出將被未來現金消耗和某些長期債務以及未來產品保固負債的消除所抵消，同時顯著改善我們 24 年的整體財務業績和利潤狀況。

On a more macro industry note, 2023 was a breakthrough year for CGT approvals in the US. This momentum continued into the first quarter of '24 with the recent approval of Iovance's groundbreaking chill-based therapy, AMTAGVI, an industry-first, which we support with two of our biopreservation media products. This brings us to a total of 14 unique approved therapies, which have our biopreservation media embedded, and three of these unique approved therapies also utilize our CellSeal vials.

從更宏觀的產業角度來看，2023 年是美國資本利得稅批准的突破性一年。隨著 Iovance 突破性的寒冷療法 AMTAGVI 最近獲得批准，這種勢頭持續到了 2024 年第一季度，這是業界首創，我們透過兩種生物保存介質產品為其提供支持。這使我們共有 14 種獨特的批准療法，其中嵌入了我們的生物保存介質，其中三種獨特的批准療法也使用了我們的 CellSeal 小瓶。

In the next 12 months, we believe there could be up to 10 additional unique therapy approvals, expanded indications or geographic expansions, which include our proprietary products.

在接下來的 12 個月中，我們相信可能會有多達 10 個額外的獨特療法獲得批准、擴大適應症或地理擴張，其中包括我們的專有產品。

In addition to our strong market position in approved therapies, we believe there are currently more than 230 active US commercially sponsored clinical trials and estimate that our biopreservation media is embedded in more than 70% of those trials. Looking at these statistics, it's evident that BioLife is a clear industry standard when it comes to biopreservation, and as the industry grows, so do we.

除了我們在已批准療法中的強大市場地位之外，我們相信目前美國有超過 230 項活躍的商業贊助臨床試驗，並估計我們的生物保存介質嵌入了其中 70% 以上的試驗中。從這些統計數據來看，很明顯，BioLife 在生物保存方面是一個明確的行業標準，並且隨著行業的發展，我們也在不斷發展。

We have amassed a class-defining portfolio of products to improve quality and reduce risks in the manufacture and delivery of these novel therapies. We have earned a high level of trust with our marquee customer base and operate in an environment with limited credible competition, specifically in the area of biopreservation.

我們已經累積了一系列定義類別的產品組合，以提高品質並降低這些新型療法的製造和交付過程中的風險。我們贏得了廣大客戶群的高度信任，並在可信競爭有限的環境中運營，特別是在生物保存領域。

As we look ahead, we're taking a cautious approach toward our 2024 revenue guidance despite certain customer conversations, which suggests some growing optimism around improving market conditions in the second half of the year. At this point, we are expecting 2024 revenue, excluding freezers, to range from $95.5 million to $100 million, with our cell processing platform generating between $66 million and $68.5 million, and our biostorage and services platform, which now includes our thaw product line to range from $29.5 million to $31.5 million.

展望未來，儘管進行了某些客戶對話，但我們對 2024 年收入指引持謹慎態度，這表明人們對下半年市場狀況改善的樂觀情緒日益增強。目前，我們預計2024 年的收入（不包括冷凍櫃）將在9,550 萬美元至1 億美元之間，我們的細胞處理平台將產生6,600 萬美元至6,850 萬美元的收入，我們的生物儲存和服務平台（現在包括我們的解凍產品線）將產生6,600 萬美元至6,850 萬美元的收入。範圍從 2,950 萬美元到 3,150 萬美元不等。

While the total year-over-year growth rate of 2% to 7% may seem modest, I would point out that against an annualized second-half '23 run rate, which we believe is a more appropriate baseline given the industry challenges of last year, our guidance for total revenue growth is 13% to 18%, with cell processing growing at 17% to 22% and biostorage and services at 4% to 11%. As we progress through '24, we're committed to delivering increases in revenue, gross margin, and adjusted EBITDA, both in absolute terms and as a percent of revenue.

雖然2% 至7% 的總同比增長率可能看起來不大，但我要指出的是，相對於23 年下半年的年化運行率而言，考慮到去年的行業挑戰，我們認為這是一個更合適的基準。今年，我們對總收入成長的指導為 13% 至 18%，其中細胞加工成長 17% 至 22%，生物儲存和服務成長 4% 至 11%。隨著 24 年的進展，我們致力於實現收入、毛利率和調整後 EBITDA 的成長，無論是絕對值還是佔收入的百分比。

At this point, I'll turn the call over to Troy to provide a more detailed review of our financial results. Troy?

此時，我會將電話轉給特洛伊，以對我們的財務表現進行更詳細的審查。特洛伊？

Thank you, Rod. We reported Q4 revenue of $32.7 million, representing a decrease of 26% year over year. And excluding COVID-related revenue from Q4 of 2022, the decline was 23%. The year-over-year decrease was primarily related to a $6.1 million decrease, or 35%, in our freezers and thaw systems platform and a $5.4 million, or 27% decrease, in our cell processing platform, reflecting the industry headwinds and destocking in 2023.

謝謝你，羅德。我們報告第四季營收為 3,270 萬美元，年減 26%。排除 2022 年第四季與新冠病毒相關的收入，下降了 23%。同比下降主要與我們的冷凍和解凍系統平台減少 610 萬美元（即 35%）以及細胞處理平台減少 540 萬美元（即 27%）有關，反映了行業逆風和去庫存。2023 年。

However, our sequential growth in Q4 from Q3 for the cell processing platform was 11%. As Rod mentioned, we are starting to see positive indicators for future revenue growth for the cell processing platform.

然而，我們的細胞處理平台第四季較第三季環比成長了 11%。正如羅德所提到的，我們開始看到細胞處理平台未來收入成長的正面跡象。

Turning to our biostorage and services platform, revenue for the fourth quarter was $6.6 million, a decrease of 1% over the same period in 2022. Excluding COVID-related revenue from Q4 of 2022, revenue in Q4 2023 increased 26% as the COVID-related revenue was backfilled. Freezers and thaw systems platform revenue for the fourth quarter was $11.4 million, a decrease of 35% over the same period in 2022. Excluding COVID-related revenue from Q4 2022, revenue in Q4 '23 decreased 32%.

轉向我們的生物儲存和服務平台，第四季營收為 660 萬美元，比 2022 年同期下降 1%。排除 2022 年第四季與新冠病毒相關的收入，由於新冠病毒相關收入得到回填，2023 年第四季的收入成長了 26%。第四季冷凍和解凍系統平台營收為1,140萬美元，較2022年同期下降35%。不包括 2022 年第四季與新冠病毒相關的收入，2023 年第四季的收入下降了 32%。

Adjusted gross margin for the fourth quarter was 35% compared with 32% in the prior year. The increase in adjusted gross margin was primarily due to product mix related to decreased revenue from our freezer business and lower warranty and scrap expense from our ULT product line. Adjusted gross margin increased approximately 450 basis points sequentially largely due to increased cell processing revenue and product mix.

第四季調整後毛利率為 35%，去年同期為 32%。調整後毛利率的增加主要是由於與我們的冰箱業務收入減少以及我們的ULT產品線的保固和報廢費用減少相關的產品組合。調整後毛利率較上季成長約 450 個基點，主要是由於電池加工收入和產品組合的增加。

GAAP operating expenses for Q4 2023 were $45.9 million versus $93.5 million in Q4 2022. The decrease was largely due to the non-cash asset impairment charge we took during Q4 2022 in the freezer businesses of $40.5 million. Adjusted operating expenses for Q4 2023 totaled $20.4 million compared with $22.1 million in the prior year. The decrease was largely due to reduced personnel expenses from the reduction in force in Q3 2023, decreased consulting costs, and a reduction in travel expenses.

2023 年第四季的 GAAP 營運費用為 4,590 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季為 9,350 萬美元。減少的主要原因是我們在 2022 年第四季在冰箱業務中收取了 4,050 萬美元的非現金資產減損費用。2023 年第四季調整後營運費用總計 2,040 萬美元，而前一年為 2,210 萬美元。減少的主要原因是 2023 年第三季裁員導致人員費用減少、諮詢成本減少以及差旅費用減少。

Our adjusted operating loss for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $9.3 million compared with $8.2 million in Q4 2022. Our GAAP net loss was $13.4 million in Q4. The decrease in net loss was primarily due to the $40.5 million non-cash intangible asset impairment charge related to Stirling and CBS taking during Q4 2022.

2023 年第四季調整後的營運虧損為 930 萬美元，而 2022 年第四季為 820 萬美元。第四季我們的 GAAP 淨虧損為 1,340 萬美元。淨虧損減少主要是由於 2022 年第四季與斯特林和 CBS 相關的 4,050 萬美元非現金無形資產減損費用。

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $700,000 compared with $1.7 million in the prior year. Our adjusted EBITDA decreased primarily due to lower biopreservation media revenue. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 increased sequentially by $3.8 million from Q3, largely due to higher revenue from our cell processing platform, reduced freezer R&D costs, and decreased personnel costs, and with the first positive quarterly adjusted EBITDA for the year.

2023 年第四季調整後 EBITDA 為 70 萬美元，而前一年為 170 萬美元。我們調整後的 EBITDA 下降主要是因為生物保存介質收入下降。第四季調整後 EBITDA 比第三季連續成長 380 萬美元，這主要是由於我們的細胞處理平台收入增加、冷凍機研發成本降低和人員成本下降，以及今年首次出現季度調整後 EBITDA 為正值。

Turning to our balance sheet, our cash and marketable securities balance at December 31, 2023 was $52.3 million compared with $42.2 million at September 30, 2023. Taking into consideration our adjusted EBITDA of $700,000, our increase in cash during Q4 2023 was primarily related to a $10.4 million pipe that closed on October 19, 2023 with an existing shareholder. Our SVB long-term debt balance was $20 million, which is interest only through Q2 2024, with quarterly repayments of $2.5 million beginning in Q3 2024.

轉向我們的資產負債表，截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日，我們的現金和有價證券餘額為 5,230 萬美元，而 2023 年 9 月 30 日為 4,220 萬美元。考慮到我們調整後的 EBITDA 為 70 萬美元，我們在 2023 年第四季的現金增加主要與 2023 年 10 月 19 日與現有股東完成的 1,040 萬美元管道有關。我們的 SVB 長期債務餘額為 2,000 萬美元，僅在 2024 年第二季之前支付利息，從 2024 年第三季開始每季還款 250 萬美元。

Turning to 2024 revenue guidance. Our 2024 guidance is based on expectations for our cell processing and biostorage services platform, which now includes the ThawSTAR automated thawing devices product line and does not include any revenue from freezer product lines, which are in the process of being divested.

轉向 2024 年收入指引。我們的 2024 年指導是基於對我們的細胞處理和生物儲存服務平台的預期，該平台現在包括 ThawSTAR 自動解凍設備產品線，但不包括來自冷凍產品線的任何收入，該產品線正在剝離。

Total revenue is expected to be $95.5 million to $100 million, reflecting an overall growth of 2% to 7%. Our cell processing platform is expected to contribute $66 million to $68.5 million, or flat to 4% growth over 2023. Our biostorage and services platform is expected to contribute $29.5 million to $31.5 million, or 5% to 12% growth over 2023, and on a like-for-like basis, growth of 10% to 16%. In addition, we expect revenue, gross margin, and adjusted EBITDA growth in 2024.

總收入預估為 9,550 萬美元至 1 億美元，整體成長 2% 至 7%。我們的細胞處理平台預計將貢獻 6,600 萬至 6,850 萬美元的收入，或在 2023 年持平至 4% 的成長。我們的生物儲存和服務平台預計將貢獻 2,950 萬美元至 3,150 萬美元，即 2023 年增長 5% 至 12%，年增 10% 至 16%。此外，我們預計 2024 年收入、毛利率和調整後 EBITDA 將實現成長。

Finally, in terms of our share count, as of February 22, 2024, we had 45.3 million shares issued and outstanding and 48.2 million shares on a fully diluted basis.

最後，就我們的股份數量而言，截至 2024 年 2 月 22 日，我們已發行和流通的股票為 4530 萬股，完全稀釋後的股票為 4820 萬股。

Now, I'll turn the call back to the operator to open up for questions.

現在，我將把電話轉回接線員以提出問題。

(Operator Instructions) Paul Knight, KeyBanc.

（操作員說明）Paul Knight，KeyBanc。

Hi, Ron and Troy. Does the LOI allow you to move the freezer assets to discontinued ops for the statements?

嗨，羅恩和特洛伊。LOI 是否允許您將凍結資產移至已停止營運的報表中？

Unfortunately, what we need to do is actually have a signed document, then we can move them into discontinued ops. Obviously, we are working through the final diligence and in parallel crafting. The legal guys are crafting the documents. So we're hoping 30 days to 60 days from today, these things will be done. And if we can get it done by the end of March, then they will be considered discontinued operations for the full quarter.

不幸的是，我們實際上需要做的是簽署一份文件，然後我們可以將它們轉移到已停止的操作中。顯然，我們正在進行最後的努力和並行製作。法律人員正在起草文件。所以我們希望從今天起 30 到 60 天，這些事情能夠完成。如果我們能在三月底之前完成，那麼他們將被視為整個季度的關閉營運。

A signed LOI gets you to move them to discontinued?

簽署意向書後您可以將其轉至停產狀態嗎？

No, it does not by itself; a deal does.

不，它本身不會；它本身不會。達成協議就可以了。

Okay. But you have LOIs signed at this juncture are or waiting on LOIs?

好的。但此時您已經簽署了意向書還是正在等待意向書？

No, we have two signed LOIs, one for each of the entities, clear terms spelled out. Final diligence is in process with the buyers, and the lawyers are working on the security purchase agreement, and in the other case, an asset purchase agreement.

不，我們有兩份已簽署的意向書，每個實體一份，條款明確。買方正在進行最終調查，律師正在製定證券購買協議，在另一種情況下，則正在製定資產購買協議。

And then you had positive EBITDA in the quarter, Rod. Could you talk to steps taken to get to positive EBITDA?

羅德，本季的 EBITDA 為正值。您能否談談為實現正 EBITDA 所採取的步驟？

Yeah, I'll let Troy deal with that, Paul.

是的，我會讓特洛伊來處理這個問題，保羅。

Yeah, Paul. So as you recall, we did a reduction in force towards the end of Q3. So that reduction expenses flowed through Q4. In addition, as remarked in my script, we had the increase in self-processing revenue and then we did a control on discretionary expenses, such as consulting costs and travel.

是的，保羅。正如您所記得的，我們在第三季末減少了兵力。因此，削減費用貫穿了第四季。此外，正如我在腳本中所說，我們的自我處理收入有所增加，然後我們對可自由支配的費用進行了控制，例如諮詢費用和差旅費用。

Okay. And then last question on my side is the 10 more potential cell and gene therapies coming in 2024, relative to 13 -- excuse me, yeah, 13 last year. I know it's not probably correct, but why not almost double the level of revenue from approved customers that you gave in the call to get to potential revenue run rate on these approvals? Or what kind of qualifications would you put around that saying, I can't just double my commercial revenue off CGT's approved?

好的。我這邊的最後一個問題是 2024 年將有 10 種潛在的細胞和基因療法出現，相對於去年的 13 種——對不起，是的，去年有 13 種。我知道這可能不正確，但為什麼不將您在電話中提供的已批准客戶的收入水平幾乎翻倍，以獲得這些批准的潛在收入運行率？或者你會用什麼樣的資格來證明「我不能將我的商業收入從資本利得稅批准的收入翻倍」？

Yeah. So a couple of things there. When you're talking about a new, unique, approved therapy, there's definitely a ramp up, right? And if you have followed the Iovance conference call as I did, they were very studious in not saying how many patients they expected to be able to dose over any kind of near-term time frame. So there's a ramp. That's one thing.

是的。有幾件事。當你談論一種新的、獨特的、經批准的療法時，肯定會出現增長，對吧？如果您像我一樣關注了 Iovance 電話會議，您會發現他們非常刻意地沒有透露他們預計在任何近期時間範圍內能夠給多少患者服用藥物。所以有一個坡道。這是一回事。

The other thing, Paul, is that we have refined the methodology by which we look at what we call approved therapies and especially as we look forward to that 12-month number, which is 10. That 10 includes the potential for three unique therapies, three new indications from an existing therapy, as well as four new geographic indications -- sorry, geographic regions. So that means that those are the drivers that actually increase the number of patients that could be dosed.

Paul 說的另一件事是，我們改進了研究所謂已批准療法的方法，特別是當我們期待 12 個月的數字（即 10 個月）時。這 10 種藥物包括三種獨特療法的潛力、現有療法的三種新適應症，以及四種新的地理適應症——抱歉，是地理區域。因此，這意味著這些實際上是增加可以接受給藥的患者數量的驅動因素。

So for instance, Breyanzi could have three new indications in 2024. That's not necessarily a new approval in the way that we're looking at things now. So each one of these three aspects, whether it's an expansion of indication, whether it's a geographic region expansion, or whether it's actually a unique approval in addition to whether a therapy moves from say a fourth-line treatment to a second-line treatment, those are the variables that make up the patient count ultimately in terms of those being dosed. So it's not a like-for-like.

例如，Breyanzi 可能會在 2024 年出現三種新適應症。以我們現在看待事物的方式來看，這不一定是新的批准。因此，這三個面向中的每一個，無論是適應症的擴展，無論是地理區域的擴展，還是實際上是一種獨特的批准，以及一種療法是否從四線治療轉向二線治療，這些變量最終構成了按劑量計算的患者數量。所以這不是同類的。

Last thing, promise, is as you get these events happening in a year, I would assume they would do some additional stocking in front of it. Are you seeing that at this juncture?

最後一件事，保證，當你在一年內發生這些事件時，我認為他們會在這之前做一些額外的儲備。此時此刻你看到了嗎？

It's difficult to say. What I would say is when we look at a customer like Iovance, you probably had a pretty good heads up that things were going their way, their '23 purchases were nicely above '22, and their projected '24 is also nicely above '23.

很難說。我想說的是，當我們看到像Iovance 這樣的客戶時，您可能會很清楚事情正在按他們的方式進行，他們的'23 購買量遠遠高於'22，並且他們預計的'24 也遠高於'23 。

Okay, thanks.

好的謝謝。

Jacob Johnson, Stephens.

雅各約翰遜、史蒂芬斯。

Hey, thanks. Good afternoon. Maybe Rod, just first on the freezer sale. Appreciate the commentary in the prepared comments. Appreciate what you just outlined to Paul's question. But I guess how confident -- you've got two LOIs, sounds like this all hopefully be over in two months. But just how confident are you that this will all be concluded in the next couple of months? And then I heard you mentioned some maybe outlays related to these transactions. Is there any way to quantify that?

嘿，謝謝。午安.也許是羅德，首先是冰櫃促銷。感謝準備好的評論中的評論。感謝您剛才對保羅的問題所概述的內容。但我猜你有多自信——你有兩個意向書，聽起來這一切預計在兩個月內結束。但您對這一切將在未來幾個月內完成有多大信心？然後我聽到你提到了與這些交易相關的一些可能的支出。有什麼方法可以量化嗎？

Yeah. So I'm not going to get into any details around the specific terms because they're not done yet. With respect to confidence, I'm at 70% to 80%. One of them, the buyer for Stirling knows the business extremely well. So it's not -- we don't believe anything's going to come and pop out of the woodwork that would be a showstopper for them.

是的。因此，我不會詳細討論具體條款，因為它們還沒有完成。就信心而言，我的信心在 70% 到 80% 之間。其中之一，斯特林的買家非常了解這項業務。所以這不是——我們不相信任何事情會突然出現，對他們來說會是一件令人震驚的事情。

A little less so on the CBS side of things. But again, that's a cleaner business at some level. So we don't expect -- and it's a sophisticated buyer, so we don't expect anything to pop out of there. So I'd say 75% to 80% confidence that we'll get it done in that kind of a timeframe.

哥倫比亞廣播公司方面的情況就沒那麼嚴重了。但同樣，這在某種程度上是一項更乾淨的業務。所以我們不期望——而且這是一個經驗豐富的買家，所以我們不期望從那裡彈出任何東西。所以我想說，我們有 75% 到 80% 的信心在這樣的時間內完成它。

In terms of the cash outlay, again, I'm not going to get specific about it, but what I will say, Jacob, is that there's not -- the size of it will not impact our ability to operate the company with the cash that we have going forward.

就現金支出而言，我不會具體說明，但雅各布，我要說的是，現金支出的規模不會影響我們用現金運營公司的能力我們將繼續前進。

Got it. That's helpful, Rod. And then on the media side of things, it's good to see it pick up sequentially. You're guiding to single-digit growth year over year, but obviously much better growth versus the second-half trends. I'm just curious, is there any way to quantify how much media -- what media looks like in the first half of the year versus the back half and the run rate you'll be exiting the year at? Or maybe alternatively how you're thinking about some of the headwinds last year sustaining into this year just as we try to think about '24 and beyond?

知道了。這很有幫助，羅德。然後在媒體方面，很高興看到它依次回升。您的目標是逐年實現個位數成長，但與下半年的趨勢相比，成長顯然要好得多。我只是很好奇，有沒有什麼方法可以量化媒體的數量——上半年與下半年的媒體情況以及您今年退出時的運行率？或者，也許您如何看待去年持續到今年的一些不利因素，就像我們試圖思考 24 世紀及以後的情況一樣？

Yes. So we had a conversation with our largest distributor customer. Literally, they were in our facility here a week ago, and they definitely expressed some confidence in the second half of the year. And I look at them based on the almost 6,000 customers that they sell our media too as sort of a proxy for just the small commercial, maybe even preclinical customer base. So I think there's good news there that the first half of the year might be a bit flat compared to the second half of last year, but that there could be an uptake there.

是的。因此，我們與我們最大的分銷商客戶進行了交談。從字面上看，他們一周前來到了我們的工廠，他們確實表達了對下半年的信心。我根據他們銷售我們媒體的近 6,000 名客戶來看待他們，他們也將其視為小型商業客戶群（甚至可能是臨床前客戶群）的代理。因此，我認為有個好消息，與去年下半年相比，今年上半年可能會有些持平，但可能會成長。

Our commercial customers, based on the projections that we're receiving from them and our larger clinical customers, let's say our top 20, they are also suggesting that the first half is going to be maybe 45% of the total for the year with the back half coming in at 55%.

我們的商業客戶，根據我們從他們和我們的大型臨床客戶那裡收到的預測，比如說我們的前 20 名客戶，他們還表示，上半年可能會佔全年總數的 45%，後半部分的利用率為55%。

Admittedly, (technical difficulty) and last year was a tough year and I don't want to get ahead out in front of our ski tips too much. And we'll be looking throughout the year every quarter as things change, and our customers give us a forecast, a rolling forecast every three months. And as those change and hopefully become more positive, then we'll share that, and that would be also shown in our guidance going forward.

不可否認，（技術難度）去年是艱難的一年，我不想在我們的滑雪技巧上太過領先。隨著情況的變化，我們每季都會關注全年情況，我們的客戶會給我們一個預測，每三個月滾動預測一次。隨著這些變化並希望變得更加積極，我們將分享這一點，這也將在我們未來的指導中得到體現。

Got it. I'll leave it at two and get back in queue. Thanks for taking the questions, Rod.

知道了。我會把它留在兩點然後再回到隊列。感謝您提出問題，羅德。

Thanks, Jacob.

謝謝，雅各。

Steven Mah, TD Cowen.

史蒂文·馬，TD·考恩。

Great. Thanks for taking the questions. Could you comment on what you're seeing in terms of your comments of macro headwinds potentially subsiding? I know you had an 11% sequential growth in Q4 in cell processing. Any sense you can share on how Q1 is shaping up? And then also any comments on how the inventory and destocking trends are looking like?

偉大的。感謝您提出問題。您能否評論一下您所看到的宏觀逆風可能消退的情況？我知道第四季細胞加工業務較上季成長了 11%。您可以分享一下第一季的情況嗎？那麼對於庫存和去庫存趨勢有何評論？

Yeah. Let me address the last one first, Steven. I think that when we looked at Q3 and Q4, we had four and five large customers requesting that we push their orders out. And we're talking about seven-figure orders, which was the major reason or half the reason that we had such a cliff drop from Q2 to Q3 last year. And in fact, back even in Q4, we still had that, three customers asking us to do that.

是的。讓我先解決最後一個問題，史蒂文。我認為，當我們查看第三季和第四季時，我們有四、五個大客戶要求我們推出他們的訂單。我們談論的是七位數的訂單，這是我們去年從第二季到第三季大幅下降的主要原因或一半原因。事實上，即使在第四季度，我們仍然有這樣的情況，三個客戶要求我們這樣做。

In Q1, so far, we've just had the one customer that has asked us to push things into Q2. And so we feel pretty good that that's an indication that from an inventory destocking perspective, things have kind of normalized.

到目前為止，在第一季度，我們只有一個客戶要求我們將事情推到第二季度。因此，我們感覺很好，這表明從庫存去庫存的角度來看，情況已經正常化。

With respect to the larger customer, again, that customer that we just had a meeting with that has sort of 6,000, I would say smaller customers, they are indicating that what they're seeing is a flattening from the second half of last year, and again, have expressed some optimism toward the back half of this year.

至於大客戶，我們剛開會的客戶有 6,000 人左右，我想說的是小客戶，他們表示他們所看到的情況與去年下半年相比趨於平緩，再次對今年下半年表示樂觀。

Okay. No, I appreciate that. And talking about the Q4, the 11% sequential growth in cell processing, can you provide any color on the gross margins in Q4? It seemed a bit lighter than we had expected and also in light of the growth in cell processing.

好的。不，我很欣賞這一點。說到第四季度，細胞加工連續成長 11%，您能提供有關第四季度毛利率的任何資訊嗎？它似乎比我們預期的要輕一些，而且考慮到細胞處理的增長。

Yeah. So on the gross margin, it did increase about 450 basis points, sequentially. We're not speaking specifically to product line gross margin, but that would be in line with our expectations at those revenue levels and on consolidated basis, including the freezer businesses.

是的。因此，就毛利率而言，確實比上季成長了約 450 個基點。我們並不是專門談論產品線的毛利率，但這符合我們對這些收入水準和合併基礎上的預期，包括冰箱業務。

Okay. All right. Thanks. And then let me sneak one more in. Any more cost-cutting efforts contemplated, or do you think the company is rightsized?

好的。好的。謝謝。然後再讓我偷偷溜進去一次。是否考慮採取更多削減成本的措施，或者您認為公司規模是否已調整？

Yeah, good question. I think, generally speaking, we're rightsized. I think that there are things on the edges that we can still take advantage of. Clearly, we're really focused on any kind of discretionary spending, particularly travel, and putting a pretty fine filter on who goes where and why. And so, I think we have some opportunities there throughout the year, but nothing like the sort of riff that we did in Q3.

是的，好問題。我認為，一般來說，我們的規模是合理的。我認為我們仍然可以利用一些邊緣的東西。顯然，我們真正關注的是任何類型的可自由支配支出，尤其是旅行，並對誰去哪裡以及為什麼去進行了非常精細的過濾。因此，我認為我們全年都有一些機會，但沒有像我們在第三季所做的那樣。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Thomas Flaten, Lake Street Capital Markets.

托馬斯·弗拉頓（Thomas Flaten），湖街資本市場。

Hey, good afternoon, guys. Thanks for taking the questions. Troy, in the guidance, you made mention of positive adjusted EBITDA for 2024. Can you quantify that? I know you laid out that 16% to 18% adjusted EBITDA margin post-freezer in the middle of last year. But is that a number that's reasonable for us to think about for the second half of the year, or should it be lighter than that?

嘿，下午好，夥計們。感謝您提出問題。Troy，在指導中，您提到了 2024 年調整後的正 EBITDA。你能量化一下嗎？我知道去年年中你們曾計劃將凍結後的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率調整為 16% 至 18%。但這個數字對我們下半年來說是否合理，還是應該比這個數字更輕？

Yeah, Thomas, that's a good way to think about it, right? When you keep in mind the media levels of revenue in the first half versus second half, our guidance of what we're saying, we're still comfortable with those pro forma numbers that we put out once the media revenue grows in the second half.

是的，托馬斯，這是一個很好的思考方式，對吧？當您記住上半年與下半年的媒體收入水平以及我們對我們所說內容的指導時，我們仍然對下半年媒體收入增長後發布的預期數字感到滿意。

I would add, Thomas, that once the freezers are divested, we will be in a position to speak to gross margin and adjusted EBITDA ranges for the balance of the year. We're constrained by certain GAAP requirements in doing that right now. But as soon as those things are gone, we will address that.

湯瑪斯，我想補充一點，一旦冰櫃被剝離，我們將能夠討論今年剩餘時間的毛利率和調整後的 EBITDA 範圍。我們目前這樣做受到某些公認會計準則要求的限制。但一旦這些事情消失，我們就會解決這個問題。

Got it. And then given that Garrie's been in post for a little while now, could you just describe a little bit about some of the initiatives he's had ongoing to kind of up your revenue game?

知道了。鑑於加里已經任職一段時間了，您能否簡單描述一下他為提高您的收入而採取的一些舉措？

Sure. Sure. I think the reality is around media revenue, that the opportunity to drive revenue with existing customers is very limited as it relates to media revenue because they're going to use what they're going to use. So the opportunity on the media revenue is to understand where we are not, which when you look at a 70% market share on commercially-sponsored clinical trials, as I mentioned, there's someplace to go there, and we are going there to understand what if anything they're using, do they even have a cryopreservation interval at this time, or are they using fresh product? So there's an exploratory phase going on there.

當然。當然。我認為現實是媒體收入，與現有客戶一起增加收入的機會非常有限，因為這與媒體收入有關，因為他們將使用他們將要使用的東西。因此，媒體收入的機會是了解我們還沒有做到什麼，當你看到商業資助的臨床試驗的 70% 市場份額時，正如我提到的，有地方可以去那裡，我們要去那裡了解什麼如果他們正在使用任何東西，他們此時是否有冷凍保存間隔，或者他們是否使用新鮮產品？所以那裡正在進行一個探索階段。

I think where we do have the opportunity to actually move the needle from a revenue perspective is the cross-selling of the tools that we acquired from the Sexton acquisition and layering those into the market position that we have on the media side. So there is definitely that going on where there's a handful of scientifically-oriented salesmen taking those products and starting to set up meetings with those media customers to show them, basically introduce them to the Sexton product line, whether it's HPL, whether it's the CellSeal Vial line.

我認為，從收入角度來看，我們確實有機會真正取得進展，那就是交叉銷售我們從塞克斯頓收購中獲得的工具，並將這些工具納入我們在媒體方面的市場地位。因此，肯定會出現這樣的情況，少數以科學為導向的銷售人員會拿著這些產品，並開始與這些媒體客戶舉行會議向他們展示，基本上向他們介紹 Sexton 產品線，無論是 HPL，還是 CellSeal小瓶線。

And I think we're starting to get some traction just based on some meetings that I'm seeing on the calendar, et cetera, with some of our larger customers. So that's an opportunity for growth here as we go through the year.

我認為，僅僅基於我在日曆上看到的一些與我們的一些大客戶的會議等，我們就開始獲得一些吸引力。因此，這是我們這一年的成長機會。

And then one quick final one, if I might. Would you be willing to comment on across the size, say facilities, what level of capacity you're currently at?

如果可以的話，然後是最後一篇。您願意對規模、設施、目前的容量水準發表評論嗎？

Yeah. I'd say if you blended it, we're probably in the 75% or 80% kind of range.

是的。我想說，如果你將其混合，我們可能會處於 75% 或 80% 的範圍內。

Got it. I appreciate you taking the questions. Thank you.

知道了。感謝您提出問題。謝謝。

You bet, Thomas.

你敢打賭，湯瑪斯。

Matt Hewitt, Craig-Hallum.

馬特·休伊特，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Hi, guys, this is Jack on for Matt. So you recently received two approvals in Q4 and received two more so far this year. How should we think about the ramp of utilization of the biopreservation media? Do customers have inventory on hand in anticipation of a launch? Or do they typically wait for the launch to commence and then take on additional product?

大家好，我是馬特的傑克。因此，您最近在第四季度獲得了兩項批准，今年迄今又收到了兩項批准。我們該如何看待生物保存介質的利用率？客戶手頭上是否有庫存以應對產品發布？或者他們通常會等待發布開始然後再購買其他產品？

I think they definitely buy in advance of the approval. I think we saw that just using Iovance as an example, where I mentioned earlier that their '23 purchases were up above '22, not just around the clinical trials, but in anticipation of an approval, we believe. We think that what we see from them projection-wise for '24 is more reflective of what they think the patient dosing numbers are going to be.

我認為他們肯定會在批准之前購買。我認為我們僅以 Iovance 為例，我之前提到他們的 23 購買量高於 22，我們相信這不僅是圍繞臨床試驗，而且是為了預期獲得批准。我們認為，我們從他們看到的 24 年預測更能反映他們認為的患者劑量數字。

It's interesting that when we look at the dosing volume product used per patient, let's say, for sure this particular application, this therapy uses the most of anything we have. But they don't give us projections. They've again, specifically not provided the investment community with any projections about numbers of patients dosed. But I would say that they keep a safety stock on hand, generally speaking, of between three and six months on the outside. And I think what we saw late last year was a movement from six months to more like a three-month safety stock.

有趣的是，當我們查看每個患者使用的劑量產品時，可以說，對於這個特定的應用，這種療法使用了我們擁有的最多的產品。但他們沒有給我們預測。他們再次明確地沒有向投資界提供任何有關服藥患者人數的預測。但我想說的是，一般來說，他們手上有三到六個月的安全庫存。我認為我們去年年底看到的是從六個月到更像三個月的安全庫存的變化。

Understood. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

You bet.

你打賭。

(Operator Instructions) Michael Rabinowitz, Maxim Group.

（操作員說明）Michael Rabinowitz，Maxim Group。

Hey, guys. Thank you for taking my questions today. So I guess one of the things that I do want to ask is as you get towards the removal of the freezer business and returning to EBITDA positive on a full-year basis and with a decent cash pile, do you start the process of looking into additional product lines that you could bring in? Or do you look more towards letting things settle and waiting for better clarity on the direction of the market environment?

大家好。感謝您今天回答我的問題。因此，我想我確實想問的一件事是，當您準備取消冰箱業務並在全年基礎上恢復正值 EBITDA 並擁有可觀的現金儲備時，您是否開始調查您可以引進其他產品線嗎？還是您更傾向於讓事情塵埃落定，等待市場環境的方向更加明晰？

I think we start by looking at the product lines that we have right now, both in terms of products and services, understand the investment required to drive those products forward. Clearly, there are certain external opportunities that we would take a look at, but we're going to be very selective.

我認為我們首先要看看我們現在擁有的產品線，無論是在產品還是服務方面，了解推動這些產品向前發展所需的投資。顯然，我們會考慮某些外在機會，但我們會非常有選擇性。

And just to be general about it, I would say we're early to be looking at those things, and unless something very special comes across our desk, that's probably from looking outside standpoint, something we would do more in 2025 versus this year. We have a lot of work to do this year, both in understanding how to drive adoption of the current product line as well as implement systems so that the business runs more smoothly.

籠統地說，我想說我們很早就開始關注這些事情了，除非我們的辦公桌上出現了一些非常特別的東西，否則從外部角度來看，這可能是我們在2025 年比今年做得更多的事情。今年我們有很多工作要做，既要了解如何推動目前產品線的採用，也要實施系統以使業務運作更順暢。

All right. Thank you for that. And then just one more. You did touch on this a little bit on one of the prior questions, but I'd like to see if you could provide a bit more color on what the impact of the freezer business looked like on adjusted EBITDA this past quarter?

好的。謝謝你。然後還有一個。您確實在之前的一個問題上談到了這一點，但我想看看您是否可以提供更多關於冰箱業務對上個季度調整後 EBITDA 的影響的資訊？

Yeah. unfortunately, we're a one-segment reporting company, so we don't provide that information. But as Rod mentioned, we do look forward to providing further clarity once the divestiture process is complete.

是的。不幸的是，我們是一家單一部門報告公司，因此我們不提供該資訊。但正如羅德所提到的，我們確實期待在剝離過程完成後提供進一步的澄清。

Fair enough. Thank you for taking my questions.

很公平。感謝您回答我的問題。

You bet.

你打賭。

Paul Knight, KeyBanc.

保羅奈特，KeyBanc。

Hey, Rod. I got to give a shout out to the services group. And the 26% growth rate ex-COVID, how is this happening and why can't this go on for a long time?

嘿，羅德。我必須向服務團隊大聲喊叫。疫情爆發前 26% 的成長率，這是怎麼發生的，為什麼不能長期持續下去？

Yeah, I think some of it, Paul, has to do with expansion from one of our very large customers and some business that they had and that we were able to get. Not to diminish the other activity that Garrie and his team did, but that was a bit of a one-off that I would say accounts for probably half of that growth. It's one of our larger customers on the storage side. We have an excellent relationship with them and are kind of their go-to when it comes to expanded storage needs.

是的，保羅，我認為其中一些與我們的一個非常大的客戶的擴張以及他們擁有的、我們能夠獲得的一些業務有關。並不是要削弱加里和他的團隊所做的其他活動，但這有點一次性，我想說它可能佔了增長的一半。它是我們在儲存方面的較大客戶之一。我們與他們有著良好的關係，當涉及到擴展的儲存需求時，我們是他們的首選。

Okay. Thanks.

好的。謝謝。

You bet.

你打賭。

Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to the management team for any closing remarks.

謝謝。女士們、先生們，問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給管理團隊進行總結發言。

Thank you, Rocco. So in closing, I'd like to say that despite the relatively cautious outlook for 2024 that we're providing at this stage, we do strongly believe that the fundamental thesis remains intact and that the company is very well positioned to take advantage of the underlying growth drivers of what is still a very nascent CGT market to drive revenue and profitability, not only this year, but in years to come. We believe our biopreservation media is the industry standard and intend to leverage that market position to drive adoption of the other tools and services in our portfolio.

謝謝你，羅科。因此，最後，我想說，儘管我們現階段對 2024 年的展望相對謹慎，但我們堅信基本論點仍然完好無損，並且公司處於非常有利的位置，可以利用資本利得稅(CGT) 市場仍處於起步階段，其潛在的成長動力不僅會在今年而且在未來幾年推動收入和獲利能力。我們相信我們的生物保存介質是行業標準，並打算利用這一市場地位來推動我們產品組合中其他工具和服務的採用。

Thank you for your time today, and we look forward to updating you on our future calls and meeting with some of you at the Cowen Conference in Boston next week.

感謝您今天抽出寶貴的時間，我們期待向您通報我們未來電話會議的最新情況，以及下週在波士頓舉行的考恩會議上與你們中的一些人會面的情況。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. We thank you all for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝大家參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路並度過美好的一天。