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Operator
Good afternoon. My name is Brook (phonetic) and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Esperion quarterly conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer period. (CALLER INSTRUCTIONS). Mr. Thomas, you may begin your conference.
MR. FRANK THOMAS
Thank you, Brook. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for Esperion's fourth quarter and the year end 2002 conference call. I am Frank Thomas, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. In the call today, we are going to follow the same format we used in the past. Following my introduction Dr. Roger Newton, Esperion's President and Chief Executive Officer will give an update on the progress and the status of our product candidate and development. I will then provide an update on fourth quarter and year end financiald and at the end of the call, Tim Mayleben our Chief Operating Officer and CFO will review the key milestones and talk a bit more about some of our plan for the company in 2003. We will then end by taking questions. But before we begin, please bear with me as I read a brief Safe Harbor statement.
Some matters to be discussed in this conference call constitute forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this call, reflect management's current expectations, and involve certain factors such as risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These factors include risks associated with the progress and cost of development of our product candidate, the extent and timing of regulatory approval, our dependence on licensing arrangements and strategic relationships with third parties, the timing and extent of our financing needs, as well as other factors that are detailed from time to time in the company's periodic filings with the SEC. For those of you or other who might be interested a replay of today's call will be available on the Esperion Website beginning at 7:30 P.M. Eastern this evening, if you access the replay by phone you need to dial the audio replay numbers noted in the press release announced in this call and issued previously. Again I want to thank you for joining us today and now I'd like to introduce Roger who will talk about his experience in marketing opportunities and provide an update on each of our product candidate.
MR. ROGER NEWTON
Thank you, Frank and welcome to everyone for joining the call today. I will start by talking about the marketing opportunities we address (technical difficulty) Esperion. We will then go into some detail about the product and (technical difficulty) we are pursuing to take advantage of that opportunity. As some of you may know, there are more than 60 million people in United States who suffer from cardiovascular disease and that number is expected to rise as the population continues (technical difficulty). Cardiovascular disease continues to be the number one killer of both men and women and now the developed cost more than $350 billion to treat (technical difficulty) each year. That numbers projected to grow more than 25 percent annually over the next 5 years. (technical difficulty) main (technical difficulty) experience of developing products Esperion will provide the directly treat the volume of (technical difficulty) in a new and unique way. I will talking about that approach in a moment but I think it's important to stress that we are looking at entirely new way between cardiovascular (technical difficulty) As a result we seen a tremendous opportunity provide a major medical advance and to grow the market to prepare the between millions of patients effected with cardiovascular disease and it's complication. Before we talk about our individual product candidate I think it's also important to note that 2002 was certainly a year of challenges for most companies in the biotech industry.. I think Esperion was (technical difficulty) on a range of five candidate on the development pipeline and a strong financial base was better positioned to weather the storm than (inaudible). Frank will talk in more detail later about our financial performance and how it has positioned us well to meet the challenges ahead. 2002 was also a year where we worked to expand our focus on treating cardiovascular disease. This was an special component of our effort to make sure we have both financial and professional resources in place to get the job done. Regarding our (indiscernible) in progress we initiated or continued to involve patient in several clinical trial in 2002. We feel confident that these efforts represent the special (phonetic) building blocks that support our proof of concept for for HDL therapy and ultimately it help us to gain regulatory approval.
With several trials scheduled to conclude in 2003, we are excited about the opportunity (inaudible) data and share with you the next steps in our development plan later this year. Looking at each of our main product development initiatives, I am pleased to report that we made important progress in all fronts in 2002. Our most advanced product candidate is ETC-588 or LUV. This product candidate is a life result that works in concert with a existing HDL (technical difficulty) removal cholesterol from arteries and other tissues through the reverse (technical difficulty) method. The particle approximately 10 times size of HDL, which means that it has a very high capacity to carry mobilize cholesterol to the liver for removal. This product candidate represent the nominal (technical difficulty) treatment as more (inaudible). By working with existing HDL, we believe that the LUB can help the body to move cholesterol more quickly and efficiently. There are currently two Phase II clinical trials ongoing clinical trials for (inaudible) these two trials are running simultaneously to speed the development which product (technical difficulty) in preparation or a possible (inaudible) to leading in 2004. The first of the two trials which we call the 04 study, which initiated in June of last year. This study will include up to 32 patients with (inaudible) The primarily point of study is to change flat volume from baseline to the end of eight week dosage period.. We are using (indiscernible) imaging or MRI, to determine the change of plaque volume with a necessary volume of precision we need for each patient. In addition to taking the MRI images pretreatment and post treatment, we are also taking images at 4 week, mid waypoint as well as forward images 3 months after treatment. We believe that these additional images will provide inside (technical difficulty) of the advance LUV in the moving (technical difficulty) as well the persistence of the effect following treatment. We also have a second phase (inaudible) the old (technical difficulty) study which was initiated December of 2002, that will include our 150 patient with acute (technical difficulty). We primarily (technical difficulty) safety and tolerability by our initial targeted patient population is the ACS patient. There are several important elements of this trial for us. First this study is the initial experience of (inaudible) ACS patient which is the patient population more in need treatment directly targeting source of their disease of all (technical difficulty). Second, this trial was three times more (technical difficulty) with any previous trial conduct by Esperion and we will provide more comprehensive statement profile for LUV. Finally these patients will be followed for 6 months after treatment and (technical difficulty) will be monitored and (indiscernible) as a part of our collection of the safety data.
The next product candidate is ETC-216 or ApoA-I Milano, which we often refer to as AIM. This compound contains a variant of the natural form of ApoA-I, the major protein in HDL. By complexing the protein to a phospolipid, ETC-216 mimics the properties of naturally occurring HDL. AIM is currently in a Phase II trial in patients with HDL. This study involve intra vascular ultrasound provide us of the coronary arteries to examine plaque volume both pre and post-treatment. With a primary end point being the change in plaque volume. The trial began in late of 2001 when we expect our last patient to enroll within the next few weeks. If the enrollment is completed as anticipate him we should be in a position to present (technical difficulty)results in Q2 of this year. It's very (technical difficulty) biopharmaceutical product candidate (inaudible) element ETC-642 or the RLT peptide. This is a 22-amino acid peptide that mimics the key properties of HDL with complex to a phospolipid. The product candidate is currently in a phase I similar those studies to determine the maximum tolerance (inaudible). The result from this study as well as the first seen of those study of (technical difficulty) will provide important data to assist us in designing the (inaudible) to follow on over to those study that we plane to initiative later this year. Last but certainly not least, the pre clinical work we plan to initiate our first trial with (technical difficulty) of early second quarter pending the agency acceptance of the IMV. I think it's important to note there are small molecule is intended to be an important treatment for patient with lipid disorders.
We (indiscernible) orally once (technical difficulty) and will compliment - by positive re-impacting the complement of profile which of course represents a tremendous market opportunity. In addition to ESP-31015, we have several other oral small molecules in pre-clinical valuation that show promise as potential lead compounds. While it's premature to discuss these efforts at this early stage then we hear more of our (technical difficulty). So as I hope I demonstrated, all of us at Esperion (indiscernible) we have been able weather the storm in our industry of 2002 pretty well. The main profile was the most critical areas of our development where we are utilizing our resources to the force to keep these efforts on track for 2003. That concludes my comments for this portion of the call.
In summary, Esperion is grateful for your support in 2002 and we anticipate that 2003 will provide many opportunities, which show the value that Espersion can generate using HDL therapy to treat cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of death in America and throughout the world.
Now I would like to turn the call back over to Frank Thomas for a review of our fourth quarter and the 2002 final results and our projections going forward. Frank?
MR. FRANK THOMAS
Thanks Roger. I want to start by highlighting some of the key points for our fourth quarter and year end result. I also want to point out that you will get more specific details about the quarter and year on the press release we issued earlier this afternoon. It is available on our website at "http://www.esperion.com".
During the quarter we reported a net loss of $6.6 million or 23 cents per share. We ended 2002 with almost $45 million in cash and short-term investments, which represent a net spend of $25.4 million for the year and $4.9 million for the quarter. Reportedly these results were below our guidance of $7 to 8 million that we have provided on our Q3 call. Much of that variance relates to the status and timing of our clinical development programs. But also it is important with total spend rate for 2002 was only modestly higher than our spend rate for 2001, which we believe is supportive of preserving shareholder value in time of economic uncertainty. We also ended the quarter with 29.4 million shares outstanding. Looking ahead to 2003 now, we are expecting operating expenses of approximately $28 to 30 million independent of cash generated from any other source including potential corporate collaboration, This represents an approximate 5 percent increase over 2002. Tim will provide a more thorough update on the status of our (indiscernible) discussion in a moment.
In addition, to our (indiscernible) effort we are also continuing to monitor the (indiscernible) market and as we have in the done in the past, we will be optimistic about considering an additional financing. To be considering any option our goal will always to be to make sure that Esperion has the financial resource to keep all of our development opportunities forward. As going to the future financing may call for one or more combination of one or more corporate partnership and from the public market and we will continue to consider both alternatives to make sure that we are well positioned to take advantage of favorable market condition to meet our capital needs. Before I hand to Tim I also would like to announce that Frank (phonetic) will be presenting tomorrow at 3:00 P.M. Easter at the (technical difficulty). And with that I would like to introduce Tim Mayleben, our Chief Operating Officer and CFO who talk milestones and other opportunities for a company in the coming year.
MR. TIM MAYLEBEN
Thank you, Frank. In the next few minutes, I would like to provide you an update on the status of Esperion milestones for 2003 and also talk a bit about our partnering discussions and the important option we are considering and now pursuing in that area. First of all we continue discussion with various potential partners. These discussions are at various stages of the progress from early stage investments all the way through due diligence. We want to make sure that any decision are made in the appropriate timeframe and we balancing the maximum positive impact on our product development initiatives with retaining development and commercial rights to enhance shareholder value. As you may recall, our goal is to find one or more partners, who can bring substantial and complimentary skill set and resources as well as clinical regulatory and commercial expertise to the development and eventual launch of our product candidates. The primary focus of our discussions has been to secure a co-development, co-promotion partnership for either the LUV program or the RLT peptide program. More recently, we have initiated discussions with potential partners for our oral small molecule program. In this case we are pursuing a research and development collaboration and there is early interest from a number of big pharma company. We think it's the testament to the quality of our style and the unique approach we are introducing to the treatment of cardiovascular to be as a response that's far in partnership talks have been very encouraging. HDL is becoming broadly recognized as an important therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Potential partners are attracted by the team of lipid expert's we have assembled here in Esperion and recognize that we are building a pipeline of innovative product candidates for the acute and chronic treatment of cardiovascular disease uniquely focusing on HDL therapy. We are pleased with the levels of interest and confident that these conversations will prove fruitful for Esperion. Now I would like to turn to Esperion's milestone for the coming quarter and beyond.
First, in the next few weeks we plan to compete enrolement in the ETC-21602 study with AIM, or ApoA-I Milano, which is using (indiscernible) to measure changes in plaque volume in the coronary artery. This should position us to report Q2 results to you in Q2.
Next, in the second quarter we plan to initiate the first phase I single-dose tolerance study of ESP-31015, our first oral small molecule product chemical (phonetic). Now for the rest of the first half of 2003, we hope to complete enrollment in several ongoing trials for the other two clinical stage product candidates. This will include of 58804 MRI study which is measuring changes in plaque volume as a carotid with LUV treatment , 58805 study evaluating safety and tolerability of LUV in a 150 patient with ACS and finally the 64202 single-dose tolerance study, looking at safety and tolerability of the RLT peptide of higher doses.
In the second half of 2003, we expect to report results from the phase I single-dose study with ETC-642 RLT peptide and begin the first multiple dose study of a peptide in patient with stable atherosclerosis. Also, in the second half of 2003, we expect to report result from the 58804 LUV study in patients with indication with carotid atherosclerosis. Overall, we are in a strong position demanding schedule for 2003. Both the company resources and the efforts to strengthen our professional capabilities in all areas of clinical and product development last year that put us in a solid position. We continue to build on the accomplishment of 2002 in this New Year.
On behalf of all of my colleagues here of Esperion, I would like again to thank you for joining us today. We would now be happy to provide you with more detail on any key topics or issues and the last the conference call operator to open the call to your questions.
Operator
(CALLER INSTRUCTIONS) Mark Monane of Needham & Co.
THE CALLER
Can you outline the characteristics of the gone over profits. How long we seen this first thing done today and how does the sprit out there (technical difficulty) in terms of this individual molecules.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
As you know Mark to be a (indiscernible) package it's really come into majority over the 5 to 8 years, techniques to be able to actually image and the volume plaque is characterize by the fact that it a (technical difficulty) that lines th vessel that has a because high amount of lipid or cholesterol (indiscernible) but it usually characterized by think (indiscernible) because it can be creative from the air lining below, outside than plaguing it in the potential (indiscernible). I think 5 percent of higher construction caused by the volume of plaque which is unfortunately still goes undiagnosed in most patients. In addition, in the Asia's ratio (phonetic) population there is now (indiscernible) show that 80 percent of the patients where they have the appropriate plaque, by surgical interventions and usually these are individuals who (technical difficulty) and each surgery are 80 percent of them have more and more additional volume of plaques in their coronary arteries which basically after the (indiscernible). These patients more often have in the next 6 months, 25 percent of them are non-diabetic and 20 percent of them (indiscernible) so the all of plaque it's one which we are highly focusing on are because we believe the HDL therapy has the capabilities and the capacity to remove cholesterol and stabilize the plaque (indiscernible) nearby decreasing the possibility of having an additional stroke or additional volume plaque. But we believe that our studies, which are looking at are change by volume (indiscernible) ability of being able to show that the prior volume which is predominantly lipid can potentially be (indiscernible) as a result of their (technical difficulty).
THE CALLER
Thanks for your explanation. A little bit more on drugs. (indiscernible) over which parts of the RLT each of the drugs in really (indiscernible) and comes that do this models (indiscernible).
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
There are two classes of agents in the biopharmaceuticals of with development, first is the (indiscernible) or the LUV which during our prior we meets through the 10 times larger than the HDL. This is actually happening at the spinach (phonetic) or cholesterol that actually works very (indiscernible) and had partnership with the existing HDL to the same cholesterol that is removed tissues from the artery and the interior wall. Substantially there are people who have (indiscernible) function compromise and the second class are HDL (indiscernible) and that's where the and the oil (indiscernible) to potentially enhanced, and dramatically enhanced the capacity of HDL to remove cholesterol rapidly from each volume of plaques or basically what we are doing our therapy typically was the HDL (indiscernible) is to increase the number of (indiscernible) and initial acknowledges to trying to move where you have product filing at the warehouse if you have ten trucks to move it to promote (indiscernible) if you had say 40 truck and that you could do it much quicker. That's a matter of mass action of removal and we believe that because of the pre clinical data this can be done in a relatively short period of time, every weeks rather than years as with other (technical difficulty).
THE CALLER
Speaking of truck what's rate (indiscernible) step then in getting these (indiscernible) is it too many trucks on the high way too many competing trial if the patient characteristics. What are the challenges in developing the products that you have (indiscernible).
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
I am sure in trends (indiscernible) role where our trials, group of study, (technical difficulty) always below, and it's always challenging moreover in that particular time. There is no question that there is competition for the HDL population, on the if there are over advance such as having plaque and (indiscernible) formation and indeed those still continue. We are the only company whose looking to actually treat the (indiscernible) in the interior wall. It is difficult for us to compete with other company's who are also doing the study. I think one thing we do and as I mentioned, this is primarily research and development and it's one where we actually taken steps to address the pace of the (indiscernible) by increasing the number of beating, investigator meeting and increasing the number of (indiscernible) that had originally planed, over the protocol were initiated. So we are trying in many ways to move these studies along as quickly as possible but again being primarily and being a (indiscernible) therapy it's something where we have to work a little bit harder in messaging the trials to ignore plaques.
THE CALLER
Thanks very much for the update and again congratulation on the progress.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Thank you Mark, thanks for your question.
Operator
Mark of RBC World Market (phonetic).
THE CALLER
Can you go over little bit the design of phase II to (indiscernible) study in with IVAs and talk in particular by what kind of benefits it show in order to get (indiscernible) and what sort of powering assumption for that trial and number two the LUV, ACS study, can you talk about the (indiscernible) of that potential data release and then finally in general your products how do you individually LUV, ACS market' of 4 (indiscernible) (multiple speakers)a year. How do you in (indiscernible) from a current ACS protocol.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
The matter with the 216, IVA, the (indiscernible) are first of all confusion a weekly there is a low doze and a high doze and with 50 and 45 milligrams per kilogram. And we are looking at the individuals who within 2 weeks after having those (indiscernible) in which they have their (indiscernible) plaque - surgically or otherwise was enroll in our study. We are looking for a less than 70 percent (indiscernible) lecision within one of the coronary vessels by angiography and used that as a marker to evaluate (multiple speakers) few millimeter (technical difficulty) of that plaque area and then evaluate that at a baseline and than evaluate that one week after the final doze. What we are looking to do is (multiple speakers) the purposes to look at the IVA the real images that baseline and then one week after final doze but also we know that with IVAs there is an accuracy level of about 3 or 4 percent (indiscernible) for image to image. But we are looking at a minimum of a 10 percent change in plaque volume as a meaningful measurement, which would be a significant (multiple speakers) with respect to the LUV study we find (indiscernible) study this is higher than the facial, and we are looking at safety and tolerability in this patient population. We are looking at a results that would come due sometime in the first half of 2004. Once (indiscernible) against our size and rapidly goes low where that would come any earlier which is primarily (indiscernible) safety and tolerability. However, we should be able to get some trends as to when changes that might have in (technical difficulty). With that relation to our overall treatment in the aging patient population, first of all when people heard compliment on the therapies that exist right now whether it's (indiscernible) or whether it's stab wounds, whether it's any kind of (indiscernible) therapy. We will compliment that because we are working at the level of the interior wall and try (indiscernible) the characteristics of the vascular biology of (indiscernible). We believe that in relation to (indiscernible) it would be used after the (indiscernible) are used and with more discharge with first terms. So this will be continue treat and (technical difficulty) after the additional plaque volumes (technical difficulty) according to usual protocol.
THE CALLER
That's great, thanks very much.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Thanks.
Operator
David Mellour (phonetic) with Biotech (phonetic)
THE CALLER
I just have one more that can relate to the partnership. (indiscernible) talking a great deal about the benefits of a (indiscernible) specially combine with lipid (phonetic) is that happening to (indiscernible) people near small molecule their program from a (technical difficulty) competitors partnership.
MR. TIM MAYLEBEN
I would say that I think there are total things which mentioned in our comment that we think are driving people toward our small molecule. One as I mentioned, in my comment I think everybody recognize the (indiscernible) community suitable industry that we have got one of the best scientific teams as a relate to terrific in the industry and I think so there is initial attraction with the teams of (indiscernible) expert that we build here, I think secondly shows there anything that is going in this space that's competitive the more people there in the space we think is we actually driving more attention to this space and certainly Pfizer being in phase II with their (technical difficulty) is only increase in attention because I guess the (indiscernible) run and everybody else wants to run their as well. So we do have that has the positive and you know we showing (indiscernible) anybody else and but we also think that we can beat competitive it's not necessarily the numbers of scientist's that and too have again something which is quality of a (technical difficulty).
THE CALLER
Whether is there any additional (indiscernible)
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
First of all I would like to that the stand area which (indiscernible) which above 90 percent of the market. There are multiple targets and opportunities in the HDL arena either effecting HDL with and other (technical difficulty) which is the beneficial and quietly this is an early stage with respect to covering the targets which are now greatest benefit and as (indiscernible) utility, I think this supports number of opportunities involve biotech, small (indiscernible) and large (indiscernible) be very actively engaged in this area for search and it's application to treating cardiovascular disease.
THE CALLER
I (indiscernible) follow our question. Multiple (indiscernible) on the HDL (technical difficulty) clinical by this number increase within HDL. But that fact that your trial are actually likely going to give hard physiological data which is a competitive advantage (indiscernible) partnership or negotiations. You gonna have to show
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
And I think we stress on (technical difficulty) David by not just raising HDL cholesterol percent and certainly more remindful of the regulatory authorities with require to approves such an agent. You know you have to going to show the fact increase in HDL have therapeutic benefit and small (indiscernible) change in plaque volume or that the change in more (indiscernible). Those are going to be components of the regulatory package. So just raising HDL (indiscernible) and so we (indiscernible) so increasing HDL function as well regulating the (indiscernible) in a complimentary way to or any other (indiscernible) is a very important component and have actually part of our preclinical - concept or recommending (indiscernible) from our small molecule program. Which will work very, very (indiscernible) for that in both the combination of therapy as well as the effective on HDL and when the transplanted to benefits with respect to (indiscernible).
THE CALLER
Do you have any guidance (technical difficulty) partnership the all us we likely to be my first half issues, second half when (technical difficulty) for 2004.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Just again I think we have in the past as you may recall we have trying to provide guidance and quite honestly I think the less (indiscernible) that is we control one side of the discussion and we control the phase of the things that's we are working on. So, of those of the areas that we are focusing on were, we focusing on the development of the compound and we are focusing on generating an competitive environment around these partnership with (indiscernible) on the various programs. But we expect we would like to be done with this over the next 3 to 6 months. We are still comfortable with that but again I think (indiscernible) to that always is we only control one side of discussion.
THE CALLER
Thank you very much.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Thank you.
Operator
John (phonetic) with CLT, Inc. (phonetic)
THE CALLER
You sound like you have interest in multiple compounds so from our strategy standpoint is it (indiscernible) multiple partnerships this year or you more likely to strike single most attractive more than to keep other (indiscernible) for the economics without other programs.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
John I think that's a great question and I think you know, as we start from look at the various terms that we are able to negotiate on the different program I think it will become clearer. I thinks our initial goal is to get our first partnership collaboration under our (indiscernible) and to try to preserve some of as you indicated some of the economics from the other compound. So, I think ideally we be in a position to get one collaboration done and then look at the second one with less (indiscernible) pose pressure (indiscernible) because as we try to indicate in our comment in the prepared remarks, the idea had been we have committed to start through investors certainly to other's been interested that we want to get a collaboration done over the next 3 to 6 months. That often (indiscernible) more than a necessity and as we look ahead as Frank indicated earlier, we look behind we got $45 million in cash at the end of the year and 28 to 30 million burn rate. So, we feel comfortable being able to comfortably get through the discussions with the various corporate collaboration, we will do the right deal and we will have double opportunity (indiscernible).
THE CALLER
Thank you very much.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Thanks John.
Operator
(indiscernible) with Robert W. Baird.
THE CALLER
I don't know partnership but I apparently though about timing on the oral small molecule through I understood from the comment I think you made on (indiscernible) collaboration is it that safety thing (technical difficulty) that commercial participation with (indiscernible).
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Yes. That' a good questions, I think as we indicted in the prepared remarks review early those discussion we surely interest as we try to indicate that has been very positive (indiscernible) and we are looking at several possibilities there which would perhaps preserve some option for us to participate in commercial (indiscernible) to participate commercially. So, we would like to if you well prepared some sort of options that would allow us to participate because I think we talk with you another (indiscernible), we do have aspiration which builds for (indiscernible) commercial on the biopharmaceutical side because that was a (indiscernible) care hospital situation where we can (indiscernible) a commercial infrastructure (indiscernible). So whether that (technical difficulty) participating in a small molecule I think is that point all, we like to preserve the option to participate in that (indiscernible).
THE CALLER
In terms of sequence in advance again, no question in timing but why we expect the first oral small molecule in a trial first or a deal to happen first or those that matter.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Yes. I think from (indiscernible) point it does matter we are preparing ahead of the (indiscernible) early on (technical difficulty) think that we can control. So, we control some of the plans that we are working on some of the development standpoint. We can control (technical difficulty) we working on add and we also working on our side of the production as per the various partners.
THE CALLER
Great. And so this would also in corporate in comp on basis or family compound
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
On a small molecule?
THE CALLER
Right.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
On the small molecule we are more than has been a family compound that to be further optimize does more possibility in terms further development in our preparation.
THE CALLER
Thank very much.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Thanks.
Operator
(indiscernible)
THE CALLER
Can you gave a little bit more comments on (indiscernible) small molecule program in I guess you read small molecule in terms and give some comments on why you excited about your next opportunity.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
Yes sure. First of all in the small market program in general we are approaching a big (indiscernible) a big that a normal rate with (indiscernible) regulation but affecting raising HDL lowering LDL and reducing (indiscernible) doing in a way that different from other agents. I think (technical difficulty) the mechanism that were pursuing the effect not only effect lymph (phonetic) but they also beneficial effect on obesity (technical difficulty). We believe that these agents can not affect increase in HDL but also have affects by (indiscernible) reducing the preparation and also (indiscernible). Having a better but also on the HDL side and certainly 31015 and moving towards the (technical difficulty) as mentioned in the prepared remarks giving base more than second volume its one of our very excited about the (technical difficulty) but it safe and more tolerated and more appropriate to (technical difficulty) regulating population individuals who apparent abnormal profile let's get me through (technical difficulty). One is to treat individuals who have normal (technical difficulty). What we have to do to select small molecule that have impact on reducing body weight perhaps also having compex on the insulin which required (technical difficulty).
THE CALLER
Great thanks.
Operator
(CALLER INSTRUCTIONS) At this time, there are no further questions. Can you have an enclosure remark.
COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE
I would like to thank everybody for joining our conference call today which is a (indiscernible) what a safe year we believe we have the proof of concept nearly at our graph as we go forward with some of our clinical trial, we believe that we have the capability this year to truly increase our shareholder value and the value of the company. And we look forward to further communications with you as we go forward. Thank you again for your time and your attention and we look forward in the next quarter. Good bye.