iSpecimen Inc (ISPC) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the iSpecimen second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator instructions) Management's remarks on this conference call is being recorded. A replay of today's call will be available on the Investor Relations section of iSpecimen's website and will remain posted for the next 30 days.

大家早安，歡迎參加 iSpecimen 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）管理階層在本次電話會議上的發言正在錄音中。今天電話會議的重播將在 iSpecimen 網站的投資者關係部分提供，並將在未來 30 天內持續發布。

I will now hand the call over to Phil Carlson, Investor Relations for the introduction and the reading of the Safe Harbor statements. Please go ahead.

我現在將把電話轉給投資者關係部的菲爾卡爾森 (Phil Carlson)，以介紹和宣讀安全港聲明。請繼續。

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to iSpecimen's second-quarter 2024 conference call. With us on today's call is Tracy Curley, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer; and Leslie Hoyt, Senior Vice President of Operations.

謝謝你，接線生。大家早安，歡迎參加 iSpecimen 2024 年第二季電話會議。與我們一起參加今天電話會議的是執行長兼財務長 Tracy Curley；萊斯利‧霍伊特 (Leslie Hoyt)，營運資深副總裁。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that today's call contains certain forward-looking statements from our management made within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended in Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, concerning future events.

在開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的電話會議包含我們管理層根據 1933 年證券法第 27A 條（經 1934 年證券交易法第 21E 條修訂）的含義做出的某些前瞻性聲明，經修訂，涉及未來事件。

The words such as may, should, projects, expects, intends, plans, believes, anticipates, hopes, estimates, and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31 2023, filed with the SEC.

諸如“可能”、“應該”、“預計”、“預期”、“打算”、“計劃”、“相信”、“預期”、“希望”、“估計”等詞語以及這些詞語的變體和類似表達旨在識別前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受到許多條件的約束，其中許多條件超出了公司的控制範圍，包括公司向 SEC 提交的截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的年度 10-K 表格的風險因素部分中列出的條件。

Copies of this document are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this call, except as required by law.

該文件的副本可在 SEC 網站 www.sec.gov 上取得。實際結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。除非法律要求，否則本公司沒有義務在本次電話會議之後更新這些聲明的修訂或更改。

Now it is my pleasure to introduce Tracy Curley, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Tracy, please go ahead.

現在我很高興向大家介紹執行長兼財務長 Tracy Curley。特蕾西，請繼續。

Thank you, Phil. Good morning, and thank you all for joining today's call. I'm pleased to report that the second quarter of 2024 results exceeded our internal target with many of the initiatives we implemented over the last few quarters starting to produce tangible results, including the Next Day Quote program that was rolled out in the third quarter of 2023.

謝謝你，菲爾。早安，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我很高興地報告，2024 年第二季的業績超出了我們的內部目標，我們在過去幾季實施的許多舉措開始產生切實的成果，包括 2024 年第三季推出的隔日報價計劃。年。

With me today is our Senior Vice President of Operations, Leslie Hoyt, who will provide additional details about the operational programs we have implemented and the impact they have had on iSpecimen. Finally, I will review our financial results for the three and six months ended June 30 2024, and then open the call for questions.

今天和我在一起的是我們的營運高級副總裁 Leslie Hoyt，他將提供有關我們已實施的營運計劃及其對 iSpecimen 的影響的更多詳細資訊。最後，我將回顧我們截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的三個月和六個月的財務業績，然後開始提問。

As we noted during our first quarter 2024 earnings conference call, we continued to take a measured and disciplined approach to our business to ensure our long-term financial success by strategically reducing our capital, human resources and operational expenditures and aligning to focus on key market opportunities. We are setting the stage for revenue growth for the rest of 2024 and beyond.

正如我們在2024 年第一季財報電話會議上指出的那樣，我們繼續對我們的業務採取審慎和嚴格的方法，透過策略性地減少資本、人力資源和營運支出並專注於關鍵市場，確保我們的長期財務成功機會。我們正在為 2024 年剩餘時間及以後的收入成長奠定基礎。

For the second quarter of 2024, we generated revenues of approximately $2.9 million as compared to approximately $1.6 million for the same period in the prior year, representing an increase of 76%. As I mentioned earlier, these results exceeded our internal projections as we continue to improve operationally while simultaneously providing our customers with a streamlined specimen procurement solution.

2024 年第二季度，我們的營收約為 290 萬美元，而去年同期約為 160 萬美元，成長了 76%。正如我之前提到的，這些結果超出了我們的內部預測，因為我們不斷改進運營，同時為客戶提供簡化的樣本採購解決方案。

We also continue to strategically reduce our spending in various operational areas as we focus on our core capabilities. These efforts allowed us to continue to reduce our cash burn from approximately $7.1 million in the first half of 2023 to $2.9 million for the first half of 2024, resulting in a reduced burn rate for the first half of 2024 of 59% compared to the same period in the prior year. Our results in the first half of 2024 clearly demonstrate our operational initiatives are taking hold, and we expect to see continued success as we move into the second half of 2024.

我們也持續策略性地減少各個營運領域的支出，專注於我們的核心能力。這些努力使我們能夠繼續將現金消耗從 2023 年上半年的約 710 萬美元減少到 2024 年上半年的 290 萬美元，從而使 2024 年上半年的現金消耗率比去年同期減少 59%上一年期間。我們 2024 年上半年的業績清楚地表明我們的營運舉措正在取得成效，我們預計在進入 2024 年下半年時將繼續取得成功。

In our ongoing effort to strengthen our leadership team and optimize our sales structure, we welcomed Breielan Smiechowski, our new Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development to iSpecimen during the quarter. Brielan brings over 15 years of experience in life sciences and health care. She will be leading iSpecimen's business development and sales efforts going forward, helping scientists and their organizations procured the biospecimens necessary to advance their research and technologies.

在我們不斷努力加強領導團隊和優化銷售結構的過程中，我們在本季度迎來了新任銷售和業務開發高級副總裁 Breielan Smiechowski 加入 iSpecimen。 Brielan 在生命科學和醫療保健領域擁有超過 15 年的經驗。她將領導 iSpecimen 的業務開發和銷售工作，幫助科學家及其組織採購推進其研究和技術所需的生物樣本。

As I mentioned earlier, Leslie Hoyt, our Senior Vice President of Operations has played an integral role in developing several of our operational initiatives like the Next Day Quote Program. She has also led the effort to ensure that we understand more deeply the competencies of our supplier network and engage with those suppliers that offer the strongest capabilities.

正如我之前提到的，我們的營運高級副總裁萊斯利·霍伊特 (Leslie Hoyt) 在製定我們的多項營運計劃（例如隔天報價計劃）方面發揮了不可或缺的作用。她也領導了努力，確保我們更深入了解供應商網路的能力，並與那些能力最強的供應商合作。

This effort has already helped us greatly improve the quality of our supplier network. And the Next Day Quote Program has contributed to increase velocity through our sales funnel and the strong results we have generated.

這項努力已經幫助我們大大提高了供應商網路的品質。次日報價計畫有助於提高我們銷售管道的速度並取得了良好的成果。

I would now like to turn our call over to Leslie to review our operational improvements and what we believe the impact has been price investments. Leslie, please go ahead.

我現在想將我們的電話轉給萊斯利，以審查我們的營運改善以及我們認為價格投資的影響。萊斯利，請繼續。

Thank you, Tracy. Second quarter results show that the actions we have taken to streamline our operations, coupled with the programs we implemented at the end of 2023 are starting to gain traction. As Tracy mentioned, these programs contributed to the company exceeding its internal revenue targets. We remain squarely focused on the quality of our supplier network and the specimens that we provide to the research community.

謝謝你，特雷西。第二季的結果表明，我們為簡化營運而採取的行動，加上我們在 2023 年底實施的計畫正在開始產生影響。正如特雷西所提到的，這些計劃幫助公司超越了內部收入目標。我們仍然專注於供應商網路的品質以及我們向研究界提供的樣本。

With the Next Day Quote Program, we also remain focused on an expedited courting process in order to increase conversions of every points through the sales funnel. I believe that we are better positioned to meet the demands of our buyer specimen customers than we have ever been. As our Next Day Quote Program grows, so to the results. The percentage of total opportunities we are qualifying as Next Day Quotes across all segments, for remnant and biobank specimens as well as prospective collections continues to remain high.

透過隔日報價計劃，我們也持續專注於加快求愛流程，以提高銷售管道中每個點的轉換率。我相信，我們比以往任何時候都更能滿足買家樣品客戶的需求。隨著我們的隔天報價計畫的不斷發展，結果也隨之不斷發展。對於剩餘和生物樣本庫標本以及潛在收藏品，我們在所有細分市場中符合次日報價資格的總機會百分比仍然很高。

Our Next Day Quote Program has allowed us to streamline the process for our customers and our suppliers. For our customers, this means that iSpecimen will often respond to inquiries within the same or next day, outlining the costs, timeline and approach to provide the needed specimens. We are proud to say that 99% of our customers are able to participate in the Next Day Quote Program.

我們的隔日報價計畫使我們能夠簡化客戶和供應商的流程。對於我們的客戶來說，這意味著 iSpecimen 通常會在當天或第二天回覆詢問，概述提供所需樣本的成本、時間表和方法。我們很自豪地說，我們 99% 的客戶都能夠參與隔日報價計畫。

For our suppliers, it means that we can search internal data on supplier capabilities and pricing, reducing time consuming phone calls to suppliers and redundancy. For Q2 2024, 44% of quotes provided to customers were part of the Next Day Quote Program, a steady improvement from 38% of quotes in Q4 of 2023 and 43% in Q1 of this year.

對於我們的供應商來說，這意味著我們可以搜尋有關供應商能力和定價的內部數據，從而減少打電話給供應商的時間和冗餘。 2024 年第二季度，向客戶提供的報價中有 44% 是隔日報價計畫的一部分，比 2023 年第四季的 38% 和今年第一季的 43% 穩步提高。

In the first half of 2024, an incredible 58% of Next Day Quotes were converted to purchase orders, directly contributing to our ability to exceed our internal revenue goals for Q2 2024. Over the coming quarters, we will continue to expand the Next Day Quote Program with information gathered from our suppliers and the ability to search that data, we are planning to provide next day estimates to customers even when we are not able to offer a quote.

2024 年上半年，令人難以置信的是，58% 的隔日報價轉化為採購訂單，直接有助於我們超越2024 年第二季度的內部收入目標。擴大次日報價利用從供應商收集的資訊以及搜尋該資料的能力進行編程，即使我們無法提供報價，我們也計劃為客戶提供第二天的估計。

This process should expedite and enhance conversations between sales and potential customers and lead to more quotes with higher conversion rates. Over the next few quarters, we will provide more information on the expansion of the Next Day Quote Program and the tools that are being built to support it.

此流程應加快並加強銷售人員與潛在客戶之間的對話，並帶來更多報價和更高的轉換率。在接下來的幾個季度中，我們將提供有關次日報價計劃擴展以及為支持該計劃而構建的工具的更多資訊。

I would now like to turn the call over to Tracy to review our financial results. Tracy, please go ahead.

我現在想將電話轉給特雷西，以審查我們的財務表現。特蕾西，請繼續。

Thank you, Leslie. For the three months ended June 30, 2024, revenue was approximately $2.9 million compared to approximately $1.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. The increase in revenues for the second quarter of 2024 was primarily due to an increase of 1,236 specimens or 26% in specimen count from 4,682 specimens in the three months ended June 30, 2023 to 5,918 specimens in the three months ended June 30 2024.

謝謝你，萊斯利。截至2024年6月30日的三個月，收入約為290萬美元，而截至2023年6月30日的三個月約為160萬美元。 1,236個樣本或樣本數從截至2023年6月30日止三個月的4,682個樣本減少到截至2024年6月30日止三個月的5,918個樣本。

The average selling price per specimen also increased by $137 or 39% from $347 in the three months ended June 30 to $484 in the three months ended June 30, 2024. For the six months ended June 30, 2024, revenue was approximately $5.2 million compared to approximately $4.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023.

每個樣本的平均售價也上漲了137 美元，即39%，從截至6 月30 日止三個月的347 美元增至截至2024 年6 月30 日止三個月的484 美元。 6 月30 日止六個月，收入約520 萬美元。

This increase was primarily due to an increase in average selling price per specimen of $119 or 34% from $343 in the six months ended June 30, 2023 to $462 in the six months ended June 30, 2024. The increase in average selling price per specimen was offset by a decrease of 2,152 specimens or 16% in specimen count from 13,311 specimens in the six months ended June 30, 2023 to 11,159 specimens in the six months ended June 30, 2024.

這一增長主要是由於每個樣本的平均售價從截至2023年6月30日止六個月的343美元上漲了119美元，即34%，至截至2024年6月30日止六個月的462美元。個樣本所抵銷。

Cost of revenue increased by approximately $570,000 or 67% to approximately$ 1.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, compared to approximately $854,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2023. The increase in cost of revenue was attributable to a 26% increase in the number of specimens a session for the current period and a 32% increase in the average cost per specimen compared to the same period in the prior year.

截至2024 年6 月30 日止三個月，收入成本增加約57 萬美元或67%，至約140 萬美元，而截至2023 年6 月30 日止三個月約為85.4 萬美元。於26與去年同期相比，本期一次會話的標本數量增加了 %，每個標本的平均成本增加了 32%。

Cost of revenue increased by approximately $423,000 or 21% to approximately $2.4 million for the first six months ended June 30, 2024, compared to approximately $2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023. The increase in cost of revenue was attributable to a 45% increase in the average cost per specimen impacted by the specimen mix, offset by a 16% decrease in the number of specimens accessions compared to the same period in the prior year.

截至2024 年6 月30 日止的前六個月，收入成本增加約423,000 美元或21%，達到約240 萬美元，而截至2023 年6 月30 日止六個月的收入成本約為200 萬美元。

For the second quarter of 2024, we decreased our cash spend for technology to approximately $541,000 from approximately $1.5 million for the same period in the prior year. For the six month period ended June 30, 2024, we decreased our cash spend for technology to approximately $1.2 million and approximately $3.5 million for the same period in the prior year. The decrease in spend for the three and six month periods ending June 30, 2024 compared to the same prior year period is due to reductions in workforce stemming from our decision to invest at a significantly lower level in 2024 when compared to 2023 and prior year.

2024 年第二季度，我們將技術現金支出從去年同期的約 150 萬美元減少至約 541,000 美元。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的六個月期間，我們將技術現金支出減少至約 120 萬美元，去年同期減少至約 350 萬美元。與去年同期相比，截至2024 年6 月30 日的三個月和六個月期間的支出減少，是由於我們決定在2024 年投資水準顯著低於2023 年和上一年，導致勞動力減少。

While we focus on growing our revenues through key market opportunities and assessing our capital raise prospects. For the three month period ended June 30, 2024, cash spend was comprised of approximately $172,000 of capitalized internally developed software and approximately $369,000 of expenses that we were otherwise not able to capitalize and therefore classified as technology expense.

我們專注於透過關鍵市場機會增加收入並評估我們的融資前景。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的三個月期間，現金支出包括約 172,000 美元的資本化內部開發軟體和約 369,000 美元的費用，這些費用我們無法資本化，因此被歸類為技術費用。

The remainder of the technology expense for the three month period ended June 30, 2024, were comprised of approximately $543,000 of non-cash amortization related to internally developed software. Total technology expense for the three-month period ended June 30, 2024 was approximately $912,000 compared to approximately $843,000 for the same period in the prior year.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的三個月期間的剩餘技術費用包括與內部開發軟體相關的約 543,000 美元的非現金攤提。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的三個月期間的總技術費用約為 912,000 美元，而去年同期約為 843,000 美元。

For the six month period ended June 30, 2024, cash spend was comprised of approximately $448,000 of capitalized internally developed software and approximately $748,000 in technology expense that we were otherwise not able to capitalize and therefore classified as technology expense. The remainder of the technology expense for the six month period ended June 30, 2024 was comprised of approximately $1.1 million of noncash amortization related to internally developed software.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的六個月期間，現金支出包括約 448,000 美元的資本化內部開發軟體和約 748,000 美元的技術費用，我們無法資本化這些費用，因此被歸類為技術費用。截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的六個月期間的剩餘技術費用包括與內部開發軟體相關的約 110 萬美元非現金攤提。

Total technology expense for the six month period ended June 30, 2024 was approximately $1.8 million compared to $1.7 million for the same period in the prior year. The sales and marketing expenses increased by approximately $105,000 or 11% from approximately $978,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2023 to approximately $1.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的六個月期間的總技術費用約為 180 萬美元，而去年同期為 170 萬美元。銷售和行銷費用增加約105,000美元或11%，從截至2023年6月30日止三個月的約978,000美元增加至截至2024年6月30日止三個月的約110萬美元。

The increase was primarily attributable to increases in compensation expenses of approximately $123,000, and advertising and promotion expenses of approximately $100,000, partially offset by decreases in external marketing expenses of approximately $96,000 and general operating expenses related to sales and marketing of approximately $22,000.

這一增長主要歸因於薪酬費用增加約 123,000 美元，廣告和促銷費用增加約 100,000 美元，部分被外部營銷費用減少約 96,000 美元以及與銷售和營銷相關的一般運營費用減少約 22,000 美元所抵消。

Sales and marketing expenses decreased by approximately $276,000, 40% from approximately $2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 to approximately $1.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024. The period-over-period decrease was primarily attributable to decreases in external marketing expenses of approximately $191,000.

銷售和行銷費用減少約276,000 美元，從截至2023 年6 月30 日止六個月的約200 萬美元減少至截至2024 年6 月30 日止六個月的約170 萬美元。於減少外部行銷費用約為 191,000 美元。

Compensation expenses are approximately $179,000 in general, operating expenses related to sales and marketing of approximately $42,000, partially offset by increases in advertising and promotion expense of approximately $136,000.

整體薪資費用約為 179,000 美元，與銷售和行銷相關的營運費用約為 42,000 美元，部分被廣告和促銷費用增加約 136,000 美元所抵消。

General and administrative expenses decreased by approximately $703,000 or 40% from approximately $1.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 to approximately $1.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The period-over-period decrease was attributable to decreases in compensation costs of approximately $183,000, taxes insurance of approximately $176,000, professional fees of approximately $165,000, bad debt expense of approximately $102,000, general and operating expenses were approximately $51,000, depreciation and amortization approximately $21,000, and the tailings and facility expenses of approximately $5,000.

一般及行政費用從截至 2023 年 6 月 30 日止三個月的約 180 萬美元減少約 703,000 美元，即 40% 至截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日止三個月的約 110 萬美元。 183,000美元，稅金保險約176,000美元，專業費用約165,000美元，壞帳費用約102,000美元，一般和營運費用約51,000美元，折舊和攤提約21,000美元，尾礦和設施費用約5,000美元。

General and administrative expenses decreased by approximately $311,000 or 9% from the approximately $3.5 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023 to approximately $3.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024.

一般及行政費用從截至2023年6月30日止六個月的約350萬美元減少約311,000美元或9%至截至2024年6月30日止六個月的約320萬美元。

The Period-over-period decrease was attributable to decreases in compensation costs of approximately $348,000, general operating expenses of approximately $105,000, bad debt expense of approximately $57,000, depreciation and amortization of approximately $44,000, maturities and facilities expense of approximately $9,000, which were partially offset by increases in professional fees of approximately $161,000, and taxes insurance of approximately $91,000.

年比下降的原因是補償費用減少了約348,000 美元，一般營運費用減少了約105,000 美元，壞帳費用減少了約57,000 美元，折舊和攤銷減少了約44,000 美元，到期日和設施費用減少了約9,000美元。

As of June 30, 2024, iSpecimen had $2.1 million of cash and available for sale securities, which represented a decrease of approximately $2.9 million from approximately $5 million as of December 31, 2023, and a decrease of approximately $405,000 and approximately $2.6 million as of March 31, 2024. As we mentioned in our last earnings call on March that we entered into an ATM to issue and sell shares of common stock with an aggregate offering price of up to $1.5 million through our shelf registration statement.

截至2024年6月30日，iSpecimen擁有210萬美元現金及可供出售證券，較截至2023年12月31日的約500萬美元減少約290萬美元，較截至2023年12月31日的約260萬美元減少約405,000美元。美元的普通股。

During the six months ended June 30, 2024, we sold 3,980,075 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of approximately $1.5 million under the ATM agreements. We incurred offering costs of approximately $255,000, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $1.2 million. Proceeds were used primarily for the management of our accounts payable.

截至 2024 年 6 月 30 日的六個月內，我們根據 ATM 協議出售了 3,980,075 股普通股，總收益約為 150 萬美元。我們產生了約 255,000 美元的發行成本，淨收益約為 120 萬美元。所得款項主要用於管理我們的應付帳款。

The future success of the company is dependent on its ability to successfully obtaining additional working capital and or to ultimately obtain profitable operations. We are actively working on both. We have initiated aggressive efforts to decrease our operational expenditures by cutting costs and rightsizing the company through reductions in the workforce.

公司未來的成功取決於其成功獲得額外營運資金和/或最終獲得獲利業務的能力。我們正在積極致力於這兩方面的工作。我們已採取積極措施，透過削減成本和裁員來精簡公司規模，以減少營運支出。

Throughout the year ended December 31, 2023 and into the first half of 2024, we have executed reductions in workforce while streamlining operations and rationalizing resources to focus on key market opportunities. The reductions in workforce since January 1, 2023, through the end of June 30, 2024 has resulted in an estimated reduction of compensation costs of approximately 45% in technology costs of approximately 66% by the end of June 30, 2024 when compared to January 1, 2023.

截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的全年至 2024 年上半年，我們實施了裁員，同時精簡營運並合理化資源，以專注於關鍵市場機會。自2023年1月1日起至2024年6月30日止的勞動力削減預計將導致補償成本與2024年6月30日相比減少約45%；與1月份相比，到2024年6月30日技術成本將減少約66% 2023 年 1 月。

In addition, the company plans to add additional customers and suppliers increased revenues, as well as to continue to reduce and manage expenditures to improve its financial position and share continued funding of operations. We are actively seeking to fund operations as we move to a cash positive position for public equity or debt financing as well as other sources.

此外，該公司計劃增加更多客戶和供應商，增加收入，並繼續減少和管理支出，以改善其財務狀況並分享持續的營運資金。隨著我們轉向公共股權或債務融資以及其他來源的現金積極頭寸，我們正在積極尋求營運資金。

This concludes our prepared remarks. Now I'd like to open the call for questions. Operator, please go ahead.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。現在我想開始提問。接線員，請繼續。

Thank you so much, presenters. And Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. (Operator instructions)

非常感謝各位主持人。女士們、先生們，我們現在開始問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Matt Hewitt, Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

馬特·休伊特，克雷格-哈勒姆資本集團。

Good morning, and congratulations on the strong quarter.

早上好，恭喜季度業績強勁。

Thank, Matt.

謝謝，馬特。

Maybe first up, could you describe or talk a little bit about the macro environment, what you're hearing from customers and suppliers, but more so on the customer side of the equation, how are they feeling about their funding? Has there been any shifts in prioritization of projects, anything along those lines?

也許首先，您能否描述或談論宏觀環境，您從客戶和供應商那裡聽到的情況，但更重要的是在客戶方面，他們對資金的感受如何？專案的優先順序是否有任何變化，或類似的情況？

It's still a real tough environment for our researchers right now. So they're being very careful on what they're willing to invest in for research. But they're still out there pursuing projects. Leslie, you're a little bit closer to this than I am operationally. Any insights that you'd like to share with Matt?

目前對於我們的研究人員來說，這仍然是一個非常艱難的環境。因此，他們對於願意投資研究的內容非常謹慎。但他們仍然在那裡追求項目。 Leslie，你比我在操作上更接近這一點。有什麼見解想與 Matt 分享嗎？

I would add two quick things, Matt. I would say that the projects continue, but the demands are high. We're seeing more and more specificity in the requirements.

我想添加兩件事，馬特。我想說這些項目仍在繼續，但要求很高。我們看到需求越來越具體。

And number two is timeliness matters. When they get funding and they're ready to go, they're ready to go, which is why we're really working on the timing of our response in both getting to a quote back to the customer and then also the timeliness of starting our projects once we have a purchase order.

第二是及時性問題。當他們獲得資金並且準備好出發時，他們就準備好了，這就是為什麼我們真正在努力確定我們的回應時間，既要向客戶返回報價，又要及時啟動一旦我們收到採購訂單，我們的項目就會完成。

Got it. Well, that's a great segue into my next question on the Next Day Quotes, 58% converted to purchase orders in the quarter, that's fantastic. Do you have an internal target? Or is there some type of a goal that you've kind of set where you'd like to see? Is it 75%? Or how should we be thinking about that metric?

知道了。嗯，這是我關於次日報價的下一個問題的一個很好的延續，本季 58% 轉化為採購訂單，這太棒了。你有內部目標嗎？還是您設定了某種您希望看到的目標？是75%嗎？或者我們應該如何考慮這個指標？

So we do, but as you know, we don't really give guidance, Matt. I would love for it to be 100%, to be honest. But, so we're not giving guidance on that, but we do have an internal goal that we are tracking towards for that, and it is much higher than the 58%.

所以我們這樣做了，但正如你所知，我們並沒有真正提供指導，馬特。老實說，我希望它是 100%。但是，我們不會就此提供指導，但我們確實有一個正在追蹤的內部目標，而且它遠高於 58%。

Got it. Okay. And then shifting gears a little bit. The focus on the increase in the quality of your suppliers, are those suppliers able to fulfill most, if not all of the requests you had previously been getting from a broader spectrum of suppliers? Like have you found the 200, the 300 that you think can fulfill 99% of any request that you would come across the [Transom]

知道了。好的。然後稍微換檔。重點是提高供應商的質量，這些供應商是否能夠滿足您之前從更廣泛的供應商獲得的大部分（如果不是全部）要求？就像您是否找到了您認為可以滿足您遇到的 [Transom] 任何請求 99% 的 200、300

So I'm going to answer that a little bit, but then I'm going to turn it over to Leslie because she's really, really much closer to this. So we realized last year that we have a lot of suppliers that we really had not been engaging with in a meaningful fashion, and they hadn't been engaging with us either.

所以我要稍微回答一下這個問題，然後我會把它交給萊斯利，因為她真的非常接近這個問題。所以我們去年意識到，我們有很多供應商，我們確實沒有以有意義的方式與之合作，他們也沒有與我們合作。

So we embarked on what we call Supplier Refresh, which we've talked about in prior quarters. And we terminated a lot of contracts with suppliers, first half of this year. We are now down to 105 suppliers from where we were at 240 in 2023.

因此，我們開始了所謂的供應商更新，我們在前幾季已經討論過這一點。今年上半年，我們終止了許多與供應商的合約。 2023 年，我們的供應商數量為 240 家，現在減少到 105 家。

And the reason for this is because as we did our Supplier Refresh and engage with the suppliers to understand quality, pricing, quantity, capabilities, we actually found out that over time, our suppliers capabilities had shifted, and we had not been aware of that.

原因是，當我們進行供應商更新並與供應商接觸以了解品質、定價、數量、能力時，我們實際上發現，隨著時間的推移，我們的供應商能力已經發生了變化，而我們並沒有意識到這一點。

And so we have discovered that we actually have suppliers within our network that could provide us, maybe they were only doing remnant or bank specimens, but they had expanded their capabilities so that now they could provide us more perspective, which was a real eye-opener for us, a real pleasant eye-opener, if you will, for us to find that out. And so those are the suppliers that we want to and have been engaging with more.

所以我們發現，我們的網路中實際上有供應商可以為我們提供服務，也許他們只是做殘餘物或銀行標本，但他們已經擴展了自己的能力，以便現在他們可以為我們提供更多的視角，這是真正的眼睛-如果你願意的話，讓我們大開眼界，讓我們發現這一點。因此，我們希望與這些供應商進行更多合作。

I'll turn it over to Leslie to sort of complete that.

我會把它交給萊斯利來完成。

Yes. I 100% agree, Tracy with the limited or less suppliers that we have now, we actually have more capabilities and mostly because we are aware of the capabilities, having taken the time to survey and have conversations with suppliers to truly understand what they do and what they're capable of doing.

是的。我100% 同意，特雷西，我們現在擁有的供應商有限或更少，我們實際上擁有更多的能力，主要是因為我們了解這些能力，花時間調查並與供應商進行對話，以真正了解他們的工作和他們有能力做什麼。

I would say, we are a larger percentage of their business now, which makes them more responsive to us and hence to our customers. So it's really been an interesting endeavor getting to know these suppliers, which we continue to do more and more and to see how we can have a smaller network with more aligned suppliers that we know more about. So supply has not been an issue to date.

我想說，我們現在在他們的業務中所佔的比例更大，這使得他們對我們以及我們的客戶更加敏感。因此，了解這些供應商確實是一項有趣的努力，我們將繼續做越來越多的事情，並了解如何與我們更了解的更一致的供應商建立更小的網路。因此，到目前為止，供應還不是問題。

Got it. And then maybe a couple of metrics, and I apologize if I missed this, but do you have the number of unique customers during the quarter and the number of registered research and supplier users during the quarter?

知道了。然後可能是幾個指標，如果我錯過了這一點，我很抱歉，但是您是否有該季度的唯一客戶數量以及該季度的註冊研究和供應商用戶數量？

I think I am going to have to get back to you on that. I don't have that at my fingertips.

我想我必須就此事回覆你。我手邊沒有這個。

No problem. All right. Thanks very much and congratulations again on the quarter.

沒問題。好的。非常感謝並再次恭喜本季。

Thank you, Matt, appreciate it.

謝謝你，馬特，很感激。

(Operator instructions) And I show no further questions in the queue. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Ms. Tracy Curley, CEO, for closing remarks.

（操作員說明）我在隊列中沒有顯示任何其他問題。現在，我想將電話轉交給執行長 Tracy Curley 女士，讓其致閉幕詞。

Thank you. I would like to thank everyone again for joining us on today's call and for your continued support. We believe the operational advancements that we've made this quarter and frankly, for the last several quarters will play a significant role in our future growth.

謝謝。我要再次感謝大家參加今天的電話會議並感謝大家的持續支持。我們相信，我們本季以及過去幾季所取得的營運進步將對我們未來的成長發揮重要作用。

We are changing the landscape of our business by more rapidly and effectively connecting biospecimen suppliers with researchers. And we believe that, that is key for our success.

我們正在透過更快速、更有效地將生物樣本供應商與研究人員聯繫起來，改變我們的業務格局。我們相信，這是我們成功的關鍵。

Our Next Day Quote Program has proven successful. And we look forward to updating you with our continued rollout of this program as well as other initiatives that we are currently working on. And with that, thank you, and have a great day.

事實證明，我們的隔日報價計劃非常成功。我們期待向您通報我們繼續推出該計劃以及我們目前正在進行的其他舉措的最新情況。就這樣，謝謝你，祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect. Have a good day.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。祝你有美好的一天。