Science 37 Holdings Inc (SNCE) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Science 37 third quarter 2023 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. (Operator Instructions)

歡迎參加 Science 37 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。正式演講後將舉行簡短的問答環節。 （操作員說明）

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Steve Halper from LifeSci Advisors. Thank you, Steve, you may begin.

提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我很高興向您介紹主持人，來自 LifeSci Advisors 的 Steve Halper。謝謝你，史蒂夫，你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for participating in today's call. Joining me are David Coman, Chief Executive Officer, and Mike Zaranek, Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝接線員，也謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。與我一起的還有執行長戴維·科曼 (David Coman) 和財務長邁克·扎拉內克 (Mike Zaranek)。

Earlier today, Science 37 released financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. A copy of the press release is available on the company's website.

今天早些時候，Science 37 發布了截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的季度財務業績。新聞稿的副本可在該公司網站上取得。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that management will make statements during this call that include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based upon our current estimates of various assumptions and involve material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to materially differ from those anticipated or implied by these forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，管理層將在本次電話會議期間發表聲明，其中包括聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性聲明，這些聲明是根據1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款制定的這些前瞻性陳述是基於我們目前對各種假設的估計，涉及重大風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果或事件與這些前瞻性陳述預期或暗示的結果或事件有重大差異。

We encourage you to review our filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of these risk factors, including in the risk factors section of the company's most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and subsequent filings. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today, and the company disclaims any obligation to update such statements for new information.

我們鼓勵您查看我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，以討論這些風險因素，包括公司最近提交的表格 10-K 和表格 10-Q 定期報告以及後續文件的風險因素部分。請您注意不要過度依賴這些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表今天的情況，且本公司不承擔任何更新此類陳述以獲取新資訊的義務。

We believe that certain non-GAAP metrics are useful in evaluating our operational performance. We use these non-GAAP measures to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. Information about non-GAAP financial measures referenced, including a reconciliation of those measures to the most comparable GAAP measures, can be found in our SEC filings and in earnings materials available on the Investor Relations portion of our website at investors.science37.com.

我們相信某些非公認會計原則指標對於評估我們的營運績效很有用。我們使用這些非公認會計原則衡量標準來評估我們的持續營運以及內部規劃和預測目的。有關所引用的非GAAP 財務指標的信息，包括這些指標與最具可比性GAAP 指標的調節表，可以在我們向SEC 提交的文件以及我們網站InvestorsRelations 部分提供的盈利材料中找到，網址為Investors.science37 .com。

I would now like to turn the call over to David Coman.

我現在想把電話轉給大衛科曼。

David?

大衛？

Thank you, Steve, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today for our third quarter 2023 earnings call. I'm pleased to report another quarter of solid revenues with significant progress on profitability and cash management on our path to EBITDA positive and cash flow breakeven by the end of 2024.

謝謝史蒂夫，也謝謝大家今天參加我們的 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。我很高興地報告，我們又一個季度實現了穩健的收入，在盈利能力和現金管理方面取得了重大進展，到 2024 年底我們將實現 EBITDA 正值和現金流盈虧平衡。

Compared to the second quarter, third quarter, revenue remained relatively constant as expected, while we achieved significantly higher adjusted gross margins above 40%, gross profit growth of 10%, and adjusted EBITDA improvement of more than 30%, and at the same time, cut cash burn in half. These improvements are the result of the plans we put in place as we became laser-focused on our Metasite model, including investments in patient recruitment and quality, and the implementation of our near and offshore centers of excellence, and the elimination of expenses that don't support our strategy.

與第二季相比，第三季營收如預期維持相對穩定，同時我們實現了調整後毛利率顯著高於40%，毛利成長10%，調整後EBITDA改善超過30%，同時，將現金消耗減少一半。這些改進是我們在專注於 Metasite 模型時制定的計劃的結果，包括對患者招募和品質的投資、近海和離岸卓越中心的實施，以及消除不利於我們的費用。不支持我們的策略。

Focusing on the investments we've made in patient recruitment in particular, we've been able to significantly accelerate enrollment rates, which has helped us to drive revenue and customer satisfaction. We're crushing enrollment on studies right now across several therapeutic areas, including CNS, respiratory, oncology for diagnostic work, and cardiovascular.

尤其是我們在病患招募方面的投資，我們已經能夠大幅提高入組率，這有助於我們提高收入和客戶滿意度。我們目前正在大力進行多個治療領域的研究招募工作，包括中樞神經系統、呼吸系統、診斷腫瘤學和心血管。

What's more is that our cost per patient recruited is 75% lower than it was in the first quarter -- a big part of the reason for our gross margin improvement, which is at its highest level since going public. We've been able to do this by aligning our patient recruitment sources with our customer contracts, gaining more from our existing community of patients and providers and significantly improving our patient conversion rates through ongoing process improvement.

更重要的是，我們招募的每位病患的成本比第一季低了 75%，這是我們毛利率提高的一個重要原因，毛利率達到上市以來的最高水準。我們之所以能夠做到這一點，是因為我們將病患招募來源與客戶合約保持一致，從現有的病患和提供者社群中獲得更多收益，並透過持續的流程改善顯著提高病患轉換率。

Gross bookings for the third quarter were $17.9 million, which was up more than 50% versus the prior year, but down more than 50% from the previous quarter -- a result of similar seasonality trends we've seen in prior years, in addition to continued delays in decision making. Similar to last year, we expect a much stronger fourth quarter as a result.

第三季的總預訂量為 1,790 萬美元，比去年同期增長了 50% 以上，但比上一季下降了 50% 以上，這是我們在前幾年看到的類似季節性趨勢的結果導致決策持續拖延。與去年類似，我們預計第四季的業績將更加強勁。

As we close out the year, we expect that our third quarter bookings delays will have a modest impact on our 2023 revenue, and we're now expected to achieve between $58 million and $59 million dollars for the year. We are adjusting our previous 2023 EBITDA guidance from a loss of $35 million to a loss of $32.5 million. We're also reiterating our guidance for the second half cash burn of less than $15 million, and we continue to anticipate exiting the year with more than $50 million of cash on hand.

在今年結束時，我們預計第三季的預訂延遲將對我們 2023 年的收入產生適度影響，目前預計今年的收入將在 5,800 萬美元至 5,900 萬美元之間。我們正在將先前 2023 年的 EBITDA 指引從虧損 3,500 萬美元調整為虧損 3,250 萬美元。我們也重申下半年現金消耗低於 1500 萬美元的指導，並且我們繼續預計今年結束時手頭現金將超過 5000 萬美元。

With continued progress on RFP volume and a growing qualified sales pipeline that was more than 33% higher for the fourth quarter than it was for the third quarter, we expect continued bookings and revenue growth in 2024 with a similar approach to expense and cash management. And we have been consistent in our communication that we expect to exit fourth quarter of 2024 EBITDA positive, with ample cash on hand, without having to raise additional capital.

隨著 RFP 數量的持續進展以及不斷增長的合格銷售管道（第四季度比第三季度高出 33% 以上），我們預計 2024 年的預訂量和收入將持續增長，費用和現金管理方法類似。我們在溝通中一直一致表示，我們預計 2024 年第四季的 EBITDA 將為正值，手頭上有充足的現金，而無需籌集額外資金。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike Zaranek, our Chief Financial Officer, to provide additional details.

接下來，我會將電話轉給我們的財務長 Mike Zaranek，以提供更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. I will discuss the quarter ended September 30, 2023, and then we'll provide our outlook for the full year 2023.

謝謝大衛，大家早安。我將討論截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日的季度，然後我們將提供 2023 年全年的展望。

As David mentioned, third quarter gross bookings were $17.9 million, which was $6 million, or 51% higher than the same period of the prior year. We ended the third quarter with $163.1 million in our backlog, which compared to $170.4 million for the same period of the prior year. The backlog at the end of September 2023 also reflected $8.7 million in cancellations and realization adjustments, which represented approximately 5.1% for the beginning backlog for the quarter.

正如 David 所提到的，第三季總預訂量為 1,790 萬美元，比去年同期增加 600 萬美元，增幅 51%。截至第三季末，我們的積壓訂單為 1.631 億美元，去年同期為 1.704 億美元。截至 2023 年 9 月底的積壓訂單也反映了 870 萬美元的取消和變現調整，約佔本季初期積壓訂單的 5.1%。

Third quarter revenues were $14.9 million, which was $1.3 million -- or 8% -- lower than the same period of the prior year, and $0.3 million -- or 3% -- lower than the second quarter. Adjusted gross profit for the third quarter was $6.1 million, an increase of $1.5 million -- or 32% -- compared to the same period of the prior year and up about $500,000 -- or 10% sequentially -- versus the second quarter.

第三季營收為 1,490 萬美元，比上年同期減少 130 萬美元，或 8%，比第二季減少 30 萬美元，成長 3%。第三季調整後毛利為 610 萬美元，與去年同期相比增加了 150 萬美元，即 32%；與第二季相比，增加了約 50 萬美元，即 10%。

We were particularly pleased with our adjusted gross margin for the fourth quarter. This was 40.8%, which was up 12.5 percentage points from the same period last year, and up 4.8 percentage points from the second quarter of 2023. Similar to the second quarter, much of this gross margin improvement was the result of our patient recruitment efforts, and to a lesser extent, continued improvements in utilization rates across the organization.

我們對第四季調整後的毛利率特別滿意。為 40.8%，比去年同期上升 12.5 個百分點，比 2023 年第二季度上升 4.8 個百分點。與第二季度類似，毛利率的改善很大程度上是我們患者招募工作的結果，並在較小程度上持續提高整個組織的利用率。

Moving over to SG&A -- selling, general and administrative expenses -- excluding $3.7 million of stock-based compensation and depreciation, we were $11.7 million in the third quarter. This was down $7.5 million, or more than 39%, compared to the same period last year -- and down $1.4 million, or approximately 11%, sequentially.

轉向 SG&A（銷售、一般和管理費用），不包括 370 萬美元的股票薪酬和折舊，第三季我們的支出為 1,170 萬美元。與去年同期相比，這一數字減少了 750 萬美元，即 39% 以上，比上一季減少了 140 萬美元，約 11%。

Most of the decline in the SG&A compared with the second quarter relates to incentive compensation accruals adjusted for the third quarter actual bookings performance, and to a lesser extent, a full quarter's worth of cost reduction realization from our April restructuring activities.

與第二季相比，SG&A 的下降大部分與根據第三季實際預訂業績調整的應計激勵薪酬有關，在較小程度上與我們 4 月份重組活動實現的全季度成本削減有關。

Adjusted EBITDA, which we calculate by adding back depreciation, amortization, taxes, interest, other income, stock-based compensation, and other non-cash charges, was a loss of $5.2 million in the third quarter, representing $9.4 million -- or 64% -- improvement compared to the same period of the prior year, and a $2.3 million -- or 30.9% -- sequential improvement compared to the second quarter.

調整後 EBITDA（我們透過加回折舊、攤提、稅收、利息、其他收入、股票薪酬和其他非現金費用來計算）第三​​季虧損 520 萬美元，相當於 940 萬美元，即 64 %——與去年同期相比有所改善，與第二季相比連續改善了230 萬美元（即30.9%）。

This is our best quarterly adjusted EBITDA performance since becoming a public company two years ago. Over this period, we've been able to reduce our cost basis, which we define as the difference between revenue and adjusted EBITDA by more than 50%. Consistent with the factors we cited on our second quarter earnings call, US GAAP required us to record a noncash impairment charge of $5.5 million related to our long-lived assets in the third quarter. Among other things, this continues to be a result of our market capitalization, which was less than book, and book value in cash for a sustained period of time.

這是我們自兩年前成為上市公司以來最好的季度調整後 EBITDA 業績。在此期間，我們已經能夠降低成本基礎，我們將成本基礎定義為收入與調整後 EBITDA 之間的差異超過 50%。與我們在第二季財報電話會議上引用的因素一致，美國公認會計準則要求我們在第三季記錄與長期資產相關的 550 萬美元非現金減損費用。除其他因素外，這仍然是我們的市值持續低於帳面價值和現金帳面價值的結果。

On a US GAAP net loss basis, third quarter represented a $13.9 million loss versus a US GAAP net loss of $23.5 million in the third quarter a year ago, which represents almost a 29% improvement year-over-year.

以美國公認會計準則淨虧損計算，第三季虧損 1,390 萬美元，去年同期美國公認會計準則淨虧損為 2,350 萬美元，較去年同期改善近 29%。

The adjusted net loss for the third quarter was $5.4 million, compared to an adjusted net loss of $19.5 million in the same period last year, which represents a 72% improvement over the prior year.

第三季調整後淨虧損為540萬美元，去年同期調整後淨虧損為1,950萬美元，較上年改善72%。

Now turning to cash. We ended the quarter with approximately $56 million in cash and cash equivalents. In the third quarter, our cash burn, which is the difference between balance sheet cash and cash equivalents from June 30 to September 30 was approximately $8.6 million, which represents a sequential improvement of approximately $8.8 million versus second quarter. In other words, we effectively cut our cash burn in half on a sequential basis.

現在轉向現金。本季結束時，我們擁有約 5,600 萬美元的現金和現金等價物。第三季度，我們的現金消耗（即 6 月 30 日至 9 月 30 日資產負債表現金與現金等價物之間的差額）約為 860 萬美元，比第二季度連續改善約 880 萬美元。換句話說，我們有效地將現金消耗環比減少了一半。

Now let's turn to the outlook for 2023. As David noted previously, we're providing updated full year 2023 revenue guidance of $58 million to $59 million. Our previous commentary around fourth quarter gross margins was in the mid 30% range. We now expect gross margins to come in in the mid to upper 30% range.

現在讓我們展望 2023 年。正如 David 先前指出的，我們提供更新後的 2023 年全年收入指引，為 5,800 萬至 5,900 萬美元。我們之前對第四季毛利率的評論是在 30% 左右。我們現在預計毛利率將在 30% 的中上範圍內。

This reflects margin expansion relative to historical results and previous expectations. However, we do not expect to repeat our record-high third quarter results for adjusted gross margin due in part to higher expected pass-through revenues related to several studies in the fourth quarter.

這反映了相對於歷史結果和先前預期的利潤率擴張。然而，我們預期調整後毛利率不會重複第三季創紀錄的業績，部分原因是與第四季多項研究相關的預期傳遞收入較高。

As we previously stated, at our current size and scale, a single project or two can have a material impact to our results. In addition, we expect an increase in SG&A from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. In part due to expected increases in incentive compensation accruals, and still outperform our previous adjusted EBITDA guidance of negative $35 million. Instead, we are now forecasting $32.5 million adjusted EBITDA loss, an improvement of approximately $2.5 million versus our previous guidance.

正如我們之前所說，以我們目前的規模和規模，一兩個項目可能會對我們的結果產生重大影響。此外，我們預計第三季至第四季的銷售及管理費用將會增加。部分原因是應計激勵薪酬預期增加，但仍優於我們先前調整後的負 3,500 萬美元 EBITDA 指引。相反，我們現在預測調整後 EBITDA 損失為 3250 萬美元，比我們之前的指導減少了約 250 萬美元。

Moving over to cash flow, consistent with our guidance on the second quarter earnings call, we remain on track to achieve a second half 2023 cash burn of less than $15 million. And we expect to exit the year with more than $50 million of cash on hand.

轉向現金流，與我們對第二季財報電話會議的指導一致，我們仍有望實現 2023 年下半年現金消耗低於 1500 萬美元的目標。我們預計今年結束時手頭現金將超過 5000 萬美元。

While we will provide initial 2024 guidance when we report the fourth quarter 2023 earnings, given our backlog visibility, our continued progression on RFP volume, and our growing quarterly qualified phase sales pipeline -- which is more than 33% higher for the fourth quarter than it was at the same point in the third quarter -- we do expect revenue growth in 2024.

雖然我們將在報告2023 年第四季度收益時提供2024 年初步指導，但考慮到我們的積壓訂單可見性、RFP 數量的持續進展以及我們不斷增長的季度合格階段銷售渠道——第四季度比去年同期高出33% 以上這是第三季的同一時間——我們確實預期 2024 年營收會成長。

We are targeting full year 2024 adjusted gross margins of 40% or more as we continue to realize efficiencies on the patient recruitment front, the value from our technology investments, and increases in utilization rates delivering a higher gross profit with continued leverage on SG&A.

我們的目標是2024 年全年調整後毛利率達到40% 或更高，因為我們將繼續提高患者招募方面的效率、技術投資的價值以及利用率的提高，透過持續利用SG&A 來實現更高的毛利潤。

In summary, we are encouraged by our third quarter 2023 results, and remain optimistic as we continue towards the path to profitability.

總而言之，我們對 2023 年第三季的業績感到鼓舞，並在繼續邁向獲利之路的過程中保持樂觀。

At this point, I'd like to turn the call back over to David for closing comments.

此時，我想將電話轉回給大衛以徵求結束意見。

Thank you, Mike. We remain focused on our strategy and the actions we are taking to execute our goals. We're pleased with the financial results of the third quarter, and we look forward to a strong end of the year from our commercial team.

謝謝你，麥克。我們仍然專注於我們的策略以及為實現目標而採取的行動。我們對第三季的財務表現感到滿意，並期待我們的商業團隊在今年年底取得強勁表現。

We are on track to reach our financial goal of adjusted EBITDA and cash flow positive by the fourth quarter of 2024 without having to raise additional capital. And with that I'll now open it up for questions.

我們預計在 2024 年第四季實現調整後 EBITDA 和現金流為正的財務目標，而無需籌集額外資金。現在我將開放提問。

Thank you.

謝謝。

We will now be conducting a question and answer session. (Operator Instructions)

我們現在將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Charles Rhyee, Cowen and Company.

查爾斯‧萊伊 (Charles Rhyee)，考恩公司。

Yes, thanks for taking the questions. I want to ask quickly on the bookings for the quarter. On the cancellations, I know last quarter, a good chunk of it was COVID-related. I think we're expecting about $8 million of backlog from COVID still that could be canceled. In the current quarter on the $8.7 million, how much of that was COVID-related?

是的，感謝您提出問題。我想快速詢問本季的預訂情況。關於取消，我知道上個季度，很大一部分與新冠病毒有關。我認為我們預計因新冠疫情而積壓的約 800 萬美元仍可能被取消。在本季的 870 萬美元中，有多少與新冠病毒有關？

About $1 million. So if you take a look at what we presented last quarter, our watch list shrank in proportion to the adjustments that we had in the quarter, and now comprises about $7 million in COVID risk mitigation work and about $17 million for studies that may reach end point earlier be reprioritized. So as we've done in the past, we've anticipated this already, and adjusted our backlog and guidance accordingly.

大約100萬美元。因此，如果您看一下我們上季度提供的內容，您會發現我們的觀察名單與本季度的調整成比例縮小，現在包括約 700 萬美元的新冠風險緩解工作和約 1700 萬美元的可能結束的研究較早的一點要重新確定優先順序。正如我們過去所做的那樣，我們已經預料到了這一點，並相應地調整了我們的積壓工作和指導。

Okay. That's helpful. And then secondly, Dave, you talked about some seasonality, and I understand that, but the drop in the sequential looks a little bit bigger than I would have expected. Anything else -- you kind of mentioned delays in decision making -- if you could kind of go into sort of what the conversations are happening are like?

好的。這很有幫助。其次，戴夫，你談到了一些季節性因素，我理解這一點，但環比的下降看起來比我預期的要大一些。還有其他問題嗎——你提到了決策的延遲——如果你能了解正在發生的對話是什麼樣的？

What you're hearing from sponsors that might be causing some of these delays, and how do you think about the fourth quarter? You expect a strong fourth quarter, but maybe you can give us some signs of what you're seeing that gives you confidence that we'll see that? Thanks.

您從贊助商那裡聽到的消息可能會導致部分延誤，您對第四季有何看法？您預計第四季度會表現強勁，但也許您可以向我們提供一些您所看到的跡象，讓您相信我們會看到這一點？謝謝。

Well, our deal sizes do continue to be very large. And as such, the decision making is at a higher level within the organizations, and the time to make those decisions continue to increase. And so we had some bookings we expected in the third quarter that ended up getting pushed off into the fourth quarter, and we we'll continue to push hard from a commercial standpoint to try to close things within the quarter. But when you're starting to talk about larger deals like work participating in today, it does have that net effect of sometimes delays in the decision making.

嗯，我們的交易規模確實仍然很大。因此，決策是在組織內的更高層級進行的，並且做出這些決策的時間不斷增加。因此，我們預計在第三季度完成的一些預訂最終被推遲到第四季度，我們將繼續從商業角度努力推動，試圖在本季度內完成任務。但是，當您開始談論更大的交易（例如今天參與的工作）時，確實會產生有時決策延遲的淨影響。

And one thing to add to that, as we mentioned in the prepared remarks, to sort of amplify where we sit right now. One, if you look at the quarterly phase qualified sales pipe, at this point in Q4, it's about 33% higher than it was at same point in time in Q3. So that gives us some increased level of visibility as we look to close out Q4 strong and up from a bookings perspective.

正如我們在準備好的發言中提到的，還有一件事需要補充，以放大我們現在的立場。第一，如果你看一下季度階段的合格銷售管道，第四季的這一點比第三季同期高出約 33%。因此，當我們希望第四季度的預訂量強勁並有所增長時，這使我們的可見度有所提高。

Yes, that's helpful. Thanks. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

是的，這很有幫助。謝謝。欣賞它。多謝你們。

Thanks, Charles.

謝謝，查爾斯。

Thanks, Charles.

謝謝，查爾斯。

Matt Hewitt, Craig Hallum.

馬特·休伊特，克雷格·哈勒姆。

Good morning. Thank you for taking the questions. Maybe -- first up on the gross margins, obviously, congratulations. Very strong improvement there, both year-on-year and sequentially, and it sounds like that's sustainable. Maybe a little bit of a step back here in Q4. But as we start to look at fiscal '24 and even further out, are these changes that you've made from a recruitment standpoint, not only sustainable, but are they repeatable into other segments of the market?

早安.感謝您提出問題。也許——首先是毛利率，顯然，恭喜。無論是同比還是環比，都有非常強勁的改善，而且聽起來這是可持續的。也許第四季會退一步。但當我們開始審視 24 財年甚至更遠的未來時，您從招聘角度所做的這些改變不僅是可持續的，而且可以在市場的其他領域重複使用嗎？

Not sure I understand the are they repeatable in other segments of the market part of that. Can you clarify?

不確定我是否理解它們在市場的其他部分是否可以重複。你能澄清一下嗎？

Well, so you called out CNS, respiratory -- I mean, are there some other areas that could roll those recruitment efforts out and expand obviously, the market opportunity there?

好吧，所以你提到了中樞神經系統、呼吸系統——我的意思是，是否還有其他一些領域可以開展這些招聘工作並明顯擴大那裡的市場機會？

Yes. I don't think they're therapeutic-specific in terms of the performance and our ability to gain the margins that we have. We do expect some higher pass-through expenses in the fourth quarter, which is going to have a little bit of a dip from the 40.8% that we were able to recognize in the third quarter. But we do expect as we go into 2024 to be at or above that 40% range throughout the year.

是的。我不認為它們在性能和我們獲得利潤的能力方面具有治療特異性。我們確實預計第四季度的轉嫁費用會更高，這將比我們在第三季確認的 40.8% 略有下降。但我們確實預計，進入 2024 年，全年成長率將達到或高於 40%。

And that's driven by our ability to execute patient recruitment as we have been. It's driven by our additional technology improvements that we've been able to make, and it's driven by our increased utilization rates that we've been able to achieve as well. So yes, I'd expect that to improve as we move forward into the future. And frankly, as a tech-enabled site, we expect long-term for that to be in the mid-40%s.

這是由我們執行患者招募的能力所驅動的。這是由我們能夠進行的額外技術改進所推動的，也是由我們能夠實現的利用率提高所推動的。所以，是的，我希望隨著我們走向未來，這種情況會有所改善。坦白說，作為一個技術支援的網站，我們預計長期這一數字將在 40% 左右。

That's great. And then maybe one separate question is, so we're now a couple of quarters removed from when the FDA draft guidance came out, encouraging decentralized trials. Obviously, pharma -- the industry doesn't move on a dime, but now a couple of quarters removed. What has changed or what do you see changing as a result of that draft guidance? Is that something that we should be as excited about as we look to fiscal '24? Thank you.

那太棒了。也許還有一個單獨的問題是，距離 FDA 鼓勵分散試驗的指南草案發布已經過去了幾個季度。顯然，製藥業不會立即發生變化，但現在已經過去了幾個季度。該指南草案發生了哪些變化，或您認為哪些內容發生了變化？這是我們應該像展望 24 財年一樣興奮的事情嗎？謝謝。

Yes. Thanks, Matt. We expect that to continue to have momentum for us. As I've said on previous earnings call, if you look at the draft guidance, the way that it has been written, it validates the model in terms of what we're trying to do, and it validates the data that's being provided, which is super important.

是的。謝謝，馬特。我們預計這將繼續為我們帶來動力。正如我在之前的財報電話會議上所說，如果您查看指南草案及其編寫方式，它會根據我們正在嘗試做的事情驗證模型，並驗證所提供的數據，這非常重要。

In the past, that's been a question, I think, from a economic buyer perspective, if you look at the SOPs that it requires in order to be able to execute, it reads like a Science 37 operations manual. So we're super pleased about it.

我認為，在過去，這是一個問題，從經濟買家的角度來看，如果你看看它需要執行的 SOP，它讀起來就像一本 Science 37 操作手冊。所以我們對此感到非常高興。

In regards to the sentiment behind it, we have definitely had sponsor/customer conversations that have circled back to that guidance and reference the fact that it's there, which gives them confidence to be able to execute a meta site with them with confidence. And so we just believe that's going to continue to increase as we go forward into 2024 and beyond.

關於背後的情緒，我們肯定已經與贊助商/客戶進行了對話，這些對話又回到了該指導並提到了它的存在這一事實，這讓他們有信心能夠與他們一起自信地執行元網站。因此，我們相信，隨著 2024 年及以後的發展，這一數字將會繼續增加。

That's great. Thank you.

那太棒了。謝謝。

Thanks a lot, Matt.

非常感謝，馬特。

Thanks, Matt.

謝謝，馬特。

Max Smock, William Blair.

馬克斯·斯莫克，威廉·布萊爾。

Hi, good morning. It's Christine Rains on for Max Smock. Thanks for taking our questions. I'm curious -- while I appreciate you're not prepared to give full year 2024 guidance, and we're definitely happy to hear you say top line growth is expected for next year, but hoping you can give more color on a broad range for top line expectations for next year?

早安.克里斯汀雷恩斯 (Christine Rains) 飾演馬克斯史莫克 (Max Smock)。感謝您回答我們的問題。我很好奇，雖然我很欣賞您尚未準備好提供 2024 年全年指導，但我們很高興聽到您說明年預計將實現營收增長，但希望您能在更廣泛的方面提供更多信息明年的收入預期範圍是多少？

Well, we'll provide more detailed guidance when we come to next quarter's earnings call. What we can tell you as we -- throughout the year, the RFP volume increased for us. And we can tell you that between the third quarter and fourth quarter qualified pipeline increased for us over 33%. And so that foreshadows a good future for us in terms of bookings growth, which ultimately will have an improvement in revenue as we increase throughout 2024. I don't know if you have any more color to add on to that, Mike?

好吧，我們將在下一季的財報電話會議上提供更詳細的指導。我們可以告訴您的是——全年，我們的 RFP 數量有所增加。我們可以告訴您，從第三季到第四季度，我們的合格管道增加了 33% 以上。因此，這預示著我們在預訂量增長方面的美好未來，隨著我們在 2024 年全年的增長，收入最終將有所改善。麥克，我不知道您是否還有更多的補充？

No, I think that you said it well.

不，我覺得你說得很好。

Okay.

好的。

Great, thanks. And then I'm hoping you can talk about relative bookings and cancellations by customer size and development fees in the quarter?

萬分感謝。然後我希望您能談談本季按客戶規模和開發費用劃分的相對預訂和取消情況？

I don't know if we have any specifics that we can share on that, I do think that what we've shared is some of the COVID risk mitigation work that we had pointed out as an area of risk. As we said earlier, that's about $7 million of our you studies at risk, most of those are within large pharma. The remainder that we've discussed is a cross-section, I think, across most all different customer types and therapeutic areas.

我不知道我們是否可以分享這方面的具體細節，但我確實認為我們分享的是我們指出的風險領域的一些新冠病毒風險緩解工作。正如我們之前所說，我們的研究中有大約 700 萬美元處於危險之中，其中大部分是在大型製藥公司內進行的。我認為，我們討論的其餘部分是跨大多數不同客戶類型和治療領域的橫斷面。

And as David said earlier in the prepared remarks, the level of projects on the watchlist has decreased. He talked about going from $8 million on the COVID mitigation down to $7 million, and then the $25 million going down to about $17 million on the other stuff. So, we're continuing to monitor that. And as we discussed previously, a single study or two can have a material impact on the results.

正如大衛早些時候在準備好的發言中所說，觀察名單上的項目水準有所下降。他談到將用於緩解新冠疫情的 800 萬美元減少到 700 萬美元，然後將其他方面的 2500 萬美元減少到約 1700 萬美元。因此，我們正在繼續監控這一情況。正如我們之前討論的，一兩項研究可能會對結果產生重大影響。

But it's going in the right direction.

但它正在朝著正確的方向發展。

In the right direction for sure.

肯定是朝著正確的方向。

Great. Thanks for taking our questions.

偉大的。感謝您回答我們的問題。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Frank Takkinen, Lake Street.

弗蘭克·塔基寧，湖街。

Hey, good morning. This is Nelson Cox on for Frank. Just quickly, a lot of my questions have been answered here. So thank you. But I want to just ask, broadly speaking, any pockets of particular strength or weakness to point out in relation to your customers as we move into 2024? Anything that you can just point to, and just -- that'd be helpful.

嗨，早安。這是弗蘭克的納爾遜·考克斯。很快，我的許多問題都在這裡得到了解答。所以謝謝。但我想問的是，從廣義上講，當我們進入 2024 年時，有哪些與您的客戶相關的特別優勢或劣勢需要指出？任何你可以指出的東西都會有幫助。

I would say, I take it back to our value proposition. We made a strategic shift about this time last year to focus on the Metasite. It's a tech-enabled clinical trial site in order to be able to take advantage of a larger market, and be super focused in terms of our ability to deliver. I think we're starting to see some traction on that. And frankly, it's a bigger market.

我想說，我把它帶回我們的價值主張。去年這個時候，我們進行了策略轉變，將重點放在 Metasite 上。這是一個技術支援的臨床試驗網站，以便能夠利用更大的市場，並超級專注於我們的交付能力。我認為我們已經開始看到這方面的一些吸引力。坦白說，這是一個更大的市場。

If you look at what's being spent, you know, in US sites alone, it's about $9 billion versus DCT alone, which is about $3 billion. And if you take into account Europe, that's another $17 billion. So I think we've leapt to a much larger market opportunity. And I think we're being recognized now as a site, which is ultimately the value proposition that we put in place and is resonating with our sponsors.

如果你看看花了什麼，你就會知道，光是在美國網站上的支出就約為 90 億美元，而光是 DCT 的支出就約為 30 億美元。如果算上歐洲，又是 170 億美元。所以我認為我們已經抓住了一個更大的市場機會。我認為我們現在作為一個網站得到了認可，這最終是我們提出的價值主張，並與我們的贊助商產生了共鳴。

We just became members of the Society for Clinical Research Sites, I think which is a testament to the direction that we've gone, and the acceptance of this model is being something a bit different from a traditional clinical trial site, but can offer speed and access to patients that no other site can actually provide, which makes us a great complement to a traditional site network.

我們剛剛成為臨床研究站點協會的成員，我認為這證明了我們所走的方向，這種模式的接受度與傳統的臨床試驗站點有點不同，但可以提供速度並接觸到其他網站實際上無法提供的患者，這使我們成為傳統網站網路的一個很好的補充。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Thanks a lot for the question, Nelson. Operator?

非常感謝你的提問，納爾遜。操作員？

I'm going to assume that there's no further questions and thank everybody for your time.

我假設沒有其他問題了，感謝大家抽出寶貴的時間。

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to David for closing comments.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想把發言權交還給大衛，讓他發表最後的評論。

Okay. I'd just like to thank everybody for joining us today. Thanks for the questions today, and I appreciate it and others -- good quarter.

好的。我想感謝大家今天加入我們。謝謝你今天提出的問題，我很感激你和其他人——好季度。

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。