INVO Fertility Inc (IVF) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the INVO first quarter 2023 financial results conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note today's event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 INVO 2023 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意今天的活動正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Robert Blum with Lytham Partners. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給 Lytham Partners 的 Robert Blum。請繼續。

Thank you so much and good afternoon, everyone. And as Rocco indicated, thank you for joining us for today's INVO first quarter 2023 financial results conference call. Joining us on the call today are INVO's CEO, Steve Shum; the company's Chief Operating Officer and VP of Business Development, Mike Campbell; and Andrea Goren, the company's Chief Financial Officer.

非常感謝大家，大家下午好。正如 Rocco 所言，感謝您參加今天的 INVO 2023 年第一季度財務業績電話會議。今天加入我們電話會議的是 INVO 首席執行官 Steve Shum；公司首席運營官兼業務開發副總裁 Mike Campbell；以及公司首席財務官 Andrea Goren。

At the conclusion of today's prepared remarks, we will open the call for a question-and-answer session.

在今天準備好的發言結束後，我們將開始問答環節。

Before we begin with the event, we submit for the record the following statements. Certain matters discussed on this conference call by the management of INVO Bioscience may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended; Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended; and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在活動開始之前，我們提交以下聲明以供記錄。 INVO Bioscience 管理層在本次電話會議上討論的某些事項可能屬於經修訂的 1933 年《證券法》第 27A 條含義內的前瞻性陳述； 1934 年《證券交易法》第 21E 條（經修訂）；此類前瞻性陳述是根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款做出的。

All statements regarding the company's expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategies, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as anticipate, believe, plan, estimate, expect, intend, may, could, should, will, and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and contingencies, many of which are beyond the company's control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements.

有關公司預期未來財務狀況、經營業績、現金流量、融資計劃、業務戰略、產品和服務、競爭地位、增長機會、未來經營管理計劃和目標的所有聲明，以及包含以下文字的聲明預期、相信、計劃、估計、期望、打算、可能、能夠、應該、將和其他類似的表達方式均為前瞻性陳述。所有前瞻性陳述均涉及風險、不確定性和意外事件，其中許多超出了公司的控制範圍，可能導致實際結果、業績或成就與預期結果、業績或成就存在重大差異。

Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include those set forth in the company's filings at www.sec.gov. The company is under no obligation to and expressly disclaims any such obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果存在重大差異的因素包括公司在 www.sec.gov 上提交的文件中列出的因素。公司沒有義務並明確否認任何此類更新或更改我們的前瞻性陳述的義務，無論是由於新信息、未來事件還是其他原因。

With that said, let me turn the call over to Steve Chum, Chief Executive Officer of INVO. Steve, please proceed.

話雖如此，讓我將電話轉給 INVO 首席執行官 Steve Chum。史蒂夫，請繼續。

Thank you, Robert. And welcome, everyone.

謝謝你，羅伯特。歡迎大家。

As many of you know, we held our year-end call recently, just four weeks ago, where we covered a number of important updates. For this call, we plan to keep our prepared remarks shorter and highlight the specific quarter developments as well as reiterate some of the key items covered in the last call.

正如你們許多人所知，我們最近（就在四個星期前）舉行了年終電話會議，會上我們介紹了一些重要的更新。對於本次電話會議，我們計劃縮短準備好的發言稿，重點介紹具體的季度發展情況，並重申上次電話會議中涵蓋的一些關鍵事項。

In the first quarter, our three existing INVO Centers in Birmingham, Atlanta, and Monterrey all made further progress reaching new levels. On a combined basis, inclusive of both those accounted for as consolidated and under the equity method, the centers generated approximately 647,000 for the first quarter, an increase of 108% from the year ago quarter and an impressive 46% increase sequentially from the most recent fourth quarter. We believe they will continue the positive upward trend over the rest of this year.

一季度，我們現有的伯明翰、亞特蘭大、蒙特雷三個INVO中心都取得了新的進展，達到了新的水平。在合併基礎上，包括合併會計和權益法會計在內，這些中心第一季度的營業額約為 647,000 美元，比去年同期增長 108%，與最近一季度相比增長了 46%，令人印象深刻。第四季度。我們相信，他們將在今年剩餘時間內繼續保持積極的上升趨勢。

Another key point to make is that the three existing clinics are nearing breakeven, and we look forward to each of them generating positive cash flows and profits in the near future.

另一個需要指出的關鍵點是，現有的三個診所已接近盈虧平衡，我們期待每個診所在不久的將來都能產生正的現金流和利潤。

As we mentioned on our recent year-end call, our planned new INVO Center in Tampa is progressing with a target opening slated for mid-summer this year. We are excited about Tampa. We believe we have assembled an excellent team to operate the practice and they are well into the training and planning phases in preparation for the opening. The Tampa market is large and attractive, and we are looking forward to bringing the center operational.

正如我們在最近的年終電話會議中提到的，我們計劃在坦帕新建的 INVO 中心正在取得進展，目標定於今年仲夏開業。我們對坦帕感到興奮。我們相信，我們已經組建了一支優秀的團隊來運營該診所，他們已順利進入培訓和規劃階段，為開業做準備。坦帕市場龐大且有吸引力，我們期待著該中心的投入運營。

We have begun early preparation work for Kansas City and remain very excited about the potential partnering we expect to do for that market and look forward to providing updates on this location in the near future. We have decided to put the previously mentioned Bay Area clinic opportunity on hold for now. Both ourselves and our partner mutually agreed this made sense as we are both focused on other key priorities right now.

我們已經開始了堪薩斯城的早期準備工作，並對我們希望為該市場開展的潛在合作感到非常興奮，並期待在不久的將來提供有關該地點的最新信息。我們決定暫時擱置之前提到的灣區診所機會。我們自己和我們的合作夥伴都一致認為這是有道理的，因為我們現在都專注於其他關鍵優先事項。

For us as many of you know, a key new priority revolves around our acquisition strategy and specifically, our announced agreement to acquire the Wisconsin Fertility Institute. We spent a fair amount of time discussing the transaction and our acquisition approach on our last call, but I do want to mention a few key highlights as a reminder. We believe the acquisition strategy enhances our commercial efforts to build the company and as an activity where we can synergistically introduce INVOcell into existing IVF clinics that we take ownership of. This effort will remain focused on existing, established, and profitable clinics.

對於我們來說，正如你們許多人所知，一個關鍵的新優先事項圍繞著我們的收購戰略，特別是我們宣布的收購威斯康星州生育研究所的協議。在上次電話會議上，我們花了相當多的時間討論交易和我們的收購方法，但我確實想提幾個關鍵要點作為提醒。我們相信，收購戰略增強了我們建立公司的商業努力，並且作為一項活動，我們可以協同地將 INVOcell 引入我們擁有的現有 IVF 診所。這項工作將繼續集中於現有的、已建立的和盈利的診所。

Our first deal, the clinic located in Wisconsin, has an excellent reputation not only in the local community, but nationally as one of the top fertility centers in America. It is well run and profitable. We issued an 8-K regarding the transaction, which provided two years of audited financials, along with the nine-month review for the clinic. And we then reflected those financial on a pro forma basis as if they had been part of INVO's operations during that historical period.

我們的第一筆交易位於威斯康星州的診所，不僅在當地社區，而且在全國范圍內享有盛譽，是美國頂級的生育中心之一。它運行良好且盈利。我們發布了有關該交易的 8-K，其中提供了兩年的經審計財務數據以及診所的九個月審查。然後，我們在預計的基礎上反映了這些財務狀況，就好像它們是該歷史時期 INVO 運營的一部分一樣。

As reflected in those numbers, the clinic produces excellent results with about $5.5 million in trailing revenue and around $1.9 million in net income, a very material addition to our operations on a go-forward basis.

正如這些數字所反映的，該診所取得了出色的業績，過去的收入約為 550 萬美元，淨利潤約為 190 萬美元，這對我們未來的運營來說是一個非常重要的補充。

As we've mentioned previously, our acquisition efforts are strategically significant for several reasons. It provides immediate revenue and positive net income to our overall operations, adding scale and accelerate our pathway to overall profitability. It highlights our efforts to use our public company status as a platform to take a more comprehensive approach within the fertility marketplace.

正如我們之前提到的，出於多種原因，我們的收購工作具有重要的戰略意義。它為我們的整體運營提供了即時收入和正淨利潤，擴大了規模並加快了我們實現整體盈利的步伐。它強調了我們利用上市公司地位作為平台在生育市場上採取更全面方法的努力。

Although we are now becoming through this activity, a broader fertility company in general, acquisitions do still help further one of our key long-standing goals of advancing the INVOcell technology and the IVC treatment method. We will look to integrate our solution into acquired practices and help to drive new additive revenue and profits in addition to the existing conventional IVF business these established clinics are already providing. This provides another pathway to further our efforts to bring added affordable care to the marketplace and help patients in need.

雖然我們現在通過這項活動正在成為一家更廣泛的生育公司，但收購仍然有助於進一步推進我們的關鍵長期目標之一，即推進 INVOcell 技術和 IVC 治療方法。我們將尋求將我們的解決方案整合到收購的實踐中，除了這些老牌診所已經提供的現有傳統 IVF 業務之外，幫助推動新的附加收入和利潤。這為我們進一步努力為市場提供更多負擔得起的護理並幫助有需要的患者提供了另一條途徑。

Again, we are focused on smaller to mid-sized established fertility practices in the marketplace with these acquisition efforts. We do have several discussions ongoing and will focus on pricing deal attractively and structuring them in a win-win manner similar to Wisconsin.

同樣，通過這些收購工作，我們將重點放在市場上已建立的中小型生育診所。我們確實正在進行一些討論，並將重點放在有吸引力的定價交易上，並以類似於威斯康星州的雙贏方式構建交易。

To summarize, our expanded commercial strategy now includes supporting, servicing, and expanding INVOcell across existing IVF clinics, building new dedicated INVO Centers and now selectively acquiring existing IVF practices.

總而言之，我們擴大的商業戰略現在包括在現有的 IVF 診所中支持、服務和擴展 INVOcell，建立新的專用 INVO 中心，以及現在有選擇地收購現有的 IVF 實踐。

As noted on our recent call, we've also made significant progress with our five-day label enhancement efforts. We completed tabulating the additional data related to the follow-up questions from FDA and are submitting those at the end of this week. We believe the data, including the additional tabulations, looks very good and we are very pleased with the outcomes and excited to share those with the market as soon as possible.

正如我們在最近的電話會議中指出的那樣，我們在為期五天的標籤增強工作中也取得了重大進展。我們完成了與 FDA 後續問題相關的額外數據的製表，並將於本週末提交這些數據。我們相信，包括附加表格在內的數據看起來非常好，我們對結果非常滿意，並很高興盡快與市場分享這些結果。

Let me turn this over to Andrea to quickly cover additional financial highlights. Andrea?

讓我將這個問題轉交給 Andrea，以快速介紹更多財務亮點。安德里亞？

Thank you, Steve.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。

Revenue for the quarter totaled approximately $348,000 compared to approximately $163,000 in the prior year period. Approximately 85% of Q1 revenue or $297,000 consisted of consolidated service revenue from our Atlanta INVO Center in comparison to $106,000 in the prior-year period. The remaining 15% of revenue represents product sales of the INVOcell in the IVF clinics. As a reminder, our operating INVO Centers in Birmingham and Monterrey are accounted for using the equity method.

該季度的收入總計約為 348,000 美元，而去年同期的收入約為 163,000 美元。第一季度收入的約 85%（即 297,000 美元）來自亞特蘭大 INVO 中心的綜合服務收入，而去年同期為 106,000 美元。剩下的 15% 收入來自 INVOcell 在 IVF 診所的產品銷售。請注意，我們在伯明翰和蒙特雷運營的 INVO 中心採用權益法進行會計處理。

The revenue from all three clinics totaled $646,000 in the quarter compared to $311,000 in the prior year period. The increase in revenue reflects the cumulative impact of marketing efforts to build awareness for the clinics, the respective services, and INVOcell and IVC in general. We expect 2023 existing clinic revenues to continue to build throughout the year and for INVO's total revenue to increase substantially with the closing of the Wisconsin acquisition as well as the opening of the Tampa INVO Center, both of which are wholly owned and will be consolidated with our own financials.

該季度所有三個診所的收入總計 646,000 美元，而去年同期為 311,000 美元。收入的增長反映了為提高診所、相應服務以及 INVOcell 和 IVC 的知名度而進行的營銷努力的累積影響。我們預計 2023 年現有診所收入將繼續增加，隨著威斯康星州收購的完成以及坦帕 INVO 中心的開業，INVO 的總收入將大幅增加，這兩個中心都是全資擁有的並將與我們自己的財務狀況。

Our gross margin increased to 79% from 60% as a result of improved efficiencies at our Atlanta INVO Center. Our selling, general, and administrative expenses decreased to approximately $2.5 million from approximately $2.7 million in the prior year period, largely as a result of lower non-cash stock-based compensation. These expenses included approximately $258,000 attributable to our Atlanta INVO Center compared to approximately $244,000 in the prior year period.

由於亞特蘭大 INVO 中心效率的提高，我們的毛利率從 60% 增加到 79%。我們的銷售、一般和管理費用從去年同期的約 270 萬美元減少到約 250 萬美元，這主要是由於非現金股票薪酬的減少。這些費用包括歸屬於亞特蘭大 INVO 中心的約 258,000 美元，而去年同期約為 244,000 美元。

On a combined basis, our three INVO Centers had approximately $735,000 in operating expenses compared to $656,000 in the prior year period. Our adjusted EBITDA loss, which is net of non-cash charges, mainly related to equity-based compensation, improved to $1.7 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2 million last year. These amounts included operating losses of approximately $48,000 and $200,000, respectively, attributable to our INVO Center joint ventures accounted for with the equity method.

合併後，我們的三個 INVO 中心的運營費用約為 735,000 美元，而去年同期為 656,000 美元。我們調整後的 EBITDA 虧損（扣除非現金費用（主要與股權薪酬相關））改善至 170 萬美元，而去年調整後的 EBITDA 虧損為 200 萬美元。這些金額包括按權益法核算的 INVO 中心合資企業分別約 48,000 美元和 200,000 美元的運營虧損。

Our note receivable from the Atlanta joint venture, which stood at $450,000 on March 31st, was eliminated as an intercompany transaction and consolidation and is not reflected on our balance sheet. In addition, to this note, our equity investments through March 31, 2023, was approximately $0.9 million.

3 月 31 日，我們來自亞特蘭大合資企業的應收票據為 450,000 美元，已作為公司間交易和合併予以抵銷，並且未反映在我們的資產負債表中。此外，截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日，我們的股權投資約為 90 萬美元。

To date, our gross investment in the Birmingham and Monterrey joint ventures is $1.7 million and $142,000 respectively, which amounts remain unchanged from the last quarter. Our work to close the Wisconsin acquisition remains on track for a closing date in the current quarter. We are also working with the clinic and our auditors to complete the audit of the clinic's 2022 financial results as well as a review of the first quarter. We expect to file these results in the current quarter.

迄今為止，我們對伯明翰和蒙特雷合資企業的總投資分別為 170 萬美元和 142,000 美元，與上季度持平。我們完成威斯康星州收購的工作仍在按計劃進行，預計在本季度完成。我們還與診所和審計師合作，完成診所 2022 年財務業績的審計以及第一季度的審查。我們預計將在本季度提交這些結果。

As of March 31st, we had approximately $2.2 million in cash and $1.1 million of debt. We have since repaid approximately $384,000 of convertible debt. As a reminder, we closed on approximately $3 million in gross proceeds during the first quarter from a registered direct offering of common stock and pre-funded warrants, along with a private placement of warrants.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們擁有約 220 萬美元現金和 110 萬美元債務。此後我們已償還了約 384,000 美元的可轉換債務。提醒一下，我們在第一季度通過註冊直接發行普通股和預融資認股權證以及私募認股權證獲得了約 300 萬美元的總收益。

For the terms of the $3-million offering, we expect to file a resale registration statement to register the private placement warrants and certain other shares related to our February 2023 convertible debenture and warrant offering. As of today, we have approximately 14 million shares of common stock outstanding, $2.3 million pre-funded warrants, and approximately 6.9 million unit options and warrants outstanding.

對於 300 萬美元發行的條款，我們預計將提交一份轉售登記聲明，以登記私募認股權證以及與我們 2023 年 2 月可轉換債券和認股權證發行相關的某些其他股票。截至今天，我們擁有約 1400 萬股已發行普通股、230 萬美元預融資認股權證以及約 690 萬份已發行單位期權和認股權證。

Back to you, Steve.

回到你身邊，史蒂夫。

Great. Thank you, Andrea. Before we open for questions, let me just reiterate, we believe we are off to a strong start for 2023. We are seeing record volumes at our existing clinics. And equally important, they are quickly becoming self-sustaining from a cash flow standpoint.

偉大的。謝謝你，安德里亞。在我們開始提問之前，讓我重申一下，我們相信 2023 年我們將有一個良好的開端。我們現有診所的治療量創歷史新高。同樣重要的是，從現金流的角度來看，它們正在迅速實現自我維持。

We are close to the opening of the new Tampa INVO Center, which will provide added growth in the year. And perhaps most important, we've evolved our commercial efforts to build INVO by way of adding an acquisition strategy where we can more rapidly build scale in our operations.

新的坦帕 INVO 中心即將開業，該中心將在今年帶來更多增長。也許最重要的是，我們通過添加收購策略來發展我們的商業努力來建立 INVO，這樣我們就可以更快地擴大我們的運營規模。

As the key takeaway to our activities and focus over the past year and a half, we want our investors to understand that we are evolving beyond simply a medical device technology company and selling the INVO's INVOcell device. We are and have now become an integrated clinic company focused on offering treatment solutions to patients within the large and growing fertility marketplace.

作為我們過去一年半的活動和重點的關鍵收穫，我們希望我們的投資者明白，我們正在超越僅僅一家醫療設備技術公司並銷售 INVO 的 INVOcell 設備。我們現在和現在已經成為一家綜合診所公司，專注於為龐大且不斷增長的生育市場中的患者提供治療解決方案。

As such, we are a different company today. However, we also believe that this enhanced commercial approach of building our clinic service activities will also naturally increase the utilization and grow INVOcell and the IVC treatment process within the market and thus, help us achieve that objective as well.

因此，今天我們是一家不同的公司。然而，我們還相信，這種建立我們的診所服務活動的增強型商業方法也會自然地提高利用率並促進 INVOcell 和 IVC 治療流程在市場上的發展，從而幫助我們實現這一目標。

In sum, we believe our efforts, along with our technology, put us in a unique position and one that can help bring much-needed affordable care to patients in need.

總之，我們相信我們的努力和技術使我們處於獨特的地位，可以幫助為有需要的患者提供急需的負擔得起的護理。

With that, we will now open up for questions. Operator?

至此，我們現在開始提問。操作員？

Thank you, sir. (Operator Instructions) Jason McCarthy, Maxim Group.

謝謝你，先生。 （操作員說明）Jason McCarthy，Maxim Group。

Hi, this is Joanne Lee on the call for Jason McCarthy. Thanks for taking my question and congratulations on the progress this quarter. As I wanted to ask around what were the key drivers behind the 46% sequential increase in Q1 revenues. Was this growth primarily influenced by seasonal factors or were there specific events that led to a rapid gaining traction? And then just as a follow-up, can you provide some color on the strategies being implemented to promote the adoption of INVOcell outside of the operating clinics? Thank you.

大家好，我是喬安妮·李 (Joanne Lee)，正在為傑森·麥卡錫 (Jason McCarthy) 通話。感謝您提出我的問題，並祝賀本季度取得的進展。我想詢問第一季度收入環比增長 46% 背後的關鍵驅動因素是什麼。這種增長主要是受到季節性因素的影響，還是有特定事件導致其快速增長？作為後續行動，您能否提供一些關於正在實施的促進 INVOcell 在手術診所之外採用的策略的信息？謝謝。

Sure. Well, I think what's happening with the clinics is really something we've talked about over the last number of quarters where we've been building awareness in the markets that the clinics are operating in, and we see increasing level of patient interaction, patients coming in to inquire and seek help. But there is inherently a lag effect before -- between when a patient initially reaches out and has an initial conversation or consultation to when they actually go through treatment.

當然。嗯，我認為診所發生的事情確實是我們在過去幾個季度中討論過的事情，我們一直在診所運營的市場中建立意識，我們看到患者互動、患者的水平不斷提高進來詢問並尋求幫助。但從患者最初伸出援手並進行初步對話或諮詢到他們實際接受治療之間，本質上存在滯後效應。

And so this is why we've been attempting to say that we've seen building activities that hadn't necessarily been reflected in the operating results or the financial of the clinics. But now we feel like that's starting to develop, which is just again, the process of building that awareness and building that patient flow into the practice is starting to lead toward increasing volumes that are actually going through treatment within the practices. And we expect that will continue to build as we move forward from here.

因此，這就是為什麼我們一直試圖說我們看到的建設活動不一定反映在診所的運營結果或財務中。但現在我們覺得這種情況正在開始發展，這又是一種建立意識和讓患者流入診所的過程，開始導致診所內實際接受治療的人數增加。我們預計，隨著我們從這裡向前邁進，這種情況將繼續發展。

There wasn't any specific new thing we were doing in the period. It's just been, again, a culmination of that building that's been happening in the clinics for the past year. So we're excited to see that start to show up in the numbers, and we think that will continue.

在此期間我們沒有做任何具體的新事情。這又是過去一年診所建設的巔峰之作。因此，我們很高興看到這種情況開始出現在數字中，並且我們認為這種情況將會持續下去。

And I apologize, I forgot the second part of your question. If you wouldn't mind repeating that for me.

我很抱歉，我忘記了你問題的第二部分。如果你不介意為我重複一遍的話。

Of course. Just to follow up, can you just provide some color on the strategies sort of being implemented to promote INVOcell adoption outside of the operated clinics?

當然。作為跟進，您能否提供一些關於為促進 INVOcell 在運營診所之外採用而實施的策略的信息？

Well, I would say we're continuing to pursue a number of different strategy -- social media, Google AdWords in local markets to drive awareness around INVO. We're certainly supportive of trying to see additional publication done around the technology. We do think that there is a growing awareness that's occurring within the marketplace around INVO and its outcomes and the success rates and so forth.

嗯，我想說的是，我們正在繼續採取多種不同的策略——社交媒體、本地市場的 Google AdWords，以提高 INVO 的知名度。我們當然支持嘗試看到有關該技術的更多出版物。我們確實認為，市場上對 INVO 及其成果和成功率等的認識正在不斷提高。

And so we're seeing -- generally seeing increased levels of activity of both patients as well as referring physicians, OB GYNs that are more familiar with the technology. And again, we're looking forward to continuing to build on that.

因此，我們看到，患者以及轉診醫生和更熟悉該技術的婦產科醫生的活動水平普遍增加。我們再次期待在此基礎上繼續發展。

Mike, I don't know if you want to add any further to that. But (multiple speakers)

邁克，我不知道你是否還想補充一下。但是（多位發言者）

Yeah, a couple of comments that might help. I think the key issue there with that particular strategy is capacity. So a lot of these clinics -- there's about 450 to 500 IVF clinics in the US. We know them all well. We've had previous experience with these clinics and they're interested in the technology. We certainly are helping them, we're getting in there, were training them, we're teaching them how to use the technology and increase their use of it.

是的，一些評論可能會有所幫助。我認為該特定策略的關鍵問題是能力。這樣的診所很多——美國大約有 450 到 500 個 IVF 診所。我們都很了解他們。我們之前有過與這些診所合作的經驗，他們對這項技術很感興趣。我們當然正在幫助他們，我們正在介入，正在培訓他們，我們正在教他們如何使用該技術並增加他們對它的使用。

But again, this is why this technology is here. There is definitely capacity issue, not only in the US, but everywhere. IVF center is very busy. They have IVF patients. And this is why we're changing our tactics a bit to the adoption of INVO.

但這也是這項技術出現的原因。肯定存在容量問題，不僅在美國，而且在任何地方。 IVF中心非常繁忙。他們有體外受精患者。這就是為什麼我們稍微改變一下策略以採用 INVO。

On it. Well, that's all really great to hear. Thanks again, and congrats again on all the progress.

在上面。嗯，聽到這些真是太好了。再次感謝，並再次祝賀所有的進展。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Rodney Baber, Paulson Investments.

（操作員指示）Rodney Baber，Paulson Investments。

This new strategy of buying these clinics is very intriguing to say the least. And you're going to close this one, Wisconsin in the second quarter, so we're getting close to having that. And then that had revenue of $6 million in EBITDA remaining that source coming into play to offset your losses and all that kind of stuff over the next year. So that's going to be interesting to see.

至少可以說，購買這些診所的新策略非常有趣。你將在第二季度關閉威斯康星州的這個項目，所以我們即將實現這一目標。然後，剩下 600 萬美元的 EBITDA 收入將繼續發揮作用，以抵消明年的損失和所有此類費用。所以這將會很有趣。

The thing on my mind, having been here for a couple of years with you and watching the challenges that you've had is that strategy makes sense to me, but the time it takes to execute on, it has been so long. I think you've been in negotiations with Wisconsin like for a year. And so what my question is, what are you doing to beef up that aspect of your business? In other words, have you hired new people in the acquisition department for your company to go find clinics? What does the clinic pipeline look like?

在我看來，與你們一起工作了幾年，目睹了你們所面臨的挑戰，戰略對我來說很有意義，但執行所需的時間太長了。我認為你已經與威斯康星州進行了一年的談判。所以我的問題是，你正在做什麼來加強你的業務的這方面？換句話說，你們公司的採購部門有沒有聘請新人去尋找診所？診所的管道是什麼樣的？

If you can add three or four clinics at $6 million apiece, you got a $25 million company. So I'd love understand better what you think an understandable go-forward thought process would be on that, on how quickly you can execute. Hoping that it's going to be faster than it was in the past. So I love some clarity on that.

如果你能以每家 600 萬美元的價格增加三到四家診所，那麼你就得到了一家價值 2500 萬美元的公司。因此，我很想更好地了解您認為可理解的前進思維過程是什麼，以及您執行的速度如何。希望它會比過去更快。所以我喜歡澄清這一點。

Yeah. Well, I think that certainly we have some additional tools that we can leverage that we developed through the Wisconsin acquisition, specifically in the form of the deal -- the structure and the legal paperwork and so forth that I think will cut down quite a bit on time because that certainly was one significant element to the length of time it took. There were some other elements unique specifically to Wisconsin that probably created some of the delays that may or may not necessarily be present in the next potential acquisition.

是的。嗯，我認為我們當然有一些額外的工具可以利用，這些工具是我們通過威斯康星州收購開發的，特別是以交易的形式——結構和法律文書工作等等，我認為這些工具會減少很多準時，因為這無疑是影響所需時間的一個重要因素。還有一些威斯康星州特有的其他因素可能會造成一些延遲，這些延遲可能會也可能不一定會出現在下一次潛在收購中。

But I think that again, we've learned a lot through that process. We, again, developed a set of documentation that we feel we can reuse and streamline the process to the next acquisition. We will look to ensure that the next potential partner is really ready to go and wants to move the process forward expeditiously. So again, we'll try to do things that would shorten that timeline. We don't disagree that it definitely took quite a bit longer to get to the finish line with Wisconsin than we envisioned. And certainly, some of that was a function of us not having or having to create some of the elements from scratch.

但我再次認為，我們通過這個過程學到了很多東西。我們再次開發了一套文檔，我們認為可以在下一次收購中重用並簡化流程。我們將確保下一個潛在合作夥伴真正做好準備，並希望迅速推進這一進程。因此，我們將再次嘗試做一些可以縮短時間的事情。我們不同意威斯康星州到達終點線的時間肯定比我們預想的要長得多。當然，其中一些是因為我們沒有或不必從頭開始創建某些元素。

But like I said, we have added people. We've added some accounting resources and some operations resources here recently. Those are important elements to be able to manage the process. And so we'll look to add where necessary to ensure that we have enough people resources. We think we do right -- we think we have enough people resources right now to focus on the next potential couple acquisitions. But if we -- as we continue to potentially pursue that activity, you're not wrong, we may need to add some additional resources to ensure we can move it along, like I said, much more quickly.

但就像我說的，我們增加了人員。我們最近在這裡添加了一些會計資源和一些運營資源。這些是能夠管理流程的重要元素。因此，我們將在必要時進行補充，以確保我們擁有足夠的人力資源。我們認為我們做得對——我們認為我們現在有足夠的人力資源來專注於下一次潛在的收購。但如果我們——當我們繼續潛在地開展這項活動時，你沒有錯，我們可能需要添加一些額外的資源，以確保我們能夠更快地推進它，就像我說的那樣。

The reason somebody throws them with you guys versus staying out there independent, what did they see -- what did Wisconsin see with your company that encourage them to move into this thing this way? What do they think is going to happen because of that?

有人把他們和你們一起扔，而不是獨立地呆在那裡，他們看到了什麼——威斯康星州在你們公司看到了什麼，鼓勵他們以這種方式進入這件事？他們認為因此會發生什麼？

Well, I think that we're offering a platform that is interesting to them in two key areas. And Mike can probably further add this. He's on the front lines of some of these discussions with potential new acquisition opportunities. But one is the fact that we can offer a potential strategy in which they can benefit from ongoing growth overall coming into a public platform. We can offer the opportunity to take some of the acquisition in the form of equity in our public company. I think that has a fair amount of appeal to potential partners on this.

嗯，我認為我們正在提供一個他們在兩個關鍵領域感興趣的平台。邁克也許可以進一步補充這一點。他處於其中一些潛在新收購機會討論的最前線。但事實是，我們可以提供一種潛在的策略，使他們可以從進入公共平台的整體持續增長中受益。我們可以提供以上市公司股權形式進行部分收購的機會。我認為這對潛在合作夥伴具有相當大的吸引力。

I think our technology itself is -- it's important that when we're talking to potential acquisition partners that they understand our technology and see the merits of the technology because it also, again provides a potential solution to add growth to the clinic and which they would obviously be a critical part of helping to bring the technology and integrate it and help achieve that growth in the clinic. But then by doing a transaction with us, they can potentially get the benefit of what they're doing to help grow the clinic. They can get participation.

我認為我們的技術本身 - 重要的是，當我們與潛在的收購合作夥伴交談時，他們了解我們的技術並看到該技術的優點，因為它也再次提供了一個潛在的解決方案來增加診所的增長，並且他們顯然，這將是幫助引入技術和整合技術並幫助實現臨床增長的關鍵部分。但通過與我們進行交易，他們有可能從他們正在做的事情中獲益，以幫助診所發展。他們可以獲得參與。

So I think those are unique elements that we can offer that aren't always available and alternate the routes in which they might sell their clinic.

因此，我認為這些是我們可以提供的獨特元素，但並不總是可用，並且可以替代他們出售診所的路線。

Steve, how do you handle the issue as you've got people buying $15,000 IVF procedures and all of the sudden, you've got a product in there that's going to sell for $6,000? How do you handle going forward? Which product do you sell to people and without losing IVF sales at $15,000 to $6,000 product? How do you deal with that or do you open up a brand-new market with the $6,000 profit -- the product that you weren't penetrating before, but how do you integrate that marketing and sales strategy so that you don't lose revenues in the process of bringing on the new product line?

史蒂夫，你如何處理這個問題，因為你讓人們購買 15,000 美元的 IVF 程序，而突然間，你的產品售價將達到 6,000 美元？你如何應對未來？您以 15,000 美元至 6,000 美元的產品向人們銷售哪種產品，並且不會損失 IVF 銷售額？你如何處理這個問題，或者你是否用 6,000 美元的利潤開拓一個全新的市場——你以前沒有涉足的產品，但你如何整合營銷和銷售策略，這樣你就不會損失收入在推出新產品線的過程中？

Well, you did make one important point, that we do see the solution and a treatment option as opening up an entirely new and additional patient base. Those that maybe have had challenges affording more conventional IVF.

嗯，您確實提出了一個重要的觀點，即我們確實認為該解決方案和治療方案開闢了一個全新的額外患者基礎。那些可能在提供更傳統的體外受精方面面臨挑戰的人。

I think when you -- and we've seen clinics that outside of our independent clinics that have integrated our technology have done a pretty good job of positioning the technology as a solution that maybe doesn't have some of the added bells and whistles or features that they offer with their conventional IVF program. And so they can again position it as a lower-cost option for patients that maybe are ideally suited and don't necessarily need some of those additional features that can add cost.

我認為，當您——我們已經看到，除了我們的獨立診所之外，整合了我們技術的診所已經很好地將技術定位為一種解決方案，可能沒有一些附加的花哨或口哨聲，或者他們通過傳統 IVF 計劃提供的功能。因此，他們可以再次將其定位為患者的低成本選擇，這些患者可能非常適合，並且不一定需要一些可能增加成本的附加功能。

So it really, first and foremost, is about sort of targeting an additional patient market. But what I would also tell you there's -- occasionally, there's going to be some overlap that there could be a patient may opt to do one or the other that's suitable to do either. So there is some crossover that can occur. But again, the focus is targeting additional patient.

因此，首先也是最重要的是，它實際上是針對額外的患者市場。但我還要告訴你的是——有時，會有一些重疊，患者可能會選擇做其中一個或另一個適合做的事情。因此可能會發生一些交叉。但同樣，重點是針對更多患者。

Final thing, and I'll jump out of this. The pipeline right now, how robust do you think the acquisition pipeline is and the timing, you think, for closing some other deals. What's that look like to you?

最後一件事，我會跳出這個。現在的管道，您認為收購管道有多強大，以及您認為完成其他一些交易的時機。你覺得那是什麼樣子？

Well, I would say that we want to take a very measured pace given our resource constraints. So we're -- I can't -- Mike and I talked about this quite a bit. He's often asking me win-win, can you be more aggressive because I believe that what they've seen is engaging in a conversation like this is often well received. And so they could probably fill the pipeline more robust or faster than maybe we have the ability to manage and handle on the backend.

嗯，我想說的是，鑑於我們的資源限制，我們希望採取非常謹慎的步伐。所以我們——我不能——邁克和我對此談了很多。他經常問我雙贏，你能不能更有侵略性，因為我相信他們所看到的參與這樣的對話往往會受到好評。因此，它們可能比我們在後端管理和處理的能力更強大或更快速地填充管道。

So that's I guess -- that's the good news. And so we're -- again, but we want to take a sort of a very measured pace at this.

我想這就是——這是個好消息。所以我們再次強調，但我們希望在這方面採取一種非常謹慎的步伐。

What would your annualized run rate of acquisitions being with the staff you have now? Could you do three of these a year? I mean, what's the expectation we could have about the timeliness of how much you could add on this acquisition strategy?

如果您現在擁有的員工，您的年化收購運行率是多少？一年能做三件事嗎？我的意思是，我們對你們能在這一收購策略上增加多少內容的及時性有什麼期望？

Yeah. I mean, I think as we sit today, doing a couple of three acquisitions a year would probably be manageable depending on how big each one is. I think if our opportunities grew faster and it made sense and capital markets were supportive, we could certainly look to increase our resources to help manage something -- manage a more active pipeline. So sort of walk before you run, I guess.

是的。我的意思是，我認為就我們今天而言，一年進行三項收購可能是可以管理的，具體取決於每次收購的規模有多大。我認為，如果我們的機會增長得更快，而且有意義，而且資本市場也提供支持，我們當然可以尋求增加資源來幫助管理一些事情——管理更活躍的管道。所以我想，在跑步之前先走一走。

Okay. Let me jump out of the queue. Thank you. Good luck with everything.

好的。讓我從隊列中跳出來。謝謝。祝一切順利。

Thanks, Rodney.

謝謝，羅德尼。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Steve Shum for closing remarks.

女士們先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉交史蒂夫·岑 (Steve Shum) 致閉幕詞。

Great. Thank you all again for participating in today's call. We appreciate your interest. And as always, please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any additional questions.

偉大的。再次感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們感謝您的關注。與往常一樣，如有任何其他問題，請隨時與我們聯繫。

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, 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。女士們、先生們，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。