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Operator
Good morning and welcome to the Enzo Biochem, Inc. first-quarter 2009 operating results conference call. Except for historical information, the matters discussed on this conference call may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended.
Such statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect results. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this conference call.
Our speaker for today is Barry Weiner, President. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and the floor will be open for questions and comments following the presentation. I would now like to turn the floor over to your host. Mr. Weiner, the floor is yours.
Barry Weiner - President
Thank you. Thank you for joining us this morning for our fiscal 2009 first-quarter conference call. I'm joined today by members of our senior management team, including Dr. Carl Balezentis, who is President of our Life Sciences unit; Dr. Christine Fischette, who is the President of our Therapeutics unit; Mr. Drew Crescenzo, who is our Senior Vice President of Finance; and Mr. David Goldberg, who is our business development head.
Our results were released last evening, and I trust most of you have had a chance to review them. Please note that the press release containing this information will be posted on our website in the investor relations section. Let me say a few words about the market in general before I delve into a discussion of our results.
As you no doubt know, in the difficult times we now face, prudent cash utilization and capital preservation are of utmost importance in managing a business in our field. Capital markets are virtually at a standstill, and the volatility in the equity markets is truly unprecedented.
If the prevailing economic conditions remain as they are, it has been predicted by industry experts that many biotech companies will run out of capital over the next 12 months. Even the largest and most profitable companies are finding it difficult to access the capital markets today. In this context, having a strong, highly liquid balance sheet is absolutely key; and we are pleased to be very much in that position.
Enzo has since its inception managed its expenditures conservatively. We have been measured in our R&D expending, and our capital expenditures, and we have always run the Company in a fiscally responsible manner. As a result, Enzo currently has approximately $77 million in cash and equivalents and short-term investments and is debt-free.
In addition, helped by the opportunistic acquisitions of Axxora and Biomol, Enzo Life Sciences registered top-line growth for the quarter. These acquisitions have broadened our product lines and geographic footprint, which we believe will reduce our risk in a downturn that any particular area will severely impact our business.
Our first-quarter Life Science results reflect this. We believe that we are well positioned to grow Enzo Life Sciences organically and that we will continue to pursue accretive acquisitions very selectively. Over the coming months, we feel that there will be many attractive opportunities.
Today, Enzo is well positioned to execute on its strategic growth plan. The financial environment is contributing to more companies seeking partnerships, acquisitions, joint venture, as well as other business relationships. While it is difficult to predict the direction of the economy, Company management will continue to run Enzo in a very financially prudent manner.
Enzo Clinical Labs posted lower operating results this quarter. These were largely related to a disruption in our billing and collection activities as a result of a changeover to a new billing system. Business was essentially steady, with our specimen count for the period roughly the same as a year ago. Our investment in this new system was designed to enable Enzo Labs to better manage the billing and collection process, as well as increase our operational metrics to improve the overall efficiencies of the entity as we seek to expand this business.
Overall, Enzo Biochem revenue rose by 8% to a first-quarter record of $21.9 million despite the results of Enzo Clinical Labs. Impacting our results were increases in research and development expenditures and a substantial decrease in interest income. Additionally, due to our acquisitions, we continue to be adversely impacted by purchase accounting rules.
While the net loss was in excess of $6 million, incremental non-cash charges relating to bad debts, (inaudible) depreciation and amortization, and a loss on foreign exchange on an intercompany loan were $1.6 million higher than the prior-year period, as were the expenses previously discussed that were related to Enzo Clinical Labs.
It's important to note that cash used in operations for the quarter was less than $1.5 million, as compared to cash used in operations of $1.2 million in the year-ago period. Moreover, approximately half of the cash used in the 2009 first quarter was for expansion of facilities and the purchase of a new billing and accounts receivable system.
Enzo Therapeutics has completed the current Phase IIb double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial for Alequel. This is the Company's innovative immune regulation medicine for the treatment of Crohn's disease. We are presently reviewing the data to determine the next course of action. In addition, we are proceeding with an IND submission for Optiquel.
In short, when many other companies are facing unprecedented challenges and liquidity issues, Enzo is continuing to execute on its strategic growth plan. I would like to turn this over to Drew, who will give you the details of the operating results.
Drew Crescenzo - SVP Finance
Thank you, Barry, and good morning. I will be discussing our financial position and then our operating results for the fiscal 2009 first quarter. As Barry indicated, our financial position is strong, especially in light of the current economic market, where capital raising and bank finances is very difficult.
Currently, we have approximately $77 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, down a modest $1.7 million from July 31. Our cash used included capital expenditures alone of $800,000. We continued to be prudent with our cash investments in light of the ongoing instability in the market.
Nevertheless, as a result of the changes in the yields, our interest income has declined sharply over the prior period. Again, we invest in money market accounts and US government-backed instruments for a risk-free portfolio.
Underscoring our financial position, we have working capital of nearly $87 million and our stockholders equity is over $130 million. Enzo remains debt-free.
Turning to our operating results, total operating revenues for the 2008 period increased 8% to $21.1 million from $19.4 million in the corresponding year-ago period. We experienced higher expenses resulting from the phaseout of the Enzo Clinical Labs legacy billing system and the implementation during the quarter of a new billing and receivables system, which affected our contractual allowances and therefore revenues and the provision for doubtful accounts.
Also, a foreign exchange loss resulting from a strengthening dollar on intercompany loan, along with sharper, lower interest income, primarily reduced interest rates, resulted in the first-quarter net loss of $6.4 million, equal to $0.17 per share, as compared to last year, where our quarterly loss was $1.2 million or $0.03 per share.
As to more specifics on our operating results, Life Science segment revenue increased to nearly $13 million, more than 50% increase over the first quarter of 2008. These gains are attributed not only to the Biomol acquisition, but gains in our organic growth of both product sales and royalty and licensing income as well.
Clinical Labs' revenue declined by $3.1 million to $8.2 million as a result of several factors that came into play. The most significant factor was the increased contractual adjustments, and therefore reduced revenue of $2.2 million, due to reduced payer reimbursement. This was attributed to reduced billings on our legacy billing system, including the investigation of and rebilling of denials during the period as a result of a realignment of certain personnel to implement the new system.
We anticipate that the new billing and accounts receivables system will enhance our billing and reimbursement process and provide greater metrics to monitor payer activity.
In addition, we also noticed a slowdown in payments which may be attributable to the general economic condition and the continued competitor pricing and shift to lower reimbursement payers.
Notably and most important, our service volume was basically unchanged for the period to the prior year.
Despite the adjustment recorded Enzo Clinical Labs, our consolidated gross profit declined by only $1.4 million to $8.5 million.
At Enzo Life Sciences, gross profits increased $2.3 million over the prior period to $6.1 million. This figure also includes a pretax fair value inventory adjustment, which was $500,000 in the current period, arising from the Biomol acquisition. We expect this type adjustment will continue throughout the current fiscal year.
On a consolidated basis during the current quarter, research and development costs are up about $300,000 from a year-ago period, primarily due to the expansion of product development efforts at Enzo Life Sciences attributed to the Biomol acquisition, offset by slight declines at Enzo Therapeutics, a factor of the timing of certain expenses. In addition, interest income was down nearly $1 million due to lower interest rates that we've experienced.
Legal expenses, which fluctuate based on the level of activity, declined $1.2 million in the current period. Our selling and general administrative expenses increased $2.2 million or 29% over the prior-year period, primarily due to increases of $1.3 million at Life Sciences, mostly arising from Biomol.
Lastly, and important to note, we continue to not record the corporate income tax benefit up to the effective statutory rate, which would not be less than 34% on our losses. This affected both the current and prior period results. The ability to recognize this income tax benefit would positively impact our net loss and loss per share.
Let me turn to the Life Science and Clinical Labs segment operating results. For the fiscal first quarter, the Life Sciences operating income was $1.1 million, slightly better than the year-ago period. The 2009 period included a foreign exchange loss of $500,000 on intercompany loan associated with an acquisition. Product revenues increased $4.1 million, primarily attributed to the $2.8 million contribution from the May '08 Biomol acquisition.
Royalty and license fee income $600,000, or 26% over the prior-year period. Gross profits have improved $2.3 million and the 2009 period and the 2008 period are both negatively impacted by the pretax inventory fair value adjustment of $500,000 and $600,000, respectively.
Operating expenses, specifically selling, general, and administrative, and R&D, increased $1.6 million, of which $1.2 million was attributed to the Biomol acquisition.
Looking now at the Labs. For the fiscal first quarter, the Clinical Labs reported operating loss of $3.4 million, as compared to an operating income of $1.4 million in the year-ago period as a result of the previously mentioned $2.2 million adjusted for contractual expenses.
We continued to experience higher costs to provide services including reagent and laboratory costs, and higher personnel costs, and increased revenue from lower reimbursement payers, which also affected our gross margins, which declined to $2.4 million from $6.1 million.
Contributing to the net loss was an increase in the non-cash charge to our provision for doubtful accounts of $700,000 over the year-ago period. The increased provision was due to the reduced collection efforts by our billing department on the legacy billing system, that was replaced by a new billing system effective August 1, 2008.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $300,000 or 8% due to increases in personnel and overhead costs. These costs were incurred to continue to build infrastructure for the expected future of the Labs. Barry?
Barry Weiner - President
Thank you, Drew. I would like to turn the call over to Carl Balezentis, to give us an update on the Life Sciences activity.
Carl Balezentis - President Enzo Life Sciences
Good morning. I would like to update you on some of the strategic initiatives which we have reported on previously and which we further believe will serve us well during today's economic uncertainty. It will be difficult in the short time allocated to adequately summarize the level of effort and resource involved in the major initiatives I will describe. Suffice it to say that without the cooperative efforts of many individuals across the organization at our sites in New York, Pennsylvania, San Diego, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, it would not have been possible to realize the outcome we will benefit from as a result.
At Life Sciences, we're approaching the time where transformational events will result in the launch of a unified new corporate identity. The resulting new identity will be both physical and operational in nature. Until this time, most of our integration efforts have focused on internal operational issues such as integrating the management team, the sales force, collaborative research and development, and coordinating finance and accounting events. These activities have established the infrastructure necessary to support ongoing efforts that will occur over the next several months.
Most of the activities to date have been transparent to our customers, as they have continued to order through the channels that they are accustomed to and under the brand names they are most familiar with. February 1 marks the launch date when will unveil our new unified corporate identity to the life sciences community. At this point in time, Enzo Life Sciences becomes a unifying channel company; and Biomol, Alexis and Apotech continue to be promoted, but as Enzo Life Sciences brands and product lines.
The Enzo Life Sciences corporate image launch and coordinated customer communication will coincide with the new website introduction. This coordinated launch will include new corporate imagery applied across the websites, catalogs, stationery, business cards, tradeshow booths, and all other marketing sales and administrative collateral.
A formal coordinated global launch plan has been drafted and is currently being implemented. Elements of the plan include such things as corporate brochures and profile tools describing the new identity; promotion of the new corporate image at congresses and exhibitions; announcement of a new website with coordinated website tools; electronic mailings announcing the global launch; regular and electronic Enzo Life Sciences product advertising campaigns; advertising in major scientific journals; production of a launch card for direct mail and inclusion in all outgoing product shipments; and training courses for both the global sales team and our Enzo Life Sciences distributors.
The coordinated effort responsible for achieving a launch of this magnitude could not be possible without a highly effective management team and supporting infrastructure, much of which was gained through the Alexis and Biomol acquisitions.
As result of the new brand organization, we came to the conclusion that our distribution business of original manufacturer products was often in conflict with our own in-house manufactured product business. To resolve the issue, we have decided to manage the business as a standalone subsidiary operating under the Axxora brand. As of February 1, Axxora.com will become a Life Sciences marketplace for distribution of niche original manufactured products that will remain as an autonomous brand separate from Enzo Life Sciences. Marketing and sales will occur through Axxora entities in the US, Germany, the UK, and Switzerland; and orders will occur directly through Axxora, no longer being integrated with Enzo Life Sciences orders.
From an operational perspective, this has a further advantage in that it allows us to monitor the gross margins of our in-house business compared to a lower margin distribution business.
The Axxora distribution business will continue to operate profitably and contribute to both top-line and bottom-line growth. However, we will now be able to independently monitor the financials of the in-house versus the distributed businesses.
We recognize that in order to be successful in today's economic climate, that we need strong, well-coordinated worldwide sales and marketing as well as an accelerated new product introduction and new product development focus. In regards to sales, we will have direct sales in key global markets through Enzo Life Sciences companies including the US, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the Benelux. We have a strong, unified distributor network in the smaller markets which will be optimized to maximize our sales. Our eCommerce capability will be consolidated with a coordinated combined website as of February 1 capable of driving sales under the Enzo Life Sciences banner through targeted activities.
We have established a global marketing team that coordinates activities, with each of the Centers of Excellence responsible for different product areas. We have a rollout of focused campaigns that will be coordinated with the sales force and distribution network through planned sets of activities.
Turning now to our R&D organization, our global R&D organization has built a collaborative, strategic plan with the goal of developing a market leadership position in key product areas at each of our Centers of Excellence. Each of our Centers has unique sets of capabilities and expertise, which they will focus on to bring products to market.
These products include standard sets of high-quality reagents for each portfolio; specialty products, which includes assays and kits dedicated to specific applications; and proprietary products that offer innovative solutions for the R&D community. Our product offering covers the areas of functional cell analysis, functional proteomics, and functional genomics. As a result, we expect to introduce hundreds of new products to the market each year.
At the American Society of Cell Biology meeting in San Francisco later this month, we are launching a diverse set of cell permeant fluorescent probes that selectively associate with different organelles within the cell for live cell detection applications. These probes offer unique advantages over the commercial alternatives in the live cell analysis market; and we expect to gain recognition for innovative, cutting-edge research tools, especially relating to biomedical discovery and validation.
We are also launching a number of high-value assay kits as a result of mining the raw materials gained through the recent acquisitions of Alexis, Apotech, and Biomol. These kits include detection kits in [high acetic] areas of apoptosis and necrosis, nitric oxide, reactive oxygen, histone deacetylase, and the ubiquitin and proteone pathways.
We believe that many opportunities exist to develop high-value products and product lines from our existing product offerings, and we are formalizing development programs to capitalize on these opportunities. These are just some of the many examples of high-value proprietary products that are resulting from our coordinated R&D efforts that we will continue to launch in the coming months.
These products are expected to become a major component contributing to organic growth within the organization. These efforts have already resulted in the filing of numerous patent applications surrounding the products and their applications.
We will continue to focus on new products by offering unique consumables to our targeted markets, combined reagents into value-added kits, and fill existing product gaps as well as focus on key applications and platforms.
Furthermore, we continue to establish partnerships with other life science companies which allow for the codevelopment of unique and differentiated products. We currently have four such collaborations ongoing, and we expect to continue to build additional relationships, which we feel will contribute significantly to our organic growth.
Finally, we continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities that would fill existing product gaps and broaden our portfolio offering. As we have stated in the past, we will make prudent investments in acquisition targets if and when they become available.
Finally, to assist us in this endeavor, we have brought on a new Chief Operating Officer for the division, Mr. Andrew Whiteley. Andrew comes to us after a long career at Amersham GE Health Sciences, where he held several executive positions. He also has been the CEO of two biotech companies, one of which was subsequently acquired by what is now Life Technologies.
We have charged Andrew with overseeing the commercial operations side of the business, including marketing and sales, distributor agreements, and IT, just to name a few. As we continue to expand both our product offerings and our geographic reach, Andrew has already proven to be a valuable member of our executive team. The results of the past quarter help to bear this out. Barry?
Barry Weiner - President
Thank you, Carl. As you can see, Enzo Life Sciences has now developed the infrastructure not only to integrate the acquisitions we have made but to build organically as well. Our catalog of reagents and kits for the academic and Parma markets now exceeds 33,000 offerings covering numerous life science research applications.
As you can see by the increases in our research and development expense, we have been investing prudently into areas where we believe our intellectual property portfolio and technological expertise can allow us market access in novel, high-growth niche areas which we feel may be growing faster than others.
The last point brings me to a discussion of Enzo Clinical Labs. The current environment in the financial markets, as well as the advances in the development of molecular diagnostics, has also provided Enzo with another opportunity for growth. There are a number of companies that have invested heavily in the development of unique diagnostic assays that may have relevance in such areas as predicting the re-occurrence of a specific type of cancer or how a given patient will react to a specific pharmaceutical regimen.
Our CLIA-certified New York State licensed laboratory has allowed us to emerge as an ideal partner to help commercialize and exploit these exciting cutting-edge technologies. Moreover, the investments we have made at our Life Sciences division and the wide-ranging expertise of our scientific staff may enable us in working with these companies on assay design and validation, and in conjunction with our comprehensive intellectual property estate could provide us with the freedom to operate that some of these entities may not have on their own.
This convergence of technology advances and the current turmoil in the financial markets has now positioned Enzo Clinical Labs as one of the ideal partners of choice for a number of these entities looking to enhance their market presence. Along with a number of potential partnerships and alliances that are now emerging, we are also in the process of investing in both infrastructure and content at Enzo Labs. While the implementation of a new billing and collection system clearly affected our results this quarter, you should appreciate the fact that this investment has positioned us for the future growth we are striving for at this division. As we increase the sophistication of our test offerings, we have also increased the complexity of our departments' responsibility for billing and collections. Esoteric tests often have complicated billing requirements such as matching up multiple procedure codes to one lab assay; and therefore it is prudent to move to the most advanced system possible.
Besides the investment in the new system, we also recruited and hired a new executive who will have financial and billing responsibility exclusively for Enzo Labs, to assure that the implementation proceeds smoothly and properly. We have already seen evidence that this new system has enhanced our collection process going forward; and this gives us confidence that our investment will pay off.
We have succeeded in repositioning and growing Enzo Life Sciences, and we believe we can achieve the same success at Enzo Clinical Labs.
I would like to briefly turn over the call to Dr. Christine Fischette, who will provide you with the update on the activities of Enzo Therapeutics.
Christine Fischette - President Enzo Therapeutics
Good morning. We will now update you on our progress in the last few weeks since our last conference call, and there has been some progress.
As you may remember, Optiquel, our candidate for the treatment of autoimmune uveitis, already completed a Phase I open, uncontrolled trial in Europe. Our goal was to complete all of the preclinical pharmacokinetic, toxicologic, and manufacturing studies required by the FDA and to file an IND with the FDA in order to initiate a clinical study in the US.
We are well on our way towards accomplishing that goal. All FDA required toxicology studies have been completed satisfactorily, and all reports are in final form. A preclinical pharmacokinetic study to determine the extent of the absorption is now 100% completed with the expected results.
With regard to drug manufacturing, we had some hurdles to overcome and I am happy to report that we have solved all previous issues. We have successfully completed the analytical portion of these studies, and we now have a method of manufacture suitable for FDA scrutiny.
We have executed a supply agreement with a contract research organization; and they are in the process of manufacturing clinical supplies as we speak. Once the supplies have been generated, along with the appropriate quality testing required by FDA, we will incorporate that information into our IND and file it with the FDA. FDA has a mandatory 30-day review period after which we are free to begin clinical testing.
At present, all sections of the IND had been completed to date with the information we have at hand, with the exception of the quality testing for manufactured supplies which I just referred to, and some documents necessary to be filed by the clinical investigator. So in general, we are in a go-forward mode on this project.
Alequel, our autologous individualized therapy for Crohn's disease, was being examined in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Again, I am happy to report that the study has been completed and the data is under analysis.
With regard to our preclinical program, we are continuing the exciting preclinical work involving the Wnt signaling pathway and its co-receptors, an area of research which is presently at the forefront of discovery at a number of major pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The Wnt pathway, as you remember, describes the complex network of proteins most well-known for their role in embryogenesis and cancer, but is also very involved in normal physiological processes in human adults.
We are very excited about the new work that is being generated in laboratories in metabolic diseases. But first let me remind you about Enzo's proprietary technology. We have identified key targets on macromolecular structures that we believe are promising areas of exploration. Our scientists have identified active sites on those macromolecules via proprietary, virtual, computational screening methodologies.
Through an iterative process, we have identified small molecules that interact directly with those sites.
Enzo scientists have synthesized new chemical entities and tested these novel, low molecular weight compounds. We have screened them in biochemical and cell-based tests and have selected viable candidates to test in standard preclinical pharmacological models that are well accepted in the industry.
Based on this work, we have found a number of proprietary compounds that are active in these standard animal models of diseases; and these models are in high-profile areas such as bone pathology, osteonecrosis of the jaw, diabetes, and others.
Enzo Therapeutics is currently expanding its efforts in these programs and will further explore their therapeutic potential in more complex animal modeling systems and in a variety of animal models for other therapeutic areas as well. We will continue to advance these drug candidates to identify their specific mode of action, to complete testing for safety, pharmacokinetics, absorption, drug ability, and other pertinent parameters.
Our goal here is to produce proprietary compounds in high-profile areas that can be advanced into the clinic either by us directly or by a potential licensee. To that end, we are in dialog with a number of companies for turning our technology to new compounds and the new data that we have generated. We are highly encouraged with the results we have so far.
As we have said in the past, we are very pleased about this exciting line of research, and we see this platform technology as a pipeline generator, a solid foundation for continued growth of Enzo Therapeutics.
Summarizing our therapeutics plan, we will develop our drug candidates with a view to outlicensing, partnering, or commercializing specialized niche products in the US, pending data that confirm efficacy, safety, and -- especially in the current environment -- cost benefits. Barry?
Barry Weiner - President
Thank you very much, Chris. Let me conclude with a few general comments before turning the call back to our operator for questions and answers.
Overall, these are challenging times for many companies. We are fortunate to have the financial capabilities to take advantage of the unique opportunities as they may appear in the market. We continue to look at the value proposition of our Company and explore approaches for value optimization which present themselves due to the integrated structure of our three operating units.
Currently, we have revenue-generating businesses with strong growth potential; a robust intellectual property package; and a technology state which is quite exemplary.
We have over $76 million, close to $77 million of cash and equivalents and short-term investments; and we have the flexibility to pursue alternative business structures to strengthen our focus and our core operations.
I would like at this point to turn our call over for questions and answers. Thank you.
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Jack Lasday.
Jack Lasday - Analyst
Calling from Citi Family Office. Barry, I've got three quick questions for you. First one is, is it true that the plaintiffs -- well, at the Applera case, they won a summary judgment against Enzo? Then does that then mean that it is a dead issue at this point?
Barry Weiner - President
No, it is not a dead issue at all. This involves a number of procedural issues, and the appeal is going forward.
Jack Lasday - Analyst
Okay, thank you. On the last call you said that you intended to file an IND for Alequel. This call you mentioned the IND for Optiquel but did not mention it for Alequel. Is that an omission or a change in philosophy?
Christine Fischette - President Enzo Therapeutics
No, what we said at the last call was that we were waiting for our double-blind placebo-controlled study to end; and if the results were positive, we would then proceed towards an IND for Alequel. So there may have become then some --
Jack Lasday - Analyst
Still on that same track, Chris?
Christine Fischette - President Enzo Therapeutics
Sorry?
Jack Lasday - Analyst
Still on that same track?
Christine Fischette - President Enzo Therapeutics
Yes, still on that same track. The study has been completed, and the data is under analysis.
Jack Lasday - Analyst
When do you expect that we will hear something on the data?
Christine Fischette - President Enzo Therapeutics
Probably by certainly early in the year.
Jack Lasday - Analyst
Okay, my last question is on the Q2 call from fiscal '08; you had indicated that there were no impediments to bringing Inchworm to the market and you were in discussions related to that very issue. Can you give us an update on the status of the Inchworm? Also can you tell us the level of importance of this product to Enzo?
Barry Weiner - President
That is one of many products. It is a product which we have been looking at to integrate for research purposes in the Life Sciences unit. But it is also a product which has diagnostic applications and implications that are co-related to many of the intellectual property components that are involved in some of our litigations.
As a result, it is an interesting and important technology. My suspicion and my belief is that it will be integrated in ultimate resolutions with our intellectual property issues on hand. Also, it is being applied in some of the molecular diagnostic applications that we are now very actively exploring at the Clinical Laboratory as we morph the Clinical Lab into a Center of Excellence for molecular diagnostics.
Jack Lasday - Analyst
So is there any timetable on when this might become commercially productive?
Barry Weiner - President
We are working on that as we speak.
Jack Lasday - Analyst
Thank you so much.
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Sir, there appear to be no further questions at this time.
Barry Weiner - President
Thank you very much. We look forward to having our next discussion with you. Our annual meeting is the third week of January. We hope you will be able to join us.
We look forward to reporting to you. There are a lot of very exciting initiatives in place, and we are very excited about where we are progressing in each of our operating divisions. We hope to have further information for you at the annual meeting. Thank you.
Operator
A replay of the broadcast will be available until Thursday, December 25, 12 midnight. You may access this replay by dialing 1-800-642-1687. The PIN number is 77230186. This reply is also available over the Internet at www.investorcalendar.com.
This concludes today's teleconference. You may now disconnect your lines at this time and have a wonderful day.