OmniAb Inc (OABI) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to OmniAb, Inc. Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

下午好，歡迎參加 OmniAb, Inc. 2023 年第二季度財務業績和業務更新電話會議。 （操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to turn the call over to Kurt Gustafson, OmniAb, Inc.'s Chief Financial Officer. You may begin.

我現在想將電話轉給 OmniAb, Inc. 的首席財務官 Kurt Gustafson。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for joining our second quarter 2023 financial results conference call. There are slides to accompany today's remarks, and they are available in the Investors section of our website at omniab.com.

謝謝接線員，大家下午好。感謝大家參加我們的 2023 年第二季度財務業績電話會議。今天的講話附有幻燈片，可在我們網站omniab.com 的投資者部分獲取。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind listeners that comments made during this call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from any anticipated results. These forward-looking statements are qualified by the cautionary statements contained in today's press release and our SEC filings.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒聽眾，本次電話會議中發表的評論將包括聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與任何預期結果存在重大差異。這些前瞻性陳述受到今天的新聞稿和我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的警示性陳述的限制。

Importantly, this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of the live broadcast, today, August 10, 2023. Except as required by law, OmniAb undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call. Joining me on the call today is Matt Foehr, OmniAb's President and CEO. During today's call, Matt and I will provide highlights on the company's operations, partner and technology updates and our recent financial results. At the conclusion of the prepared remarks, we'll open the call to questions.

重要的是，本次電話會議包含的時間敏感信息僅截至直播之日（即今天，2023 年 8 月 10 日）準確。除法律要求外，OmniAb 不承擔修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務反映本次電話會議之後發生的事件或情況。今天加入我電話會議的是 OmniAb 總裁兼首席執行官 Matt Foehr。在今天的電話會議中，馬特和我將重點介紹公司的運營、合作夥伴和技術更新以及我們最近的財務業績。在準備好的發言結束後，我們將開始提問。

And with that, let me turn the call over to Matt.

接下來，讓我把電話轉給馬特。

Thanks, Kurt. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining our second quarter conference call. I'll start today with an overview of our business here on Slide #4 of the deck. At the core of OmniAb's business model is our proprietary discovery technology platform that's designed to help partners discover innovative therapeutics quickly and efficiently. In a simple sense, it's a model based on licensing innovative technologies to partners. OmniAb is differentiated in the marketplace by having the most diverse host systems for fully human bispecific -- fully human and bispecific antibody discovery with the industry's only 4-species platform. That includes transgenic mice, rats, chickens and cow-based technologies.

謝謝，庫爾特。大家下午好，感謝您參加我們的第二季度電話會議。今天，我將在幻燈片#4 上概述我們的業務。 OmniAb 商業模式的核心是我們專有的發現技術平台，旨在幫助合作夥伴快速高效地發現創新療法。簡單來說，這是一種基於向合作夥伴授權創新技術的模式。 OmniAb 在市場上脫穎而出，因為它擁有最多樣化的宿主系統，可通過業界唯一的 4 物種平台發現全人類雙特異性抗體。其中包括轉基因小鼠、大鼠、雞和牛技術。

Our partners have an increasing number of antibodies in clinical trials that are from our technology and the versatility of our platform continues to be demonstrated in the number of modalities and formats being employed by our partners, both preclinically and clinically. We offer flexibility to meet our partners' evolving scientific needs as we believe generating large and diverse repertoires of high-quality antibodies increases the likelihood of success in optimizing desired therapeutic characteristics. Our technology and our core capabilities are driven by, what we call, the biological intelligence of our transgenic animals and are further strengthened by our innovative, high throughput screening and other technologies.

我們的合作夥伴在臨床試驗中擁有越來越多的抗體，這些抗體來自我們的技術，我們平台的多功能性繼續在我們的合作夥伴在臨床前和臨床上採用的模式和形式的數量中得到證明。我們提供靈活性來滿足合作夥伴不斷變化的科學需求，因為我們相信產生大量且多樣化的高質量抗體可以增加成功優化所需治療特性的可能性。我們的技術和核心能力是由我們所說的轉基因動物的生物智能驅動的，並通過我們的創新、高通量篩选和其他技術進一步加強。

There are 74 partners with access to our technology or to OmniAb antibodies with over 300 programs in various stages of research and development. The antibody space is one of the fastest-growing parts of the drug industry with a market size expected to be larger than $250 billion within a couple of years. We believe we're in a great position to capitalize on this opportunity with our unique and expanding technology offerings.

有 74 個合作夥伴可以使用我們的技術或 OmniAb 抗體，有 300 多個項目處於不同的研發階段。抗體領域是製藥行業增長最快的部分之一，市場規模預計在幾年內將超過 2500 億美元。我們相信，通過我們獨特且不斷擴展的技術產品，我們處於充分利用這一機會的有利位置。

We're constantly innovating our technology stack, and this past May, we introduced our newly branded OmniDeep offering, which is a suite of in silico capabilities, including structural modeling, large, multi-species antibody databases, molecular dynamic simulations, artificial intelligence and machine and deep learning sequence models that are applicable across our technology platforms to further enhance our partners' discovery process. In addition, we plan to introduce our novel heavy-chain-only OmniChicken that we will be branding as OmnidAb in the fourth quarter of this year. And I'll say more detailed (technical difficulty) and our excitement around that technology until later this year when we launch it.

我們不斷創新我們的技術堆棧，今年 5 月，我們推出了新品牌 OmniDeep 產品，這是一套計算機功能，包括結構建模、大型多物種抗體數據庫、分子動態模擬、人工智能和機器和深度學習序列模型適用於我們的技術平台，以進一步增強我們合作夥伴的發現過程。此外，我們計劃在今年第四季度推出新型純重鏈 OmniChicken，我們將其品牌命名為 OmnidAb。我會更詳細地說（技術難度）以及我們對該技術的興奮，直到今年晚些時候我們推出它。

On this next slide, I just want to reiterate that as a company and as a team, we're mission-driven to enable the rapid discovery of innovative pharmaceutical products by pushing the frontiers of drug discovery technologies. We're poised for continued growth, as shown here on Slide #6 by the new license agreements we signed during the second quarter. In Q2, our team closed 4 new platform license agreements, one with Merck, Inc. and one with Neurocrine Biosciences as well as platform deals with Stanford University and Seattle Children's Hospital. Regarding Merck, this is a new agreement and is with the U.S. Merck & Co., not to be confused with the German Merck KGaA with whom we also have an agreement. We reached a total of 74 active partners at quarter end, up from a partner count of just slightly more than 60 as of a year ago.

在下一張幻燈片中，我只想重申，作為一家公司和一個團隊，我們的使命是通過推動藥物發現技術的前沿來實現創新藥品的快速發現。正如第 6 張幻燈片中我們在第二季度簽署的新許可協議所示，我們已做好持續增長的準備。第二季度，我們的團隊簽署了 4 項新的平台許可協議，其中一項與 Merck, Inc. 簽訂，一項與 Neurocrine Biosciences 簽訂，此外還與斯坦福大學和西雅圖兒童醫院簽訂了平台協議。關於默克，這是一項新協議，是與美國默克公司簽訂的，不要與我們也有協議的德國默克公司混淆。截至季度末，我們的活躍合作夥伴總數達到 74 個，而去年同期的合作夥伴數量僅略高於 60 個。

Our discovery platform continues to garner interest in the industry among a diversified group of leading global pharmaceutical companies, allowing us to leverage our highly scalable business model. Adding partners like Merck Inc., who are global leaders in the industry and who are committed to using the power of leading-edge science to improve lives, bolsters our growing list of partners. We believe this is a testament to our effective and efficient discovery technologies to our in-house expertise for scientific collaboration services, our mindset for developing a deep understanding and also prioritizing the current and the future needs of our partners as well as our commitment to continued innovation.

我們的發現平台繼續引起多元化的全球領先製藥公司對該行業的興趣，使我們能夠利用我們高度可擴展的業務模式。像默克公司這樣的合作夥伴是該行業的全球領導者，致力於利用尖端科學的力量來改善生活，這進一步豐富了我們不斷增長的合作夥伴名單。我們相信，這證明了我們有效和高效的發現技術、我們在科學合作服務方面的內部專業知識、我們深入理解並優先考慮合作夥伴當前和未來需求的心態，以及我們對持續發展的承諾。創新。

Here on Slide #8, our portfolio of active programs increased to 305 with 29 programs in the clinic under regulatory review or approved for commercialization at the end of Q2. During the second quarter, we added a net total of 4 new programs to our portfolio. Importantly, I want to note that when we report program count, we do so net of attrition, as attrition is expected in the pharmaceutical industry. In this quarter, attrition was seen only in the discovery stage of our partner pipeline.

在幻燈片 #8 上，我們的活躍項目組合增加到 305 個，其中 29 個項目正在臨床中接受監管審查或在第二季度末批准商業化。第二季度，我們在投資組合中淨增加了 4 個新項目。重要的是，我想指出的是，當我們報告項目數量時，我們是扣除人員流失的，因為製藥行業預計會出現人員流失。在本季度，僅在我們的合作夥伴渠道的發現階段出現了人員流失。

The pie chart on the right-hand side of the slide breaks down our 305 programs by stage of development. The discovery phase consists of 261 programs in addition to 15 programs now in the preclinical stage. In the clinic, at the end of June, our partners had 22 programs in Phase I, 2 programs in Phase II, 1 in Phase III as well as 1 program currently under regulatory review. There are 3 approved drugs utilizing OmniAb-derived antibodies, and we're recognizing royalty revenue from commercial sales of zimberelimab and sugemalimab in China, both of which are also being pursued in other geographies.

幻燈片右側的餅圖按開發階段細分了我們的 305 項目。除了目前處於臨床前階段的 15 個項目外，發現階段還包括 261 個項目。在臨床上，截至6月底，我們的合作夥伴有22個一期項目、2個二期項目、1個三期項目以及1個正在接受監管審查的項目。有 3 種已獲批准的藥物利用 OmniAb 衍生抗體，我們正在確認來自 zimberelimab 和 sugemalimab 在中國商業銷售的特許權使用費收入，這兩種藥物也在其他地區進行銷售。

We saw some nice progression of programs in the quarter as well, with 3 programs transitioning from the discovery stage to the preclinical stage with 2 programs moving from the preclinical stage into their first human clinical trials and with 1 Phase III program moving to a regional filing for approval, shown here on this Slide #8 pie chart on the right as BLA stage. Our large and growing portfolio features a diversified set of partners utilizing a variety of formats and modalities, as I mentioned earlier. I'd also like to note here that the count of active programs has increased from 270 in the year-ago period, up to 305 programs at the close of the second quarter, noting again that this is net of program attrition.

我們在本季度也看到了一些項目的良好進展，其中 3 個項目從發現階段過渡到臨床前階段，2 個項目從臨床前階段進入首次人體臨床試驗，1 個 III 期項目進入區域備案供批准，在右側的幻燈片#8 餅圖上顯示為BLA 階段。正如我之前提到的，我們龐大且不斷增長的投資組合擁有採用各種格式和模式的多元化合作夥伴。我還想在此指出，活躍計劃的數量已從去年同期的 270 個增加到第二季度末的 305 個，並再次指出，這是扣除計劃損耗後的淨值。

Despite some of the industry's challenges, including evolving financing environment and funding constraints, especially for some of the smaller players in our industry, our portfolio continues to expand from a combination of new and existing partners. We don't feel that it's entirely unexpected that macro factors can influence the velocity of growth of some of our business metrics. And although we see a slightly lower number of net new program additions compared to last year, OmniAb is in a very solid position for continued growth with an increasing number of both active programs and active partners.

儘管該行業面臨一些挑戰，包括不斷變化的融資環境和資金限制，特別是對於我們行業中的一些規模較小的參與者而言，但我們的投資組合繼續通過新合作夥伴和現有合作夥伴的組合不斷擴大。我們認為宏觀因素會影響我們某些業務指標的增長速度並不完全出乎意料。儘管我們看到新項目淨增加數量與去年相比略有下降，但隨著活躍項目和活躍合作夥伴數量的不斷增加，OmniAb 在持續增長方面處於非常穩固的地位。

Moving now on to Slide #9. As I mentioned, in the second quarter, 2 new programs entered the clinic with Immunovant who initiated a Phase I clinical trial of IMVT-1402, which is a subcu FcRn inhibitor. Also, Gloria Pharmaceuticals initiated a Phase I/II study to investigate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of GLS-012 as a monotherapy in combination with GLS-010 in subjects with advanced solid tumors that have progressed following standard treatment. We've now had 3 new programs entered the clinic in the first half of this year, and we expect a potential 1 to 2 more to enter the clinic before year-end. I want to note that when 2023 began, we indicated that we expected 3 to 5 new programs to enter the clinic this year. By the end of June, we'd already reached 3, and we're now focused on an upward range of 4 to 5 new clinical programs for the year.

現在轉到幻燈片 #9。正如我提到的，第二季度，Immunovant 有 2 個新項目進入臨床，Immunovant 啟動了 IMVT-1402（一種 subcu FcRn 抑製劑）的 I 期臨床試驗。此外，Gloria Pharmaceuticals 啟動了一項 I/II 期研究，以調查 GLS-012 作為單一療法與 GLS-010 聯合治療標準治療後進展的晚期實體瘤受試者的安全性、耐受性和初步療效。今年上半年，我們已有 3 個新項目進入臨床，我們預計年底前可能還會有 1 到 2 個項目進入臨床。我想指出的是，2023 年開始時，我們表示預計今年將有 3 到 5 個新項目進入臨床。到 6 月底，我們已經達到了 3 個，現在我們的重點是今年增加 4 到 5 個新的臨床項目。

Our partners made numerous public announcements about their clinical and commercial progress during the second quarter and in recent weeks. And I'll highlight a few of them on this slide, Slide #10, starting with batoclimab. During the second quarter, we earned milestone revenue related to advancement of batoclimab into pivotal studies in 2 additional indications of CIDP and TED. These are additional indications from the Phase III work that was started in generalized myasthenia gravis earlier in the year.

我們的合作夥伴在第二季度和最近幾週多次公開宣布其臨床和商業進展。我將在這張幻燈片（幻燈片#10）上重點介紹其中的一些內容，從 batoclimab 開始。在第二季度，我們獲得了與將 batoclimab 推進到 CIDP 和 TED 的另外 2 個適應症的關鍵研究相關的里程碑式收入。這些是今年早些時候開始的針對全身性重症肌無力的第三階段工作的額外跡象。

In addition, Harbour BioMed announced that China's NMPA accepted its biologics license application for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis. And for the same indication, HanAll announced that they're progressing towards initiation of a Phase III trial in Japan later this year. As for the next-generation anti-FcRn IMVT-1402, I mentioned that Immunovant initiated a Phase I trial to evaluate safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics and they've communicated that initial data are expected in the second half of this year.

此外，和鉑醫藥宣布中國國家藥品監督管理局已受理其治療全身性重症肌無力的生物製品許可申請。對於同樣的跡象，HanAll 宣布他們正在努力於今年晚些時候在日本啟動 III 期試驗。至於下一代抗FcRn IMVT-1402，我提到Immunovant啟動了一項I期試驗來評估安全性、耐受性和藥效學，他們表示預計將在今年下半年獲得初步數據。

One of our newer partners, Cessation Therapeutics announced that they've received authorization to initiate a Phase I clinical trial. CSX-1004 was first discovered via collaboration with Scripps Research Institute and subsequently licensed to Cessation for development. Cessation is developing this compound for the prevention of fentanyl overdose, which is an indication that obviously it has an important and urgent unmet medical need.

我們的新合作夥伴之一 Cessation Therapeutics 宣布他們已獲得啟動 I 期臨床試驗的授權。 CSX-1004 最初是通過與斯克里普斯研究所合作發現的，隨後授權給 Cessation 進行開發。停止開發這種用於預防芬太尼過量的化合物，這表明它顯然有一個重要而緊迫的未滿足的醫療需求。

Aptevo Therapeutics announced data for its bispecific AML drug candidate, APVO436, and that it plans to initiate 2 Phase II clinical trials in AML populations. And lastly, we achieved a research progression milestone for small molecule inhibitors of a genetically validated target relevant to neurological diseases in one of our ion channel collaborations with GSK. This triggered a $2 million progression payment for OmniAb and Kurt will discuss the accounting for this.

Aptevo Therapeutics 公佈了其雙特異性 AML 候選藥物 APVO436 的數據，併計劃在 AML 人群中啟動兩項 II 期臨床試驗。最後，在與 GSK 的一項離子通道合作中，我們在與神經系統疾病相關的基因驗證靶點的小分子抑製劑方面取得了研究進展里程碑。這觸發了 OmniAb 的 200 萬美元漸進付款，Kurt 將討論對此的會計處理。

We're particularly excited about this program with GSK as it demonstrates the capabilities of our highly differentiated ion channel and transporters technology platform. Ion channels are key components in a variety of biological processes that involve rapid changes in cells, and they hold therapeutic potential in a broad range of indications, including neurological and metabolic diseases, pain, cancers, infectious diseases and many others. As a result, ion channel drug discovery provides a compelling opportunity, although it's been a challenging area for the industry to identify drugs to these high-value targets.

我們對與葛蘭素史克合作的這個項目感到特別興奮，因為它展示了我們高度差異化的離子通道和轉運蛋白技術平台的功能。離子通道是涉及細胞快速變化的各種生物過程的關鍵組成部分，它們在廣泛的適應症中具有治療潛力，包括神經和代謝疾病、疼痛、癌症、傳染病等。因此，離子通道藥物發現提供了一個引人注目的機會，儘管識別這些高價值目標的藥物對於行業來說是一個具有挑戰性的領域。

Our ion channel platform an OmniAb leverages our proprietary expertise in a combination of biological assays, medicinal chemistry and in silico and computational chemistry applications to enable the discovery of ion channels targeting therapeutics in a variety of formats and modalities. We believe our differentiated core capabilities can assist partners in their advancement of drug discovery against this target class. We're continuously expanding our capabilities in this area, and we believe we have one of the most experienced teams of ion channel experts anywhere.

我們的離子通道平台 OmniAb 利用我們在生物測定、藥物化學以及計算機和計算化學應用組合方面的專有專業知識，能夠以各種形式和方式發現針對治療的離子通道。我們相信，我們差異化的核心能力可以幫助合作夥伴推進針對這一目標類別的藥物發現。我們正在不斷擴大我們在這一領域的能力，我們相信我們擁有世界上最有經驗的離子通道專家團隊之一。

We have an extensive bank of custom cell lines, reagents and assays that are designed to accelerate ion channel drug discovery and development, and that's what attracts partners to this element of our technology and capabilities. As these are higher value and more difficult targets to identify, we structure our collaboration agreements accordingly. These deals provide for exclusivity on various targets, and as a result, have higher milestone payments and higher royalty percentages than we typically get for standard platform access agreements. We have agreements with GSK for 2 neurology targets that are in discovery phase and another partner is Roche for 3 undisclosed targets that are also in the discovery phase. In total, we're eligible to receive $1 billion in milestones on these 5 programs alone, along with royalties should program be commercialized.

我們擁有大量的定制細胞系、試劑和檢測方法，旨在加速離子通道藥物的發現和開發，這也是我們技術和能力的這一要素吸引合作夥伴的原因。由於這些是價值更高且更難確定的目標，因此我們相應地構建了我們的合作協議。這些交易提供了各種目標的排他性，因此，與我們通常獲得的標準平台訪問協議相比，具有更高的里程碑付款和更高的特許權使用費百分比。我們與葛蘭素史克 (GSK) 就 2 個處於發現階段的神經病學目標達成了協議，另一個合作夥伴是羅氏 (Roche) 就 3 個也處於發現階段的未公開目標達成了協議。總的來說，僅這 5 個項目我們就有資格獲得 10 億美元的里程碑，以及項目商業化的特許權使用費。

And this last slide for me, which is Slide #13 in our deck, highlights our key areas of focus going forward. And it describes why we believe we're well positioned for future growth and can make an enduring impact on our industry and ultimately on global human health. Our business is highly scalable, and we're focused on increasing partners and expanding programs by continuing to invest in technologies and innovations to power the discovery and development of effective therapeutic candidates. A focus on stakeholders and building value for stakeholders is at the foundation of what we do. And that focus is guided in collaboration with our Board of Directors and it's present in every employee here as well.

我的最後一張幻燈片是我們幻燈片中的第 13 號幻燈片，它強調了我們未來重點關注的關鍵領域。它描述了為什麼我們相信我們已經為未來的增長做好了準備，並且可以對我們的行業並最終對全球人類健康產生持久的影響。我們的業務具有高度可擴展性，我們致力於通過繼續投資技術和創新來增加合作夥伴和擴大項目，以推動有效治療候選藥物的發現和開發。關注利益相關者並為利益相關者創造價值是我們工作的基礎。這一重點是與我們的董事會合作指導的，也體現在這裡的每一位員工身上。

While I mentioned our Board of Directors, I do also want to acknowledge on today's call that, earlier this week, with heavy hearts, we announced the passing of a beloved Board member here at OmniAb, Sunil Patel. Sunil was an accomplished biotech executive who was a longtime colleague and a co-architect of what we're building here at OmniAb. And I'll add that the team here is honoring Sunil's contribution and legacy as we continue to do our important work, expand our technology and grow our business.

雖然我提到了我們的董事會，但我也想在今天的電話會議上承認，本週早些時候，我們懷著沉重的心情宣布了OmniAb 一位深受愛戴的董事會成員蘇尼爾·帕特爾(Sunil Patel) 的去世。 Sunil 是一位卓有成就的生物技術高管，他是我們的長期同事，也是我們在 OmniAb 構建的項目的共同架構師。我還要補充一點，在我們繼續開展重要工作、擴展我們的技術和發展我們的業務的過程中，這裡的團隊向 Sunil 的貢獻和遺產表示敬意。

And now before I hand the call back over to Kurt, I'll finish by saying that we look forward to keeping the investment community updated as we execute on our strategy. And with that, I'll pass it back over to Kurt now for a discussion of our second quarter financial results. Kurt?

現在，在我將電話轉回給庫爾特之前，我最後要說的是，我們期待在執行戰略時向投資界通報最新情況。現在，我將把它傳回給庫爾特，以討論我們第二季度的財務業績。庫爾特？

Thank you, Matt. As a reminder, the financial results reported for the prior year periods are prepared on a carve-out basis, which were derived from Ligand's historical accounting records as if OmniAb were an independent company. As a result, certain comparisons to prior periods aren't reflective of true underlying business changes. This is primarily true for operating expenses, given the differences in corporate structure and the methodologies for reporting. You'll recall that OmniAb derives revenue from several sources, including upfront payments for partners to access our technology stack, payments related to service contracts when we do discovery work for our partners, milestone payments typically related to progress in the clinic and royalties on net sales of our partners' programs.

謝謝你，馬特。需要提醒的是，上一年度報告的財務業績是在剝離的基礎上編制的，這些業績來自 Ligand 的歷史會計記錄，就好像 OmniAb 是一家獨立公司一樣。因此，與前期的某些比較並不能反映真正的潛在業務變化。鑑於公司結構和報告方法的差異，這對於運營費用來說尤其如此。您可能還記得，OmniAb 的收入來自多個來源，包括為合作夥伴訪問我們的技術堆棧而支付的預付款、我們為合作夥伴進行發現工作時與服務合同相關的付款、通常與臨床進展相關的里程碑付款以及網絡特許權使用費銷售我們合作夥伴的項目。

So moving specifically to our second quarter results. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2023 was $6.9 million compared to $7.2 million in the prior year quarter. We saw an increase in license and milestone revenue based on milestones that were hit this quarter, mostly related to progress with batoclimab, specifically the start of additional pivotal studies for 2 new indications. The increase in milestone revenue was offset by a decrease in service revenue, and this decrease is related to a few different things.

因此，具體來說我們第二季度的業績。 2023 年第二季度的總收入為 690 萬美元，而去年同期的總收入為 720 萬美元。基於本季度達到的里程碑，我們看到許可和里程碑收入有所增加，主要與 batoclimab 的進展有關，特別是針對 2 個新適應症的額外關鍵研究的開始。里程碑收入的增加被服務收入的減少所抵消，這種減少與一些不同的事情有關。

First, we've completed our portion of the work on certain programs, and these programs have been handed off to the R&D teams at our partners. As a result, we are no longer earning service revenue for these programs, but would still have the opportunity to earn milestones and royalties should these programs advance.

首先，我們已經完成了部分項目的工作，這些項​​目已經交給合作夥伴的研發團隊了。因此，我們不再為這些計劃賺取服務收入，但如果這些計劃取得進展，我們仍然有機會賺取里程碑和版稅。

Second, the research period for one of our GSK ion channel programs was extended by approximately 1.5 years. The accounting impact of this extension is that the initial $7 million upfront payment that was being amortized over the initial research period had its amortization schedule adjusted to reflect the new length of the research period. This resulted in a onetime negative adjustment of $1.7 million this quarter. The full $7 million will all eventually be recognized. It's just that the recognition of the revenue will be spread over the new longer research period.

其次，我們的 GSK 離子通道項目之一的研究期限延長了約 1.5 年。此次延期的會計影響是，在初始研究期內攤銷的 700 萬美元初始預付款的攤銷時間表進行了調整，以反映新的研究期長度。這導致本季度出現 170 萬美元的一次性負調整。全部 700 萬美元最終將全部得到認可。只是收入的確認將分散在新的更長的研究期間。

And third, as it relates to the GSK program that achieved the $2 million research progression milestone, this milestone is recognized as service revenue and will be amortized over the research period of this program. As this program is a bit more than halfway through its research period, we recognized a bit more than half of this milestone in the current quarter and the rest will be amortized over the remaining research period. The net result of the change in the amortization period and the new milestone recognition created a negative impact of about $500,000 in the quarter relative to what the trend would have been.

第三，由於它與實現 200 萬美元研究進展里程碑的 GSK 項目相關，因此該里程碑被確認為服務收入，並將在該項目的研究期間進行攤銷。由於該計劃的研究期已過半，我們在本季度確認了這一里程碑的一半多，其餘部分將在剩餘研究期內攤銷。攤銷期的變化和新的里程碑確認的最終結果相對於趨勢，在本季度產生了約 500,000 美元的負面影響。

Turning to operating expense. Our R&D expense for the second quarter was $14.1 million compared to $11.5 million in the prior year quarter. Similar to Q1, the increase was primarily due to higher personnel costs and higher costs associated with our new facilities. G&A expense was $8.7 million compared to $5 million in the prior year quarter, with the increase related to increased headcount and other costs associated with being a newly established public company. The net loss for the second quarter was $14.7 million or $0.15 per share versus a net loss of $10.3 million or $0.12 per share in the prior year period.

轉向運營費用。我們第二季度的研發費用為 1,410 萬美元，而去年同期的研發費用為 1,150 萬美元。與第一季度類似，增長的主要原因是人員成本增加以及與我們的新設施相關的成本增加。一般管理費用為 870 萬美元，而去年同期為 500 萬美元，增長與新成立的上市公司員工人數和其他成本的增加有關。第二季度淨虧損為 1,470 萬美元，即每股 0.15 美元，而去年同期淨虧損為 1,030 萬美元，即每股 0.12 美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the second quarter with a total of $103.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Our business model is not capital intensive and it's highly scalable. And while we are committed to growing the business and keeping our technology cutting edge, we're also committed to deploying our capital efficiently. We continue to expect that our cash balance at the end of 2023 will be slightly higher than the balance at the end of 2022 and that this cash balance provides sufficient runway to fund our operations for the foreseeable future.

轉向資產負債表。截至第二季度末，我們的現金、現金等價物和短期投資總額為 1.031 億美元。我們的商業模式不是資本密集型的​​，而且具有高度可擴展性。在我們致力於發展業務並保持技術領先的同時，我們也致力於有效地部署我們的資本。我們仍然預計 2023 年底的現金餘額將略高於 2022 年底的餘額，並且該現金餘額為可預見的未來的運營提供足夠的資金。

Turning to our quarterly results, I'd like to make a few comments on some of the underlying trends that we see. Excluding the milestone revenue recognized specifically for teclistamab, we generally expect total revenue to grow. However, the majority of our revenue in the near- to medium-term will come from milestone payments and the exact timing of these milestones can be difficult to predict. As a result, our revenue growth will likely be a bit lumpy on a quarterly basis.

談到我們的季度業績，我想對我們看到的一些基本趨勢發表一些評論。排除專門為 teclistamab 確認的里程碑收入，我們普遍預計總收入將會增長。然而，我們中短期內的大部分收入將來自里程碑付款，而這些里程碑的確切時間可能很難預測。因此，我們的季度收入增長可能會有點不穩定。

As we think about our operating expense going forward, I had indicated last quarter that our Q1 2023 actual results would be a good baseline from which we would grow. The second quarter results were consistent with that expectation, and we anticipate this trend will continue going forward as our operating expenses are now more predictable. We're forecasting that both R&D and G&A will grow slightly in subsequent quarters with the pace of G&A spend being more moderate than that of our R&D spend.

當我們考慮未來的運營費用時，我在上個季度表示，我們 2023 年第一季度的實際業績將是我們增長的良好基準。第二季度的業績與預期一致，我們預計這一趨勢將繼續下去，因為我們的運營費用現在更加可預測。我們預測研發和一般行政費用將在接下來的幾個季度小幅增長，​​一般行政費用的支出步伐比研發支出的步伐更為溫和。

And with that, I'd like to open up the call for questions. Operator?

至此，我想開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Puneet Souda from Leerink Partners.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自 Leerink Partners 的 Puneet Souda。

So Matt, maybe first one. Obviously, you talked about some of the headwinds in the market. And as you pointed out, you have -- there's a potential that you could see that. But maybe talk to us a little bit about the flip side of what's happening at the partners and what they are telling you in terms of the projects that they can potentially bring to you because you're providing them value and cost reduction. Maybe talk to us about what -- how do they think about that as they think about discovery stages and getting into Phase I.

馬特，也許是第一個。顯然，您談到了市場上的一些不利因素。正如您所指出的，您有可能看到這一點。但也許可以和我們談談合作夥伴正在發生的事情的另一面，以及他們告訴您的有關他們可能為您帶來的項目的信息，因為您為他們提供了價值並降低了成本。也許可以和我們談談，當他們考慮發現階段和進入第一階段時，他們是如何看待這個問題的。

Yes. Puneet, thanks. This is Matt. I appreciate the question. Yes, as we -- I mean, one of the things I'll highlight that, obviously, this quarter, we entered into 4 new platform license agreements with new partners, right? Merck and Neurocrine. Merck, obviously, is a well-known player, global force in the industry that is really committed to leading-edge science and leveraging cutting-edge technologies to develop new medicines. Neurocrine, of course, is a 30-year-plus history in innovations and success of pursuing really what have become life-changing medicines in the neurology and neurological disease space. But also new partnerships with Stanford and Seattle Children's, both of which are leading academic centers, both of which are focused on translating their novel biology into new medicines. So sometimes it's not only the existing partners that tell us a lot about how we're bringing value to them, but it's the new partners as well, right?

是的。普內特，謝謝。這是馬特。我很欣賞這個問題。是的，正如我們——我的意思是，我要強調的一件事是，顯然，本季度我們與新合作夥伴簽訂了 4 項新的平台許可協議，對吧？默克和 Neurocrine。顯然，默克是該行業的知名企業和全球力量，真正致力於前沿科學並利用尖端技術開發新藥。當然，Neurocrine 有著 30 多年的創新和成功歷史，致力於在神經病學和神經系統疾病領域真正改變生活的藥物。而且還與斯坦福大學和西雅圖兒童醫院建立了新的合作夥伴關係，這兩個機構都是領先的學術中心，都致力於將其新穎的生物學轉化為新的藥物。因此，有時不僅是現有的合作夥伴告訴我們很多關於我們如何為他們帶來價值的信息，而且還有新的合作夥伴，對嗎？

So to your question of how we do that, we obviously get into a lot of deep discussions with our partners of areas they're interested in and why they see our technologies unlocking opportunities for them. That obviously translates into potential for increased success rates and faster pace in terms of finding quality antibodies to then take into the clinic. And that's why they're attracted to do licensing deals with us. I think there's also a recognition now -- a more broad recognition of our continued commitment to innovation, and that is also, I think, an important part as well. And obviously, our innovation is informed by our deep relationships with partners. So there's -- like what we like to call an intelligent feedback loop, where you get a sense of where the industry is headed, and that informs the sorts of innovations and investments we want to make in our technology. So it's really, at the end of the day, about speed and opportunity and efficiency and quality of the product, in this case, the antibodies that are coming out of our platform.

因此，對於您提出的我們如何做到這一點的問題，我們顯然與我們的合作夥伴就他們感興趣的領域以及為什麼他們認為我們的技術為他們帶來了機會進行了深入的討論。這顯然意味著在尋找優質抗體並將其投入臨床方面可以提高成功率並加快步伐。這就是為什麼他們被吸引與我們進行許可交易。我認為現在也有了一種認識——對我們對創新的持續承諾的更廣泛的認識，我認為這也是一個重要的部分。顯然，我們的創新源於我們與合作夥伴的深厚關係。因此，就像我們所說的智能反饋循環一樣，您可以了解行業的發展方向，並為我們想要在技術中進行的各種創新和投資提供信息。因此，歸根結底，這實際上是關於產品的速​​度、機會、效率和質量，在這種情況下，是來自我們平台的抗體。

Got it. And then with that question, I was wondering -- what I was trying to get to is that if the biotech funding situations were to get worse, is there an opportunity for you to sort of gain more share in the marketplace? And then let me just follow up with a question on China. I mentioned -- I know you mentioned Gloria anti-LAG-3 in the Phase I trial now. Wondering if you could update us on what you're seeing in China. We are all seeing weakness in the discovery stages in China that's well known at this point. So wondering what you're seeing there. Any color you can provide geographically.

知道了。然後，帶著這個問題，我想知道——我想知道的是，如果生物技術融資情況變得更糟，你是否有機會在市場上獲得更多份額？然後讓我繼續問一個關於中國的問題。我提到過——我知道您現在在 I 期試驗中提到了 Gloria 抗 LAG-3。想知道您能否向我們介紹您在中國所看到的最新情況。我們都看到了中國在發現階段的弱點，這是目前眾所周知的。所以想知道你在那裡看到了什麼。您可以根據地理位置提供的任何顏色。

Yes. Yes, I'll take that, Puneet. I'll take the China part first, and then Kurt maybe can add some color as well. Obviously, we announced this quarter that Gloria entered the clinic in China. So it was nice to see -- it's always nice to see clinical progression out of our pipeline. And we obviously have a couple of drugs that are approved in China that Kurt can probably comment on as well. A lot of that, in terms of the later-stage visible programs out of China, really come out of some very early partnerships with OmniRat that were struck years ago, and those programs progress quickly through the clinic and then -- or approaching the clinic, which is really a representation of what you see in our pipeline with some of our assets. But maybe, Kurt, you want to talk a little bit as well?

是的。是的，我會接受的，普尼特。我會先講中國部分，然後庫爾特也許也可以添加一些顏色。顯然，我們本季度宣布格洛麗亞進入中國診所。所以很高興看到——看到我們的管道取得臨床進展總是很高興。顯然，我們有幾種在中國獲得批准的藥物，庫爾特也可能對此發表評論。就來自中國的後期可見項目而言，其中很多確實來自多年前與 OmniRat 達成的​​一些非常早期的合作夥伴關係，這些項目在臨床中迅速進展，然後 - 或接近臨床，這實際上代表了您在我們的管道中看到的一些資產。但庫爾特，也許你也想談談？

Yes, Puneet, I mean, I -- we don't have any specific knowledge relative to the sales forecast, if you will, of our partners. I know that one of our partners disclosed earlier this year that there have been supply chain issues in the first half of the year, in part due to challenges with COVID. But they also indicated that they expect that those supply chain issues will be alleviated in the second half of the year. And so they were forecasting sales to pick back up. And we obviously earn a royalty on that. I think the first part of your question, our partnerships are designed really to align sort of the economics that our partners pay with success, right? So I do think in a difficult -- if we're in a difficult funding environment, our model is conducive to have people continue to use it because they're really not paying -- they're not paying for -- or large sums of money until they actually have success, they discovering the drug and actually moving into the clinic. So I do think that there's opportunities there, and we're still continuing to see growth across our key metrics.

是的，普尼特，我的意思是，我們對我們的合作夥伴的銷售預測（如果您願意的話）沒有任何具體的了解。我知道我們的一位合作夥伴今年早些時候透露，今年上半年出現了供應鏈問題，部分原因是新冠疫情帶來的挑戰。但他們也表示，預計這些供應鏈問題將在下半年得到緩解。因此他們預測銷售額將會回升。顯然我們從中賺取了版稅。我認為你問題的第一部分，我們的合作夥伴關係的設計確實是為了協調我們的合作夥伴為成功付出的經濟代價，對吧？因此，我確實認為，在困難的融資環境中，如果我們處於困難的融資環境中，我們的模式有利於人們繼續使用它，因為他們實際上沒有付費——他們沒有付費——或者大筆資金直到他們真正取得成功，發現這種藥物並真正進入診所。因此，我確實認為那裡存在機會，而且我們仍在繼續看到關鍵指標的增長。

Your next question comes from Robyn Karnauskas from Truist Securities.

您的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Robyn Karnauskas。

I'm going to start off with a couple that I [don't know] you'll be able to answer. So can you talk a little bit about how the platform deals with Stanford and those are different than those of the pharmaceutical companies? Like how are they structured if you can give any color? And is your -- are your ion channel programs have -- do they have better economics given the scarcity of like being able to develop small molecules to those -- biologics to those programs? I would think that they have better economics since you're adding a lot more value.

我將從一些我[不知道]你能夠回答的問題開始。那麼您能談談該平台與斯坦福大學的交易方式以及與製藥公司的交易方式有何不同嗎？如果你可以給它們任何顏色，它們是如何構造的？鑑於缺乏能夠開發小分子的生物製劑，您的離子通道項目是否具有更好的經濟效益？我認為他們有更好的經濟效益，因為你增加了更多的價值。

Yes, Robyn, thanks. I'll answer your second question first on the ion channel programs. And really, the short answer is yes. The way those programs are structured, we are granting exclusivity to the target -- to the specific target with that -- with those partners. They're accessing not only technology and capability, but novel cell lines, novel reagents, novel screening technologies, et cetera. So that then drives really a different and a higher economic structure. The 5 programs that are highlighted in the deck today for ion channel and transporter collaboration, both those are with GSK and with Roche, those 5 programs alone have $1 billion in milestones and royalties that are higher than our standard platform license agreements. So those are assets that we're excited about. Obviously, we highlighted the GSK program today. But the short answer is yes.

是的，羅賓，謝謝。我將首先回答你關於離子通道程序的第二個問題。事實上，簡短的回答是肯定的。這些計劃的構建方式是，我們與這些合作夥伴一起向目標（特定目標）授予排他性。他們不僅獲得技術和能力，還獲得新的細胞系、新的試劑、新的篩選技術等等。因此，這確實推動了一種不同的、更高的經濟結構。今天的演示文稿中重點介紹的5 個離子通道和轉運蛋白合作項目，均與GSK 和羅氏合作，僅這5 個項目就擁有10 億美元的里程碑和特許權使用費，高於我們的標準平台許可協議。所以這些是我們感到興奮的資產。顯然，我們今天重點介紹了葛蘭素史克 (GSK) 計劃。但簡短的回答是肯定的。

Now to your first question about the different sorts of deals. We have, in recent quarters, leaned into not only license agreements with leaders in the industry, commercial -- those that are investing a lot in R&D and commercialization like Merck and Neurocrine, but also with academic centers, leading academic centers. And just as a general matter of policy and based on confidentiality, we don't disclose specific deal structures, but we have -- and in our corporate deck, we've outlined typical deal terms for all of our deals. And they fall within boundaries that we previously disclosed. There are multiple parts of the deals, there are upfront payments, there are milestones, there are royalties and there's an interplay between those.

現在回答您關於不同類型交易的第一個問題。最近幾個季度，我們不僅與行業、商業領域的領導者（默克和Neurocrine 等在研發和商業化方面投入大量資金的領導者）達成了許可協議，而且還與學術中心、領先的學術中心達成了許可協議。正如一般政策問題和基於保密性一樣，我們不會披露具體的交易結構，但我們在公司平台上概述了所有交易的典型交易條款。它們屬於我們之前披露的範圍。交易有多個部分，有預付款、里程碑、特許權使用費，而且這些之間存在相互作用。

But in terms of access to the platform, there really are not major differences between the deals signed with, say, a traditional commercial pharma and the academic centers. But on the business side, obviously, it would be highly unusual for an academic center to commercialize the drug on its own. Obviously, these folks have leading-edge biology. They generally want to translate that into therapeutics that then get spun out into companies. So really, the only difference is we'll have special provisions with -- that specifically deal with how those economics will work when the academic institution chooses to out-license the program or form a company around it. But at a basic sense, they're very similar. There are just some specific provisions that are more applicable to the academic setting.

但就平台訪問而言，與傳統商業製藥公司和學術中心簽署的協議之間確實沒有重大差異。但在商業方面，顯然，學術中心自行將藥物商業化是極不尋常的。顯然，這些人擁有前沿的生物學知識。他們通常希望將其轉化為治療方法，然後將其分拆成公司。所以實際上，唯一的區別是我們將有特殊的規定——專門處理當學術機構選擇超越該項目的許可或圍繞該項目組建公司時，這些經濟學將如何運作。但從基本意義上講，它們非常相似。只有一些更適用於學術環境的具體規定。

That's really helpful. And I guess a follow-up, it's like $1 billion is a lot. So have you been able to negotiate since you've been working with these companies, a little bit more disclosure about what you need to see to get those milestones? And then my last question, sorry for so many. You don't talk a lot about OmniDeep, and I know you believe that nature-based (inaudible), but I'm just wondering if you're willing to leverage OmniDeep platforms to AI/ML-based in silico antibody design. It's a hot topic right now, so I thought I'd ask that question.

這真的很有幫助。我想後續行動，10 億美元已經是很多了。那麼，自從您與這些公司合作以來，您是否能夠進行談判，更多地披露您需要看到什麼才能實現這些里程碑？然後是我的最後一個問題，對這麼多人感到抱歉。您沒有過多談論 OmniDeep，我知道您相信基於自然（聽不清），但我只是想知道您是否願意利用 OmniDeep 平台進行基於 AI/ML 的矽片抗體設計。這是現在的熱門話題，所以我想我會問這個問題。

On the first part, just financially, the way these deals are structured, they're really structured the same way as our other deals, right? So there are typically clinical stage milestones as they progress through the clinic and royalties. The difference is that the magnitude of the payments are larger and mostly because of a function of the exclusivity on which we have written these deals. On the antibody side, all of the things that people are going after, those are nonexclusive targets. Whereas with the ion channels, these targets are being licensed out on an exclusive basis. And as a result, that's what triggers the larger economics. But there's nothing unusual necessarily about the types of things they fall within that same sort of deal structure of upfront payment and milestones and royalties.

首先，就財務而言，這些交易的結構方式實際上與我們其他交易的結構方式相同，對吧？因此，隨著臨床進展和特許權使用費，通常會有臨床階段里程碑。不同之處在於，支付的金額更大，主要是因為我們簽訂這些交易時具有排他性。在抗體方面，人們追求的所有東西都是非排他性目標。而對於離子通道，這些目標是獨家授權的。結果，這就是引發更大經濟的原因。但它們屬於相同類型的預付款、里程碑和特許權使用費交易結構的事物類型並沒有什麼不尋常的。

Yes, and I'll be happy to comment on the AI question, Robyn. Obviously, given the visibility and use of AI associated with technologies or industries that are, I'll say, highly visible in a popular sense or counted in a popular sense. This is obviously a question we do get. And OmniDeep, I'll just say, is our suite of in silico tools for therapeutic antibody discovery and optimization that are really woven throughout our various technologies and capabilities. And these tools include the structural modeling and large -- very large multi-species antibody databases, AI and machine learning sequence models and more. And it really -- it allows for optimization of identification of candidates that come out of our technology.

是的，我很樂意對人工智能問題發表評論，羅賓。顯然，考慮到與技術或行業相關的人工智能的可見性和使用，我想說，這些技術或行業在流行意義上是高度可見的或在流行意義上計數的。這顯然是我們確實遇到的一個問題。我只想說，OmniDeep 是我們用於治療性抗體發現和優化的計算機工具套件，它真正融入了我們的各種技術和能力。這些工具包括結構建模和大型、超大型多物種抗體數據庫、人工智能和機器學習序列模型等。它確實可以優化我們技術中候選人的識別。

Now there's -- to the core of your question, obviously, there's a lot of discussion around AI and its use -- kind of sole AI approaches. And I think the element of that, that might not be as well understood is that there are really some important considerations and limitations of that, and that's why we think there's so much power in not only the biological intelligence of our animals, but also the leveraging our AI capabilities. Now we've been using in silicon and AI tools in our downstream work for a long time actually, especially on the screening side and some of our work around the ion channels and transporters. So we have deep expertise here in our organization that we really kind of rolled out in the concept of OmniDeep in Q2, but these have been woven throughout our organization and technology from the spirit of cutting edge and good science for quite a long time.

現在，對於你的問題的核心，顯然，有很多關於人工智能及其使用的討論——一種唯一的人工智能方法。我認為其中的一個因素，可能沒有被很好地理解，那就是確實存在一些重要的考慮因素和局限性，這就是為什麼我們認為不僅我們動物的生物智能，而且還有如此強大的力量。利用我們的人工智能能力。現在，我們實際上已經在下游工作中使用矽和人工智能工具很長時間了，特別是在篩選方面以及我們圍繞離子通道和轉運蛋白的一些工作。因此，我們在我們的組織中擁有深厚的專業知識，我們確實在第二季度以OmniDeep 的概念推出了這些專業知識，但長期以來，這些知識一直本著尖端和良好科學的精神貫穿在我們的組織和技術中。

And in fact, more than a couple of years ago, we actually did a deal with landing AI for a vision portion of AI that we incorporated into our exploration platform successfully that has really been kind of a wild success story around how we leverage our screening. But I'll say on the technical level, there's a lot of limitations to just AI approaches. So really the power of OmniDeep comes from marrying it to, what I'll call, the biological intelligence of our transgenic animals because a carefully engineered transgenic animal system really has many of the tests that are needed to select a winning antibody inherently built into them as natural checkpoints. So you can essentially try and test millions of different sequence possibilities rather than just doing it in a model. And obviously, the biological system can weave those out. Now we do leverage AI and other ways downstream from that with large amounts of data. And I think that's where a lot of that power comes from. So I know I got a little technical there, but hopefully, that makes sense.

事實上，幾年前，我們實際上就人工智能的視覺部分達成了一項協議，我們成功地將其納入我們的探索平台，這確實是一個關於我們如何利用篩選的巨大成功故事。但我想說的是，在技術層面上，人工智能方法有很多限制。因此，OmniDeep 的真正力量來自於將其與我所說的轉基因動物的生物智能結合起來，因為精心設計的轉基因動物系統確實擁有許多測試，需要這些測試來選擇內在內置的獲勝抗體作為自然檢查站。因此，您實際上可以嘗試並測試數百萬種不同的序列可能性，而不僅僅是在模型中進行。顯然，生物系統可以將這些編織出來。現在，我們確實利用人工智能和其他下游方式來處理大量數據。我認為這就是很多力量的來源。所以我知道我在那裡掌握了一些技術，但希望這是有道理的。

Your next question comes from Stephen Willey from Stifel.

您的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Stephen Willey。

I appreciate some of the macro commentary that you provided. I know some of your peers have been kind of talking about that of late. But I guess, have you seen much in the way of any uptick of attrition just on the discovery program front? And would you expect that to be kind of the better surrogate of some of the macro challenges just given some of the reprioritization of R&D spend and, I guess, kind of broader pipeline streaming efforts that we're starting to see across the space?

我很欣賞您提供的一些宏觀評論。我知道你的一些同行最近一直在談論這個問題。但我想，您是否看到了發現計劃方面的人員消耗增加的情況？考慮到研發支出的一些優先順序的重新調整，以及我們開始在整個領域看到的更廣泛的管道流工作，您是否認為這會成為一些宏觀挑戰的更好替代品？

Yes. I mean, a great question, Steve. I'd say, really nothing specific there on the attrition front. As we noted, obviously, I'll just say at the outset, attrition is a natural part of the pharmaceutical industry, as we all know, many things fail, and that's -- the fact that there is attrition is obviously expected. This last quarter, we only saw attrition in the discovery phase and just in discovery stage assets. Looking back a little bit in the fourth quarter of last year, we saw first program attrition at the clinical stage, 2 partners had exited certain therapeutic areas or specific therapeutic areas, those assets themselves may have potential in other hands, but are not included in our program count anymore. I bring that up as an example. It's difficult to say. Is that a macro thing? Is that just larger partners focusing in those specific instances? It's very difficult to say. So I think it's hard to answer your question specifically, but these are all metrics that we always monitor all the time, and obviously, keep having deep dialogue with our partners. So hopefully, that gives you a little more color.

是的。我的意思是，這是一個很好的問題，史蒂夫。我想說，在人員流失方面確實沒有什麼具體的內容。正如我們所指出的，顯然，我首先要說的是，人員流失是製藥行業的自然組成部分，眾所周知，很多事情都會失敗，而事實是，人員流失顯然是預料之中的。上個季度，我們只看到發現階段和發現階段資產的損耗。回顧一下去年第四季度，我們看到了臨床階段的第一個項目的流失，有2個合作夥伴退出了某些治療領域或特定治療領域，這些資產本身在其他人手中可能有潛力，但不包括在其中。我們的計劃不再重要了。我舉這個例子。很難說。這是宏觀的事情嗎？難道只是較大的合作夥伴專注於這些特定的情況嗎？很難說。所以我認為很難具體回答你的問題，但這些都是我們一直監控的指標，顯然，我們一直在與我們的合作夥伴進行深入對話。希望這能給你更多的色彩。

Okay. And I guess the work that's ongoing in the ion channel space, I know that these, again, are being kind of out-licensed on a target exclusive basis. But I guess, for those targets that have already been claimed by either GSK or Roche, and I understand that all of these are difficult to drug. But I guess, how would you kind of characterize these targets that they've selected in the hierarchy of things that are difficult to do within the ion channel space itself? And how much more kind of green space in the target universe do you think that you have over the next kind of 1, 3, 5 years?

好的。我猜想離子通道領域正在進行的工作，我知道這些工作再次在目標獨家的基礎上獲得了許可。但我想，對於葛蘭素史克或羅氏已經聲稱的那些目標，我知道所有這些都很難藥物化。但我想，你會如何描述他們在離子通道空間本身難以完成的事情的層次結構中選擇的這些目標？您認為在未來 1 年、3 年、5 年裡，目標宇宙中還會有多少種綠色空間？

Yes. Great question, Steve. The description -- obviously, there's a substantial amount of confidentiality considerations and other things with partners that we always respect of course. But the GSK relationship is around specific targets for neurological disorders. And at the discovery phase, it was an agreement that was originally struck a couple of years ago, so it's progressed well. Obviously, we announced the milestone in this quarter. And I'll just say when folks are pursuing ion channels and transporters, these are generally considered high-value targets, right?

是的。好問題，史蒂夫。描述——顯然，有大量的保密考慮以及我們始終尊重的合作夥伴的其他事項。但葛蘭素史克的關係是圍繞神經系統疾病的特定目標展開的。在發現階段，這項協議最初是幾年前達成的，所以進展順利。顯然，我們在本季度宣布了這一里程碑。我只想說，當人們追求離子通道和轉運蛋白時，這些通常被認為是高價值目標，對嗎？

And I'll just comment generally. I think GSK has a really ambitious innovation agenda in this area. They stated publicly a goal to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of 2030. So that's a really aggressive goal and an ambitious one, and we're excited to be collaborating with them. I think these are our programs where we've got distinct capabilities and cell lines and reagents and other things as well as high-throughput screening as well as the ability to leverage multiple modalities, which I think are the kinds of things that can attract more of these sorts of partnerships potentially in the future.

我只是一般性地發表評論。我認為葛蘭素史克在這一領域有一個非常雄心勃勃的創新議程。他們公開宣布了到 2030 年底對 25 億人的健康產生積極影響的目標。因此，這是一個非常激進且雄心勃勃的目標，我們很高興與他們合作。我認為這些是我們的項目，我們擁有獨特的能力、細胞系、試劑和其他東西，以及高通量篩選以及利用多種模式的能力，我認為這些東西可以吸引更多人未來可能會建立此類合作夥伴關係。

Your next question comes from Matt Hewitt from Craig-Hallum.

您的下一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum 的 Matt Hewitt。

This is Jack, on for Matt. Obviously, you've recently just launched OmniDeep, and I was just kind of curious what the initial reception has been for your customers?

這是傑克，替馬特發言。顯然，您最近剛剛推出了 OmniDeep，我只是有點好奇您的客戶最初的反應如何？

Yes. Thanks, Jack. I'll say, very positive. We launched it at the PEGS Conference in Boston in May. And I'll say that the feedback in the room is a big area, a big presentation, very well attended, and the feedback from partners who were sitting in the room was almost immediate. And it continues to be an area of focus in terms of not only new programs, but potentially taking different approaches to increase the potential success rate of some existing programs with partners and our -- obviously, our research and innovation team and our BD team continues to partner on that as we talk with partners about it. So the feedback has been quite positive.

是的。謝謝，傑克。我會說，非常積極。我們於 5 月份在波士頓舉行的 PEGS 會議上推出了它。我想說的是，房間裡的反饋是一個很大的區域，一個很大的演示，參與人數非常多，坐在房間裡的合作夥伴的反饋幾乎是即時的。它仍然是一個重點領域，不僅是新項目，而且可能採取不同的方法來提高與合作夥伴和我們的一些現有項目的潛在成功率——顯然，我們的研究和創新團隊以及我們的業務發展團隊繼續當我們與合作夥伴討論這個問題時，就這個問題進行合作。所以反饋非常積極。

Your next question comes from Chad Wiatrowski from TD Cowen.

您的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Chad Wiatrowski。

Matt, Kurt, it's Chad on for Steven Mah. Yes, congrats on the GSK milestone. Could you give us some more detail as to what differentiates your tech stack from peers who also claim at these historically difficult targets such as ion channels or an opportunity that they're pursuing as well?

馬特、庫爾特，查德代替史蒂文·馬。是的，祝賀葛蘭素史克取得里程碑。您能否向我們提供更多詳細信息，說明您的技術堆棧與同樣聲稱實現了這些歷史上困難的目標（例如離子通道）或他們正在追求的機會的同行有何不同？

Yes, sure. Happy to talk more about it. I think one of the -- a few things differentiate our technology, right? At the core is the foundation of the multi-species approach that we can present. But beyond that, we highlighted a little bit about our commitment to continually expanding our capabilities around the ion channel space. We have a long history here that really date back decades in terms of building high-throughput screening that can be applicable to a variety of modalities, I think that is extremely important in this space where -- and especially in the industry overall, where the lines between different approaches and modalities are becoming creatively blurred intentionally. And I think we are really at a spot where we can leverage that different than others.

是的，當然。很高興能更多地談論它。我認為其中之一是我們的技術有一些與眾不同之處，對嗎？其核心是我們可以提出的多物種方法的基礎。但除此之外，我們還強調了我們對不斷擴展離子通道空間能力的承諾。我們在建立可適用於各種模式的高通量篩選方面擁有悠久的歷史，可以追溯到幾十年前，我認為這在這個領域極其重要，特別是在整個行業中，不同方法和模式之間的界限正在被有意地創造性地模糊。我認為我們確實處於一個可以利用與其他人不同的地方。

We've also built up an extensive bank of custom cell lines that are specifically designed to facilitate the discovery in these areas -- in some of these specific areas. That's something that's been built up over many years. And when you marry that with our other discovery and repertoire generation and screening technologies, it really does, I think, position us in a pretty unique fashion. And I think that's why folks like GSK and Roche are attractive to us for these sorts of partnerships.

我們還建立了一個廣泛的定制細胞系庫，這些細胞係是專門為促進這些領域（其中一些特定領域）的發現而設計的。這是多年來積累起來的東西。我認為，當你將其與我們的其他發現、曲目生成和篩選技術結合起來時，它確實使我們處於一種非常獨特的方式。我認為這就是為什麼像葛蘭素史克和羅氏這樣的公司對我們的此類合作夥伴關係有吸引力。

Really helpful. And I appreciate the improved downstream economics regarding ion channels, but there's sort of precedent that exclusivity of targets has led to some significant upfront payments. So is there an opportunity here to drive some upside in the near-term?

真的很有幫助。我很欣賞離子通道下游經濟效益的改善，但有先例表明目標的排他性導致了一些巨額的預付款。那麼，短期內是否有機會推動上漲呢？

All deals are become a negotiation, right? And so I think to the extent that we show success that we always try to leverage that for higher payments. I think as we look historically, a lot of this -- the difference between this and the antibody business has been more just on the exclusivity. The other thing that I would point out on the ion channel side and Matt talked a little bit about the expertise that we have. And so for the most part, with these ion channel programs, there's a license that for a target on an exclusive basis, but then we are continuing to do all of that work.

所有交易都變成了談判，對嗎？因此，我認為，只要我們取得了成功，我們總是會嘗試利用這一點來獲得更高的付款。我認為，當我們回顧歷史時，很多這樣的業務與抗體業務之間的區別更多地在於排他性。我要在離子通道方面指出的另一件事是，馬特談到了我們擁有的專業知識。因此，在大多數情況下，對於這些離子通道計劃，有一個針對目標的獨家許可，但我們將繼續做所有這些工作。

And so a big portion of the service revenue that we generate comes from the ion channel side of the business. In many cases, the partners are pre-paying for that and sort of gave the example today on the specific GSK program where they paid $7 million upfront that was being amortized over the research period. So we are able to generate relative to the antibody side of that business, call it, outsized economics just on a relative basis. But a lot of that is just this function of that it's on an exclusive basis.

因此，我們產生的服務收入的很大一部分來自業務的離子通道方面。在許多情況下，合作夥伴都會為此預先付款，今天就具體的葛蘭素史克項目為例，他們預付了 700 萬美元，並在研究期間攤銷。因此，我們能夠在相對基礎上產生相對於該業務的抗體方面的巨大經濟效益。但其中很多只是它的排他性功能。

(Operator Instructions) Your next question comes from Yuan Zhi from B. Riley.

（操作員說明） 您的下一個問題來自 B. Riley 的袁志。

This is Brandon Carney on for Yuan. You talked some about the trends you've been seeing in the discovery stage. Can you comment on the clinical stage regarding delays or cancellations of clinical trials? Can you comment on what you've observed so far related to the projects you're tracking the biologics to build them?

我是布蘭登·卡尼（Brandon Carney）代表袁征發言。您談到了您在發現階段看到的趨勢。您能否對臨床試驗延遲或取消的臨床階段發表評論？您能否評論一下迄今為止您所觀察到的與您正在跟踪生物製劑以構建它們的項目相關的情況？

Yes. This is Matt. I'll comment and Kurt have some comments here. When we started the year, we said we expected 3 to 5 new clinical entrants this year. At the end of Q2, we were actually already at 3. And today, we're focused now on a higher area there of 4 to 5 this year. And so we're seeing nice clinical progression or graduation into the clinical stage. We are pleased this quarter to see some assets move out of discovery into preclinical, which means that they're then preparing to enter the clinic. So we are seeing nice progression in the portfolio. I don't know, if, Kurt, anything you'd want to add to that?

是的。這是馬特。我會發表評論，庫爾特也有一些評論。年初時，我們表示預計今年將有 3 到 5 個新的臨床參與者。在第二季度末，我們實際上已經達到了 3。今天，我們現在的重點是今年 4 到 5 的更高區域。因此，我們看到了良好的臨床進展或進入臨床階段。我們很高興本季度看到一些資產從發現階段轉向臨床前階段，這意味著它們隨後準備進入臨床。因此，我們看到投資組合取得了良好的進展。庫爾特，我不知道你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

We have not actually seen a lot of clinical attrition in terms of the clinical attrition that we have seen, it's really not -- it's been a function of partners exiting therapeutic areas as opposed to sort of any failure of a study or something like that. As Matt said, attrition is part of this business, and it will happen. But our experience thus far on the clinical side has actually been pretty darn good relative to industry averages.

就我們所看到的臨床減員而言，我們實際上並沒有看到很多臨床減員，這實際上不是——這是合作夥伴退出治療領域的一個功能，而不是任何研究失敗或類似的事情。正如馬特所說，人員流失是這項業務的一部分，而且這種情況將會發生。但迄今為止，我們在臨床方面的經驗相對於行業平均水平來說實際上相當不錯。

That's helpful. And one last one from us. Have you noticed any shifted interest in biologics development due to the Inflation Reduction Act?

這很有幫助。還有我們的最後一張。您是否注意到由於《通貨膨脹減少法案》而對生物製品開發的興趣發生了變化？

I mean, I'll just make a comment. I mean, our business is mostly on the antibody business -- on the antibody side. So it is probably a more attractive place to develop drugs just given the benefits that have been afforded by the Inflation Reduction Act. But given that we -- if we had a small molecule offering and an antibody's offering, would we see more people moving over the antibody? I don't know. It's tough to say. We believe that we've got a great platform, and we're continuing to attract new players as evidenced by the 4 new deals that we signed this quarter. So Matt, I don't know if you have?

我的意思是，我只是發表評論。我的意思是，我們的業務主要是抗體業務——抗體方面。因此，考慮到《通貨膨脹減少法案》所帶來的好處，它可能是一個更有吸引力的藥物開發場所。但考慮到我們——如果我們提供小分子產品和抗體產品，我們會看到更多的人轉向抗體嗎？我不知道。很難說。我們相信我們擁有一個出色的平台，並且我們將繼續吸引新玩家，本季度簽署的 4 項新協議就證明了這一點。那麼馬特，我不知道你有沒有？

Yes. I think -- I mean, I'd add that because of the higher success rates of antibody-based medicine as compared to small molecules, from a scientific and technical perspective, there've been an evolving shift in the industry because of those higher success rates. So that's something obviously we see and hear and know. Now, the IRA, obviously, the legislation will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers for a select number of high-cost drugs starting, I believe, in 2026, and there are exceptions to how all those negotiations can happen and that sort of thing. But there are, I'll say, a longer tail that's afforded to biologics medicines, which is something that may accelerate the interest in the industry and a shift towards biologic medicines that we saw happening already in advance of IRA.

是的。我認為——我的意思是，我想補充一點，由於與小分子相比，基於抗體的藥物的成功率更高，從科學和技術的角度來看，由於這些更高的成功率，該行業已經發生了不斷發展的轉變。成功率。所以這顯然是我們看到、聽到和知道的。現在，IRA，顯然，該立法將允許醫療保險從 2026 年開始與製造商就選定數量的高成本藥品進行藥品價格談判，並且所有這些談判如何進行以及此類談判都有例外情況事物。但我要說的是，生物藥品有更長的尾巴，這可能會加速人們對該行業的興趣，以及我們在 IRA 之前就看到的向生物藥品的轉變。

So I think if anything, it can help accelerate the interest there. But I think the science and the probability of success in medical benefit in terms of the specificity that antibody-based medicines provide and predictability for development was already starting that shift. So if anything, it just may accelerate it.

所以我認為，如果有的話，它可以幫助提高人們的興趣。但我認為，就基於抗體的藥物提供的特異性和發展的可預測性而言，科學和醫療效益成功的可能性已經開始了這種轉變。因此，如果有的話，它可能會加速這一進程。

There are no further questions at this time. I will turn the call back over to the CEO, Matt Foehr.

目前沒有其他問題。我會將電話轉回給首席執行官馬特·福爾 (Matt Foehr)。

Great. Thank you. I'd like to thank everyone for participating in today's call and for your questions. We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress and speaking with you next quarter and at various investment conferences we'll be attending in the coming weeks and in the fall. We'll be at the Stifel Conference coming up. We'll also be at H.C. Wainwright, Cantor as well as the Craig-Hallum Capital Conferences in New York in the fall. So in the meantime, we appreciate your interest in OmniAb, and thanks again. Have a great day.

偉大的。謝謝。我要感謝大家參加今天的電話會議並提出問題。我們期待向您通報我們的最新進展，並在下個季度以及我們將在未來幾周和秋季參加的各種投資會議上與您交談。我們將參加即將舉行的斯蒂菲爾會議。我們也將在 H.C.溫賴特、坎託以及秋季在紐約舉行的克雷格-哈勒姆資本會議。因此，與此同時，我們感謝您對 OmniAb 的興趣，並再次表示感謝。祝你有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for joining, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的加入，您現在可以斷開線路了。謝謝。