Bio-Techne Corp (TECH) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Bio-Techne Earnings Conference Call for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2024. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 Bio-Techne 2024 財年第二季獲利電話會議。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to David Clair, Bio-Techne's Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

我現在想將電話轉給 Bio-Techne 投資者關係副總裁 David Clair。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. On the call with me this morning are Kim Kelderman, Bio-Techne's Chief Executive Officer; Chuck Kummeth, Bio-Techne's former Chief Executive Officer and current senior advisor to the company; and Jim Hippel, Chief Financial Officer.

早安，感謝您加入我們。今天早上與我通話的是 Bio-Techne 執行長 Kim Kelderman； Chuck Kummeth，Bio-Techne 前執行長、現任公司資深顧問；吉姆‧希佩爾（Jim Hippel），財務長。

Before we begin, let me briefly cover our safe harbor statement. Some of the comments made during this conference call may be considered forward-looking statements, including beliefs and expectations about the company's future results. The company's 10-K for fiscal year 2023 identifies certain factors that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements made during this call. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements because of any new information or future events or developments. The 10-K as well as the company's other SEC filings are available on the company's website within its Investor Relations section.

在開始之前，讓我先簡單介紹一下我們的安全港聲明。本次電話會議期間發表的一些評論可能被視為前瞻性陳述，包括對公司未來業績的信念和期望。該公司 2023 財年的 10-K 確定了某些可能導致該公司實際業績與本次電話會議期間前瞻性陳述中預測的業績存在重大差異的因素。本公司不承諾因任何新資訊或未來事件或發展而更新任何前瞻性陳述。 10-K 以及該公司向 SEC 提交的其他文件可在該公司網站的投資者關係部分取得。

During the call, non-GAAP financial measures may be used to provide information pertinent to ongoing business performance. Tables reconciling these measures to most comparable GAAP measures are available in the company's press release issued earlier this morning on the Bio-Techne Corporation website at www.bio-techne.com. Separately, we will be participating in the Barclays and KeyBanc Health Care conferences during the next 3 months. We look forward to connecting with many of you at these upcoming events.

在電話會議期間，可以使用非公認會計準則財務指標來提供與持續業務績效相關的資訊。將這些指標與大多數可比較 GAAP 指標進行協調的表格可參考今天早些時候在 Bio-Techne Corporation 網站 www.bio-techne.com 上發布的公司新聞稿。另外，我們將在接下來的 3 個月內參加 Barclays 和 KeyBanc Health Care 會議。我們期待在這些即將舉行的活動中與你們中的許多人建立聯繫。

I will now turn the call over to Chuck.

我現在將把電話轉給查克。

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our second quarter conference call. As many of you know, my official tenure as Bio-Techne's Chief Executive Officer ended yesterday, and Kim Kelderman is now in this leadership role. He's taking over a company that is incredibly well positioned in several of the highest growth life science and diagnostics end markets. I heard Kim leave the Diagnostics and Genomics segment in 2018, and in November of 2023, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer, assuming all operational responsibilities for the company. Prior to Bio-Techne, I worked with Kim for 4 years at Thermo Fisher Scientific. I'm excited for the future of Bio-Techne as it continues to flourish under Kim's leadership.

謝謝戴夫，大家早安。感謝您參加我們的第二季電話會議。正如你們許多人所知，我作為 Bio-Techne 首席執行官的正式任期於昨天結束，Kim Kelderman 現在擔任這一領導職務。他所接手的公司在幾個成長最快的生命科學和診斷終端市場中佔據著極為有利的地位。我聽說 Kim 於 2018 年離開診斷和基因組部門，並於 2023 年 11 月被任命為首席營運官，承擔公司的所有營運職責。在加入 Bio-Techne 之前，我與 Kim 在 Thermo Fisher Scientific 共事了 4 年。我對 Bio-Techne 的未來感到興奮，因為它在 Kim 的領導下繼續蓬勃發展。

When I joined Bio-Techne in 2013, we were a much smaller organization, with approximately $300 million in revenue at the time, the business was a leader in its legacy $3 billion total addressable market. But growth has largely stalled at the company. This legacy business of research reagents, immunoassays and diagnostic controls and calibrators, which we refer to as our core accounted for almost $650 million of revenue in fiscal 2023 and grew at a 7% CAGR over that period. Through a combination of 19 acquisitions, prioritized organic investments and execution from our top-notch leadership team, we leverage these core products and capabilities and grew the business to over $1.1 billion in fiscal 2023, while expanding our TAM to an estimated $27 billion.

當我於 2013 年加入 Bio-Techne 時，我們的組織規模要小得多，當時的收入約為 3 億美元，該業務在其 30 億美元的總目標市場中處於領先地位。但該公司的成長已基本停滯。我們將研究試劑、免疫測定以及診斷控制和校準品這項傳統業務稱為我們的核心業務，在 2023 財年的收入接近 6.5 億美元，在此期間複合年增長率為 7%。透過 19 項收購、優先有機投資以及一流領導團隊的執行，我們利用這些核心產品和能力，在 2023 財年將業務成長到超過 11 億美元，同時將我們的 TAM 擴大到估計 270 億美元。

Under the Bio-Techne umbrella, we now augment this core with high-growth, market-leading franchises in proteomics analytical instruments, cell and gene therapy, spatial biology and molecular diagnostics. Our team of over 3,000 global employees have accomplished a significant growth while maintaining one of the most attractive profitability profile in our industry. It's been a pleasure getting to know many of you on this call today and leading this talented team over the last 11 years. I have never been more confident in the long-term growth potential of this business and look forward to its continued evolution under Kim's leadership.

在 Bio-Techne 的保護下，我們現在透過蛋白質體分析儀器、細胞和基因治療、太空生物學和分子診斷領域的高成長、市場領先的特許經營權來增強這一核心。我們由 3,000 多名全球員工組成的團隊實現了顯著成長，同時保持了業界最具吸引力的獲利能力之一。我很高興在今天的電話會議上認識了你們中的許多人，並在過去 11 年裡領導了這個才華橫溢的團隊。我對這項業務的長期成長潛力從未如此有信心，並期待其在 Kim 的領導下不斷發展。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Kim.

這樣，我就把電話轉給 Kim。

Thank you for your kind, words, Chuck. And please note that all of us here at Bio-Techne wish you the very best going forward.

謝謝你的好意，查克。請注意，Bio-Techne 的所有人祝您未來一切順利。

Now to our Q2 results. The Bio-Techne team continued to execute well in a dynamic and constrained market environment. Our industry has faced several headwinds for over a year now and all -- and those also impacted our second quarter, which resulted in an organic revenue decline of about 2%. The sources of these headwinds continue to be a very soft Bio-Techne funding environment destocking by our large OEM and pharma customers as well as a broad economic challenge in China, which happens to be historically our high-growth geography.

現在來看我們第二季的業績。 Bio-Techne 團隊在動態且受限的市場環境中持續表現出色。一年多來，我們的產業面臨一些阻力，也影響了我們的第二季度，導致有機收入下降了約 2%。這些不利因素的根源仍然是 Bio-Techne 融資環境非常疲軟，我們的大型 OEM 和製藥客戶減少了庫存，以及中國面臨的廣泛經濟挑戰，而中國歷來是我們的高成長地區。

Despite the negative impact from these headwinds, the long-term growth potential of our company remains intact. Our strategic growth pillars such as the ProteinSimple branded portfolio of analytical tools for protein, our spatial biology franchise as well as our ExoDx liquid biopsy business all delivered solid growth during the past quarter.

儘管受到這些不利因素的負面影響，我們公司的長期成長潛力仍然完好無損。我們的策略成長支柱，例如 ProteinSimple 品牌的蛋白質分析工具組合、我們的空間生物學特許經營權以及我們的 ExoDx 液體活檢業務在上個季度均實現了穩健增長。

In the years ahead, we will continue to bolster these high-growth businesses with market-leading, high-quality content from our core portfolio of research reagents. By the way, our core portfolio with over 6,000 proteins and more than 400,000 antibodies has been a solid growth business by itself by delivering an average growth rate of about 7% over the past decade. We will continue to drive growth in this core portfolio and leverage our unique product catalog as well as our expertise to enable industry discoveries, fortify our existing growth pillars and ultimately, improve global health care.

未來幾年，我們將繼續透過我們核心研究試劑組合中市場領先的高品質內容來支持這些高成長業務。順便說一句，我們的核心產品組合擁有超過 6,000 種蛋白質和超過 400,000 種抗體，其本身就是一項穩健增長的業務，在過去十年中平均增長率約為 7%。我們將繼續推動這項核心產品組合的成長，並利用我們獨特的產品目錄和專業知識來實現產業發現，鞏固我們現有的成長支柱，並最終改善全球醫療保健。

During my transition period to become COO, I also spent time understanding the efficiencies of our global operational footprint. We evaluated resource needs across all the businesses. We analyzed relatively strategic importance as well as profitability of various product categories across our overall portfolio.

在擔任營運長的過渡期間，我還花時間了解我們全球營運足跡的效率。我們評估了所有企業的資源需求。我們分析了整個產品組合中各個產品類別的相對策略重要性以及獲利能力。

As our operating margins show, Bio-Techne is already a very efficient organization. But that said, we have been able to identify opportunities to increase efficiencies throughout the global Bio-Techne operating model. In the face of the current environment, we will remain focused on driving our growth pillars while executing on those aforementioned efficiency increase opportunities.

正如我們的營業利潤所顯示的那樣，Bio-Techne 已經是一個非常有效率的組織。儘管如此，我們還是能夠找到提高整個全球 Bio-Techne 營運模式效率的機會。面對當前的環境，我們將繼續專注於推動我們的成長支柱，同時抓住上述提高效率的機會。

Before I proceed with the specifics of the quarter, I'd like to officially welcome Matt McManus to Bio-Techne as the President of Diagnostics and Genomics segment. Matt might be familiar name to several of you as he was formally Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Azenta. Prior to that role, he was leading Bio-Techne's molecular diagnostics business following our acquisition of Asuragen, where he was the CEO. We are excited to have Matt back at the Bio-Techne family, given his existing knowledge of the business, strong cultural fit and breadth of life science leadership experience. He is the ideal leader to take our Diagnostics and Genomics business through the next stage of growth. Matt runs out the Bio-Techne new leadership team that has deep experience and a proven track record of driving growth through market cycles and I'm excited to lead this talented team going forward.

在詳細介紹本季的具體情況之前，我想正式歡迎 Matt McManus 加入 Bio-Techne，擔任診斷和基因組學部門的總裁。馬特（Matt）對你們中的一些人來說可能很熟悉，因為他曾擔任 Azenta 的正式執行副總裁兼營運長。在此之前，他在收購 Asuragen 後領導 Bio-Techne 的分子診斷業務，並擔任執行長。鑑於 Matt 現有的商業知識、強大的文化契合度以及廣泛的生命科學領導經驗，我們很高興 Matt 重返 Bio-Techne 大家庭。他是帶領我們的診斷和基因組學業務進入下一階段成長的理想領導者。 Matt 領導的 Bio-Techne 新領導團隊擁有豐富的經驗和在市場週期中推動成長的良好記錄，我很高興能夠領導這支才華橫溢的團隊繼續前進。

Now let's start with a discussion on our end markets and geographies. Biopharma. In biopharma, our growth declined low single digits in the quarter. As we noted in the last call, the trajectory for the global biotech sales stepped down at the end of our first quarter and into the early part of our second quarter. This trajectory continued throughout the remainder of that second quarter. The biopharma customers remain very engaged with our sales force. But given the overall funding environment, they took a much more cautious stance on spending in front of their 2024 budget cycles.

現在讓我們開始討論我們的終端市場和地區。生物製藥。在生物製藥領域，我們的成長在本季下降了低個位數。正如我們在上次電話會議中指出的那樣，全球生物技術銷售的軌跡在第一季末和第二季初有所下降。這一軌跡在第二季剩餘時間一直持續著。生物製藥客戶仍然與我們的銷售人員保持著密切的聯繫。但考慮到整體融資環境，他們在 2024 年預算週期之前對支出採取了更謹慎的立場。

On to the academic market. On the academic side, demand remains very consistent and healthy across the geographies. We drove upper single-digit growth in the quarter. And even though we saw a challenging biopharma market, the team has done an excellent job pursuing and converting opportunities in the academic market. From a geographic perspective, Europe grew mid-single digits. Our strengthened European leadership team continues the positive momentum, which we have experienced over the last 4 quarters. The team executed well despite the aforementioned spending behavior from our pharma customers.

進軍學術市場。在學術方面，各個地區的需求仍然非常一致和健康。我們在本季實現了較高個位數的成長。儘管我們看到了一個充滿挑戰的生物製藥市場，但團隊在學術市場中尋找和轉化機會方面做得非常出色。從地理角度來看，歐洲實現了中個位數成長。我們強化的歐洲領導團隊延續了過去 4 個季度所經歷的正面動能。儘管我們的製藥客戶存在上述支出行為，但團隊仍表現良好。

In North America, we experienced a flattish year-over-year performance. It's worth noting that this is the region where we continue to experience the most significant impact from the soft biotech funding environment.

在北美，我們的業績年比持平。值得注意的是，這是我們持續受到軟生物技術融資環境影響最重大的地區。

Now moving on to China. You might recall that while exiting our first quarter of the fiscal year, China was highlighted as a geography where we experienced a deceleration in spend mostly impacting our portfolio within the Protein Sciences segment. These headwinds led to a year-over-year decrease of over 20% in the geography for the quarter. The good news is that following a particularly challenging October and November, the run rate stabilized as we close the calendar year, and this trend has continued at the start of calendar 2024. While it's difficult to call the bottom based on 2 months of performance, we are encouraged with the current trends stabilize. Access to improved health care remains the top priority for the China government and we remain very bullish on the long-term prospects of our product portfolio serving researchers in this region.

現在轉向中國。您可能還記得，在結束本財年第一季時，中國被強調為我們經歷支出減速的地區，這主要影響了我們在蛋白質科學領域的投資組合。這些不利因素導致本季地理區域年減超過 20%。好消息是，在經歷了特別具有挑戰性的10 月和11 月之後，運行率在我們結束日曆年時趨於穩定，並且這種趨勢在2024 日曆開始時仍在繼續。雖然很難根據2 個月的表現判斷底部，當前趨勢趨於穩定，令我們感到鼓舞。獲得改善的醫療保健仍然是中國政府的首要任務，我們仍然非常看好我們為該地區研究人員服務的產品組合的長期前景。

Now let's discuss our growth pillars, starting with those within our Protein Sciences segment. A ProteinSimple branded portfolio of novel productivity-driven analytical tools had a challenging quarter when it comes to new instrument placements. This is related to the budget constraints across biopharma evident in China. However, there were a number of green shoots within that portfolio, namely the consumables used specifically on the ProteinSimple platforms.

現在讓我們討論我們的成長支柱，首先是蛋白質科學領域的成長支柱。 ProteinSimple 品牌的新型生產力驅動分析工具組合在新儀器佈局方面經歷了充滿挑戰的季度。這與中國生物製藥領域明顯的預算限制有關。然而，該產品組合中有許多新芽，即專門用於 ProteinSimple 平台的消耗品。

For the fourth quarter in a row, these consumables have grown by at least 20%, which means that our customers are utilizing our instruments at record levels even when budgets are constrained. Another green shoot has been our Simple Plex platform, an automated multiplexing ELISA instrument branded Ella. Overall, the platform experienced double-digit growth in Q2 as Ella is becoming the go-to platform in high-volume accounts, such as CROs and cell therapy QC labs. These accounts perform large translational studies that increasingly rely on the high sensitivity and ease of use of the platform for their multiplexing ELISA needs.

這些消耗品連續第四個季度增加了至少 20%，這意味著即使在預算有限的情況下，我們的客戶仍以創紀錄的水平使用我們的儀器。另一個新芽是我們的 Simple Plex 平台，這是一款名為 Ella 的自動多重 ELISA 儀器。總體而言，隨著 Ella 成為 CRO 和細胞治療 QC 實驗室等大批量客戶的首選平台，該平台在第二季度經歷了兩位數的成長。這些客戶進行大型轉換研究，越來越依賴平台的高靈敏度和易用性來滿足其多重 ELISA 需求。

As a reminder, we recently received ISO 13485 certification of our Wallingford, Connecticut facility. With this important certification in hand, we are now ready to pursue clinical diagnostic opportunities on this instrumentation platform. This will open up a large potential end market for this fast, highly sensitive and easy-to-use multiplexing immunoassay instrument. We are encouraged by the number of discussions we're having with potential diagnostic partners, and we are taking steps to further position Ella as the platform of choice for high-value diagnostic application.

謹此提醒，我們康乃狄克州沃靈福德工廠最近獲得了 ISO 13485 認證。有了這項重要的認證，我們現在準備在這個儀器平台上尋求臨床診斷機會。這將為這種快速、高靈敏度且易於使用的多重免疫分析儀器開闢巨大的潛在終端市場。我們對與潛在診斷合作夥伴進行的大量討論感到鼓舞，我們正在採取措施進一步將 Ella 定位為高價值診斷應用程式的首選平台。

The third green shoot with our ProteinSimple growth pillar has been our biologics platform, branded Maurice. Excluding China, this platform grew over 20% in Q2. We see significant traction of the recent launch of Maurice Flex, specifically in biological drug development and drug production. This makes a lot of sense because in addition to protein charge, protein size and identity capabilities, this next-generation platform is also an easy-to-use replacement for the legacy mass spectrometry fractionation methods, including ion exchange chromatography. Following the Maurice Flex launch in March of last year, we are seeing a growing number of publications, which is driving awareness and demand for this instrument.

ProteinSimple 成長支柱的第三個萌芽是我們的生物製劑平台，品牌為 Maurice。不包括中國，該平台第二季成長超過 20%。我們看到 Maurice Flex 最近推出的巨大吸引力，特別是在生物藥物開發和藥物生產方面。這很有意義，因為除了蛋白質電荷、蛋白質大小和識別功能之外，這個下一代平台也是傳統質譜分餾方法（包括離子交換色譜法）的易於使用的替代品。繼去年 3 月推出 Maurice Flex 後，我們看到出版物數量不斷增加，這推動了人們對該儀器的認識和需求。

I'll shift now to our other major growth pillars within the Protein Sciences segment, cell and gene therapy. This business vertical includes our portfolio of proteomics agents as well as scalable workflow solutions that enable our customers to accelerate progress towards the commercialization of their next-generation cell and gene therapies. The customers for these solutions are mainly biotech companies and our Q2 results were therefore equally impacted by the same funding constraints that I talked about earlier. However, short-term fund income strains have not changed our conviction that cell and gene therapy is here to stay. In fact, we believe that these technologies will play a significant role in treating and curing terrible diseases, and therefore, we will continue to invest in the strategic growth pillar.

我現在將轉向蛋白質科學領域的其他主要成長支柱，即細胞和基因療法。該業務垂直領域包括我們的蛋白質組學試劑組合以及可擴展的工作流程解決方案，使我們的客戶能夠加快下一代細胞和基因療法的商業化。這些解決方案的客戶主要是生技公司，因此我們第二季的業績同樣受到我之前談到的相同資金限制的影響。然而，短期基金收入壓力並沒有改變我們對細胞和基因療法將繼續存在的信念。事實上，我們相信這些技術將在治療和治癒可怕的疾病方面發揮重要作用，因此，我們將繼續投資於策略性成長支柱。

During the quarter, we filed the first Drug Master File or DMF, for an animal-free accelerate GMP expansion medium. This filing joins a growing list of almost 30 filings that span our GMP product portfolio. These DMFs enable our cell therapy customers to cross reference that filing when submitting to the FDA, making their IND process much easier. This way, our products are effectively getting specked into our customers' workflow. We are also expanding our market-leading GMP portfolio to include additional media formulations, gene engineering capabilities and GMP antibodies. These activities will further solidify Bio-Techne's market position in this rapidly growing industry.

在本季度，我們提交了第一份藥物主文件或 DMF，用於無動物加速 GMP 擴增培養基。該申請加入了我們 GMP 產品組合中近 30 份申請的不斷增長的名單。這些 DMF 使我們的細胞治療客戶能夠在向 FDA 提交文件時交叉引用該文件，從而使他們的 IND 流程變得更加容易。這樣，我們的產品就能有效地融入客戶的工作流程中。我們也擴大了市場領先的 GMP 產品組合，包括其他培養基配方、基因工程能力和 GMP 抗體。這些活動將進一步鞏固 Bio-Techne 在這個快速發展的行業中的市場地位。

In addition, we are finalizing a closed [sphero] immune cell therapy manufacturing solution, which pairs our GMP proteins and our GMP media with the Wilson Wolf GRx. Overall, the Protein Sciences segment experienced a 4% organic revenue decrease in the quarter. It has been impacted by the current biotech funding landscape, the order timing among a handful of large biopharma customers as well as the constrained macro environment in China. But as the green shoots that I discussed already indicate this segment is positioned for accelerated growth than the macro funding challenges abate.

此外，我們正在最終確定封閉式 [sphero] 免疫細胞療法製造解決方案，它將我們的 GMP 蛋白和 GMP 培養基與 Wilson Wolf GRx 配對。總體而言，蛋白質科學部門本季的有機收入下降了 4%。它受到當前生物技術融資格局、少數大型生物製藥客戶的訂單時間以及中國宏觀環境的影響。但正如我所討論的萌芽跡像已經表明，隨著宏觀融資挑戰的減弱，該細分市場將加速成長。

Now let's discuss the growth pillars within our Diagnostics and Genomics segment, starting with our spatial biology franchise. This decision includes our ACD branded products as well as the Lunaphore branded Spatial Biology automated solution. ACD's RNAscope continues to play an important role in advancing gene therapy, neurosciences and cancer research. Despite the challenging macro environment, this portfolio remains in high demand, growing mid-teens globally for the quarter.

現在讓我們從我們的空間生物學專營權開始討論診斷和基因組學領域的成長支柱。這項決定包括我們的 ACD 品牌產品以及 Lunaphore 品牌的空間生物學自動化解決方案。 ACD 的 RNAscope 在推進基因治療、神經科學和癌症研究方面繼續發揮重要作用。儘管宏觀環境充滿挑戰，但該投資組合的需求仍然很高，本季全球的成長幅度為十幾歲。

We're also excited about the traction we are experiencing with the recently acquired Lunaphore platform. As a reminder, we are currently commercializing the COMET instrument with fully automated, high throughput, HiPlex platform that does not require use of conjugated primary antibodies. COMET's high-value proposition is resonating with the translational research community, which is driving significant interest and rapid growth in our installed base. In fact, demand for the COMET instrument exceeded our manufacturing capacity, which created a backlog during this quarter. We are currently scaling our COMET production capacity to meet this strong demand.

我們也對最近收購的 Lunaphore 平台所受到的關注感到興奮。提醒一下，我們目前正在將 COMET 儀器商業化，該儀器具有全自動、高通量、HiPlex 平台，不需要使用綴合一抗。 COMET 的高價值主張引起了轉化研究界的共鳴，這推動了我們的安裝基礎的巨大興趣和快速增長。事實上，對 COMET 儀器的需求超出了我們的製造能力，導致本季出現積壓。我們目前正在擴大 COMET 的產能以滿足這一強勁需求。

The final note around our Spatial Biology business is that we recently announced the upcoming launch with fully automated, spatial multi-omic's workflow with detection of RNA and protein markers on the same tissue section. This workflow bears ACD's RNAscope technology have Lunaphore's fully automated COMET platform, and we will be showcasing this complete solution at the upcoming AGBT next week in Orlando.

關於我們的空間生物學業務的最後一點是，我們最近宣布即將推出全自動、空間多組學工作流程，可檢測同一組織切片上的 RNA 和蛋白質標記。這個工作流程採用了 ACD 的 RNAscope 技術和 Lunaphore 的全自動 COMET 平台，我們將在下週於奧蘭多舉行的 AGBT 上展示這項完整的解決方案。

Now let's discuss our other growth pillar within DGS, the molecular diagnostics business. Our ExoDx prostate test provides valuable information on whether a man with a gray zone PSA score should proceed with their invasive and potentially dangerous prostate biopsy or not. With 30% volume growth in our second quarter, the value of this test continues to resonate with both patients and physicians.

現在讓我們討論一下 DGS 的另一個成長支柱，即分子診斷業務。我們的 ExoDx 前列腺測試提供了寶貴的信息，說明具有灰色區域 PSA 評分的男性是否應該繼續進行侵入性且具有潛在危險的前列腺活檢。隨著第二季銷量成長 30%，該測試的價值繼續引起患者和醫生的共鳴。

Our exosome-based development pipeline includes single G mutation test for monitoring various cancer markers as well as the colorectal cancer screening test designed for early detection of both colorectal cancer and precancerous polyps.

我們基於外泌體的開發管道包括用於監測各種癌症標記的單 G 突變測試，以及旨在早期檢測結直腸癌和癌前息肉的結直腸癌篩檢測試。

We look forward to sharing additional data on this exciting pipeline in the coming quarters. Overall, the Diagnostics and Genomics segment grew by 5% organically in the quarter, but was muted by the destocking and strict inventory management from our core diagnostics OEM customers. As these OEM customers return to normalized buying patterns, the results from our Spatial Biology and molecular diagnostic growth pillars will become more visible at the segment level.

我們期待在未來幾季分享有關這一令人興奮的管道的更多數據。總體而言，診斷和基因組學領域在本季度有機增長了 5%，但由於核心診斷 OEM 客戶的去庫存和嚴格的庫存管理而受到抑制。隨著這些 OEM 客戶恢復正常的購買模式，我們的空間生物學和分子診斷成長支柱的成果將在細分市場層面變得更加明顯。

In summary, I'm extremely proud of the team's ability to navigate the transitory challenges that are impacting both Bio-Techne and the broader life sciences tool industry. A portfolio of core reagent, our growth pillars in proteomic analytical tools, in cell and gene therapies, in Spatial Biology and in molecular diagnostics are well positioned to improve the quality of life by catalyzing advances in sciences and medicine. Thank you very much.

總之，我對該團隊能夠應對影響 Bio-Techne 和更廣泛的生命科學工具產業的暫時挑戰的能力感到非常自豪。核心試劑組合是我們在蛋白質體分析工具、細胞和基因療法、太空生物學和分子診斷領域的成長支柱，能夠透過促進科學和醫學的進步來提高生活品質。非常感謝。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Jim. Jim?

有了這個，我會把它交給吉姆。吉姆？

Thank you, Kim. I'll start with some additional detail on our Q2 financial performance, then give some thoughts on the financial outlook. Starting with the overall second quarter financial performance. Adjusted EPS was $0.40 compared to $0.47 in the prior year quarter. Foreign exchange benefited EPS by $0.02. GAAP EPS for the quarter was $0.17 compared to $0.31 in the prior year. Q2 revenue was $272.6 million, a decrease of 2% year-over-year on an organic basis and was flat on a reported basis. Foreign exchange translation had a favorable 1% impact while acquisitions also contributed 1% to reported growth.

謝謝你，金。我將從第二季財務表現的一些額外細節開始，然後對財務前景提出一些想法。從第二季的整體財務表現開始。調整後每股收益為 0.40 美元，去年同期為 0.47 美元。外匯使 EPS 受益 0.02 美元。本季 GAAP 每股收益為 0.17 美元，去年同期為 0.31 美元。第二季營收為 2.726 億美元，有機收入年減 2%，與報告收入持平。外匯換算產生了 1% 的有利影響，而收購也為報告的成長貢獻了 1%。

Looking at our organic growth by region and end market in Q2. North America declined slightly year-over-year. Europe increased mid-single digits, and China declined over 20% in the quarter. As Kim mentioned, the soft biotech funding environment combined with overall conservatism from our biopharma customers, were both a drag on our North American business, and, to a lesser extent, also represented a headwind to our European performance relative to more recent quarters. APAC outside of China decreased low single digits overall, with government funding constraints in South Korea, partially offset by growth in Japan and India.

看看我們第二季按地區和終端市場劃分的有機成長。北美地區較去年同期略有下降。本季歐洲成長了中個位數，而中國則下降了 20% 以上。正如 Kim 所提到的，疲軟的生物技術融資環境加上生物製藥客戶的整體保守態度，既拖累了我們的北美業務，又在較小程度上阻礙了我們歐洲業務相對於最近幾個季度的業績。中國以外的亞太地區整體下降幅度較低，其中韓國政府資金緊張，但部分被日本和印度的成長所抵銷。

For China, the soft government funding environment continued to impact the region. Following many months of decelerating run rates in China, we experienced a stabilization in our run rate business in December. Encouragingly, this stabilization has continued as we begin calendar 2024. It is challenging to call the bottom in this dynamic geography that we are optimistic that headwinds going forward will be less severe. It will likely be a while before we return to the kind of growth rates that we historically achieved in China, but we remain confident that China will still be the fastest-growing major region in the world for life science tools over the long term.

對中國來說，疲軟的政府融資環境持續影響該地區。在中國的運行率連續幾個月下降之後，我們的運行率業務在 12 月趨於穩定。令人鼓舞的是，隨著2024 年的到來，這種穩定性仍在繼續。在這種動態的地理環境中，很難將其稱為底部，但我們樂觀地認為，未來的阻力將不會那麼嚴重。我們可能需要一段時間才能恢復到中國歷史上實現的成長率，但我們仍然相信，從長遠來看，中國仍將是世界上生命科學工具成長最快的主要地區。

By end market in Q2, excluding China, biopharma declined low single digits while academia grew upper single digits. Revenue on the P&L, total company adjusted gross margin was 69.7% in the quarter compared to 71.7% in the prior year. The decrease was primarily driven by lower volume leverage, unfavorable product mix and the impact of the Lunaphore acquisition.

到第二季的終端市場（不包括中國），生物製藥產業出現低個位數下降，而學術界則出現高個位數成長。本季損益表收入、公司調整後總毛利率為 69.7%，去年同期為 71.7%。這一下降主要是由於銷售槓桿率下降、不利的產品組合以及 Lunaphore 收購的影響。

Adjusted SG&A in Q2 was 31.2% of revenue compared to 27.9% in the prior year while R&D expense in Q2 was 8.4% of revenue compared to 8.3% in the prior year. The increase in SG&A was driven primarily by the Lunaphore acquisition, partially offset by diligent cost management across the business.

第二季調整後的 SG&A 佔營收的 31.2%，去年同期為 27.9%；第二季的研發費用佔營收的 8.4%，去年同期為 8.3%。 SG&A 的成長主要是由 Lunaphore 收購所推動的，但部分被整個業務的嚴格成本管理所抵銷。

The price increases implemented during fiscal year '23 continue to offset the dollar impact of inflation on operating income with pricing also largely offsetting the inflationary impact on our operating margin in Q2.

'23 財年實施的價格上漲繼續抵消了通貨膨脹對營業收入的美元影響，定價也很大程度上抵消了通貨膨脹對我們第二季度營業利潤率的影響。

Adjusted operating margin for Q2 was 30.1%, a decrease of 540 basis points from the prior year period. Excluding the Lunaphore acquisition, which closed at the beginning of Q1, adjusted operating margin was 300 basis points lower than the prior year due to the impact of unfavorable volume leverage and product mix.

第二季調整後營業利益率為 30.1%，較去年同期下降 540 個基點。不包括第一季初完成的 Lunaphore 收購，由於不利的銷售槓桿和產品組合的影響，調整後的營業利潤率比上年低 300 個基點。

Looking at our numbers below operating income. Net interest expense in Q2 was $3.4 million, increasing $1.2 million compared to the prior year period due to higher debt levels. Our bank debt on the balance sheet at the end of Q2 stood at $447 million, an increase of $7 million compared to last quarter. Other adjusted nonoperating income was $3.1 million in the quarter, an increase of $3.1 million compared to the prior year, primarily reflecting our 20% share of Wilson Wolf's adjusted net income and the foreign exchange impact related to our cash pooling arrangements.

看看我們營業收入下面的數字。由於債務水準較高，第二季淨利息支出為 340 萬美元，比去年同期增加 120 萬美元。第二季末，我們資產負債表上的銀行債務為 4.47 億美元，比上季增加了 700 萬美元。本季其他調整後非營業收入為310 萬美元，比上年增加310 萬美元，主要反映了我們在Wilson Wolf 調整後淨收入中所佔的20% 份額以及與我們的現金池安排相關的外匯影響。

Moving further down the P&L, our adjusted effective tax rate in Q1 was 22%, flat sequentially but up 100 basis points compared to the prior year due to geographic mix.

進一步降低損益表，我們第一季調整後的有效稅率為 22%，與上一季持平，但由於地域結構的原因，與上年相比上升了 100 個基點。

Turning to cash flow and return of capital, $83.1 million of cash was generated from operations in the quarter. And our net investment in capital expenditures was $14.9 million. Also during Q2, we returned capital to shareholders by a way of $12.5 million in dividends and completed $80 million buyback of 1.4 million shares. We finished the quarter with 160.1 million average diluted shares outstanding. Our balance sheet finished Q2 in a strong position with $135.6 million in cash, and our total leverage stood below 1x EBITDA. Going forward, M&A remains a top priority for capital allocation.

就現金流和資本回報而言，本季營運產生了 8,310 萬美元的現金。我們的資本支出淨投資為 1,490 萬美元。同樣在第二季度，我們以 1,250 萬美元的股息方式向股東返還資本，並完成了 8,000 萬美元的 140 萬股股票回購。本季末，我們的平均稀釋後流通股數為 1.601 億股。我們的資產負債表在第二季處於強勢地位，現金為 1.356 億美元，總槓桿比率低於 1 倍 EBITDA。展望未來，併購仍是資本配置的重中之重。

Now I'll discuss the performance of our reporting segments, starting with the Protein Sciences segment. Q2 reported sales were $197.7 million, which reported revenue decreasing 3% compared to the prior year period. Organic revenue decreased 4%, with foreign exchange having a 1% favorable impact. As reminder, our Protein Sciences segment has the most exposure to the China geographic region as well as the biotech end market. Operating margin for the Protein Sciences segment was 40.3%, a decrease of 350 basis points compared to prior year quarter as unfavorable volume and product mix were partially offset by cost management initiatives.

現在我將討論我們的報告部門的績效，從蛋白質科學部門開始。第二季銷售額為 1.977 億美元，營收較去年同期下降 3%。有機收入下降 4%，外匯帶來 1% 的有利影響。提醒一下，我們的蛋白質科學部門在中國地理區域以及生物技術終端市場的業務最多。蛋白質科學部門的營業利潤率為 40.3%，與去年同期相比下降了 350 個基點，因為成本管理措施部分抵消了不利的銷售和產品組合。

Turning to the Diagnostics and Genomics segment. Q2 reported sales were $75.4 million, with reported growth increasing 11% compared to the same quarter last year. Organic revenue growth for the segment was 5%, with acquisitions having a 5% impact and foreign exchange having a favorable impact of 1%. As Kim previously mentioned, organic growth was driven by our spatial biology and molecular diagnostic growth pillars, partially muted by the destocking and order timing of our core diagnostic reagent OEM customers.

轉向診斷和基因組學領域。第二季銷售額為 7,540 萬美元，與去年同期相比成長 11%。該部門的有機收入成長為 5%，其中收購產生了 5% 的影響，外匯產生了 1% 的有利影響。正如 Kim 之前提到的，有機成長是由我們的空間生物學和分子診斷成長支柱所推動的，部分受到我們核心診斷試劑 OEM 客戶的去庫存和訂單時間的影響。

Moving on to the Diagnostics and Genomics segment operating margin. At 6%, the segment's operating margin decreased compared to the prior year's 12.2%, due primarily to the impact of Lunaphore acquisition. However, Q2 operating margin improved 530 basis points sequentially from Q1 due to improving volume leverage and favorable mix.

接下來是診斷和基因組學部門的營業利潤率。該部門的營業利潤率為 6%，與上一年的 12.2% 相比有所下降，這主要是由於 Lunaphore 收購的影響。然而，由於銷售槓桿率的提高和有利的組合，第二季的營業利潤率比第一季連續提高了 530 個基點。

As we turn the page on Q2 and look ahead to the back half of our fiscal year, there are still reasons to remain cautious, but there are also some reasons or green shoots as Kim call them for optimism in the near term. On the macro front, biotech funding has not dramatically started flooding back, nor has the Chinese economy and funding the life science research returned to its pre-COVID strength. But inflation and interest rates appear to have stabilized. And according to some analyst reports, Biotech's funding has already been reduced to a level not seen since 2016.

當我們翻過第二季度這一頁並展望本財年後半段時，仍然有理由保持謹慎，但也有一些理由或正如金所稱的在短期內保持樂觀的萌芽。在宏觀方面，生技資金尚未開始大幅回流，中國經濟和生命科學研究資金也沒有恢復到新冠疫情前的強勁水準。但通膨和利率似乎已趨於穩定。根據一些分析師報告稱，Biotech 的資金已減少至 2016 年以來的最低水準。

Having recently been to China in Q2, Kim, Chuck and I all witnessed the local economy on the move with crowded streets and restaurants and busy regional airports. After several years of COVID shutdown, the local economy is starting to bustle once again and likely generating tax revenue for their government.

最近在第二季去過中國，金、查克和我都見證了當地經濟的發展，街道和餐廳擁擠，地區機場繁忙。經過幾年的新冠疫情關閉後，當地經濟再次開始繁榮，並可能為政府帶來稅收。

As for Bio-Techne, our growth pillars are continuing to shine even in these typical macro conditions. We are closely monitoring sequential run rates in our reagents business to help determine where we are at in this bottoming process. It's early in the new quarter, but thus far, we are encouraged that the worst may be behind us. This does not mean we expect a quick acceleration of growth. But we do expect that the trend of decelerating growth that has been pervasive throughout this macroeconomic cycle may have subsided.

至於 Bio-Techne，即使在這些典型的宏觀條件下，我們的成長支柱仍然繼續閃耀。我們正在密切監控試劑業務的連續運行率，以幫助確定我們在這個觸底過程中的位置。現在還處於新季度的初期，但到目前為止，我們感到鼓舞的是，最糟糕的情況可能已經過去了。這並不意味著我們預計成長會快速加速。但我們確實預計，在整個宏觀經濟週期中普遍存在的成長減速趨勢可能已經消退。

Down cycles like we've experienced over the past 18 months or so are never fun. With the resiliency of our growth pillars throughout this cycle has given us even greater confidence that our company will grow at a double-digit growth rate when markets normalize in the longer term. As our markets start to normalize, and prepare for the inevitable return to growth, we will continue to diligently manage our cost structure and invest in the business for the future.

我們在過去 18 個月左右經歷的下行週期從來都不是有趣的。整個週期中我們成長支柱的彈性讓我們更有信心，當市場長期正常化時，我們的公司將以兩位數的成長率成長。隨著我們的市場開始正常化，並為不可避免的恢復成長做好準備，我們將繼續努力管理我們的成本結構並投資於未來的業務。

As Kim mentioned in his opening comments, we continue to identify opportunities for efficiencies and by executing on these opportunities. We'll protect and even grow our adjusted operating margin sequentially for the remainder of the fiscal year. That concludes my prepared comments.

正如 Kim 在開場白中提到的那樣，我們將繼續尋找提高效率的機會並利用這些機會。我們將在本財年剩餘時間內繼續保障甚至增加調整後的營業利益率。我準備好的評論到此結束。

And with that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator to open the line for questions.

然後，我會將電話轉回接線生以開啟提問線路。

(Operator Instructions) Our first questions come from the line of Puneet Souda with Leerink Partners.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Puneet Souda 和 Leerink Partners 的線路。

Chuck, it was really great working with you and good luck ahead. And Kim, welcome onboard again. It's good to have you in the role, leading the company. And Matt, I'm really glad to have you back at Bio-Techne as well.

Chuck，和你一起工作真的很棒，祝你好運。 Kim，歡迎再次加入。很高興有你擔任這個角色，領導公司。馬特，我也很高興您回到 Bio-Techne。

So maybe let me ask my question is really around sort of the headwinds that have existed for the last few quarters. You have known them we have seen that across the industry, China, biopharma. I think the question really here is what changed in the quarter? Within your assumptions you were expecting a flat result in this quarter. You ended up down 2%. So maybe just walk us through, is there something in the portfolio? Is it specific to customer orders? Or is there something in the forecasting process that's not working well that yielded this result versus what you were expecting? And then I have a follow-up.

因此，也許讓我問我的問題實際上是圍繞過去幾個季度存在的不利因素。你知道他們，我們已經看到整個產業，中國，生物製藥。我認為真正的問題是本季發生了什麼變化？根據您的假設，您預計本季的業績將持平。結果你下跌了 2%。那麼也許請讓我們了解一下，投資組合中有什麼東西嗎？是否特定於客戶訂單？或者在預測過程中是否存在某些因素未能很好地產生與您期望的結果不同的結果？然後我有一個後續行動。

Thanks for your kind words towards our team. Great question. I, of course, have an opinion on which of these headwinds are going to be more significant going forward. But in a rear view mirror, we have -- we certainly have a good understanding of which ones are most significant. So I'll let Jim talk about that.

感謝您對我們團隊的美言。很好的問題。當然，我對這些不利因素中哪一個在未來會更嚴重有自己的看法。但從後視鏡來看，我們確實很清楚哪些是最重要的。所以我會讓吉姆談談這個。

Puneet, I was the one that called that forecast, so to speak. So I think I need to speak to it. As we ended last quarter, we were pretty transparent on the call that in the last couple of weeks, as we closed Q1 in the first few weeks, as we opened Q2 that we've seen a step down in deceleration in our biotech especially, but even a bit in pharma. And so the reality is, and we've talked about this in various conferences throughout that, that trend had continued. And the time of the call, a few weeks doesn't necessarily make a trend. So we took a view on our growth rates decelerating from where they were in Q1.

普尼特，可以這麼說，我就是那個預測的人。所以我想我有必要談談它。當我們上個季度結束時，我們在過去幾週的電話會議上非常透明，當我們在前幾週結束第一季時，當我們打開第二季度時，我們看到我們的生物技術的減速尤其明顯，但即使在製藥業也有一點。事實是，我們在各種會議上都討論過這一點，這種趨勢仍在繼續。而且打電話的時間，幾週也不一定能形成趨勢。因此，我們認為我們的成長率較第一季有所放緩。

But obviously, that trend ends up being longer and deeper than we anticipated. So that's kind of how and why we ended up where we did. That being said, as we look forward, and again, more optimistic view coming out of last quarter and going into this quarter than we did in prior quarter in that run rate, as we talked about, it stabilized in China. And we're just seeing an overall stabilization in our business as we enter this quarter relative to how we entered Q2.

但顯然，這種趨勢最終比我們預期的時間更長、更深。這就是我們如何以及為什麼會達到這樣的結果。話雖這麼說，正如我們所談到的，正如我們所談到的，我們再次展望上季和本季的運行率比上一季更加樂觀。當我們進入本季度時，相對於進入第二季度的方式，我們剛剛看到我們的業務總體穩定。

But I will temper that a bit by saying just like last quarter, a few weeks or even a month doesn't necessarily make a trend either. But we definitely have to see a bit of a momentum shift or at least stabilization from where we are at this point going into this quarter versus last quarter.

但我會稍微緩和一下，就像上個季度一樣，幾週甚至一個月也不一定會形成趨勢。但我們肯定會看到本季與上季相比出現一些勢頭轉變或至少穩定。

Okay. That's helpful. Maybe on the guide, Jim, I just wanted to clarify that you expect this quarter to be a low point based on the comments you mentioned about China early signs and stabilization there and biopharma remaining sort of a status quo. Maybe just help us think about the next 2 quarters or for the full year, just in terms of where models are, if you could walk us through your assumptions and how you're thinking about the growth rate here? I appreciate any context on that.

好的。這很有幫助。也許在指南中，吉姆，我只是想澄清一下，根據您提到的有關中國早期跡象和穩定以及生物製藥仍維持現狀的評論，您預計本季度將是一個低點。也許只是幫助我們思考接下來的兩個季度或全年，就模型的位置而言，您是否可以向我們介紹一下您的假設以及您如何看待這裡的成長率？我很欣賞這方面的任何背景。

Sure. Well, I would say this. I mean, I talked about that we have a sense that the deceleration is slowing and perhaps stopping. And so what I mean by that is, and I think you've heard this from many of our peers already that kind of expect our Q3 to be somewhat similar to our Q2 in terms of organic growth. Beyond that, it's difficult to call this whole -- the whole bottoming process has been difficult to call. But I pretty much agree with what's being set out there by -- with our larger companies who have even greater overall market access that it feels like the first half of calendar year '24 will be more difficult than the second half. But we'll obviously get into our planning process here in about 3 or 4 months, and we have more to talk about our fiscal year '25 following that. But that's -- I pretty much -- our view is pretty much consistent with what you're hearing from our peer companies.

當然。嗯，我會這麼說。我的意思是，我談到我們有一種感覺，減速正在放緩，甚至可能停止。所以我的意思是，我認為您已經從我們的許多同行那裡聽到了這一點，他們已經預計我們的第三季度在有機增長方面與第二季度有些相似。除此之外，很難稱之為整體──整個觸底過程很難稱之為整體。但我非常同意其中所闡述的內容 - 我們的大型公司擁有更大的整體市場准入，感覺 24 日曆年的上半年將比下半年更加困難。但顯然，我們將在大約 3 或 4 個月後進入我們的規劃流程，我們將更多地討論此後的 25 財年。但我基本上認為，我們的觀點與您從同行公司聽到的觀點非常一致。

Our next questions come from the line of Jacob Johnson with Stephens.

我們的下一個問題來自雅各布·約翰遜和史蒂芬斯的路線。

Maybe just first to unpack the biopharma commentary. The release would suggest those kind of headwinds increase in December. Can you just talk to kind of what you saw then? What caused that or what you think caused that, maybe the Evil CFO, Jim? And then just as we look ahead kind of what are you seeing from that end market to start the year? Have you seen any kind of change in customer behavior as the calendar has turned?

也許首先要解開生物製藥評論。該報告表明此類不利因素在 12 月將會加劇。你能談談你當時看到的情況嗎？是什麼造成了這種情況，或者您認為是什麼造成了這種情況，也許是邪惡的財務長吉姆？然後，正如我們展望未來，您對今年年初的終端市場有何看法？隨著時間的推移，您是否發現客戶行為發生了任何變化？

I'll start off and then let Kim, can comment perhaps since you mentioned the Evil CFO comment, I think that's partly what it was in a sense that I talked about in some prior conferences that in talking to our customers the interest is as high, if not highest it's ever been in our products. But getting purchases through particularly any larger purchases through their internal purchasing departments or the finance departments was difficult. And there was a sense of hold off until the next calendar year and calendar year budgets are set. And so we'll see if that actually materializes this quarter, but there was definitely that -- those conversations going on with our customers.

我會開始，然後讓金，也許可以發表評論，因為你提到了邪惡的首席財務官的評論，我認為這部分是我在之前的一些會議中談到的，在與我們的客戶交談時，興趣是一樣高的，即使不是我們產品中最高的。但透過內部採購部門或財務部門進行採購，尤其是任何較大的採購，是很困難的。人們有一種推遲到下一個日曆年和日曆年預算確定的感覺。因此，我們將看看這是否會在本季度真正實現，但肯定是這樣的——與我們的客戶正在進行的對話。

But I think quantitatively, there's been a number of reports put out there by analysts who file very closely the biotech funding, and they all basically say that biotech funding was down over 20% in the December quarter, and I think down sequentially like in the mid-teens even. So there was definitely a drop off in biotech funding, and that's a decent chunk of our business. So I think that's -- I think that goes without saying that was a clear driver for what occurred within the quarter.

但我認為從數量上看，密切關註生物技術融資情況的分析師發布了許多報告，他們基本上都說生物技術融資在 12 月季度下降了 20% 以上，我認為連續下降就像甚至十幾歲左右。因此，生物技術資金肯定有所下降，而這是我們業務的很大一部分。所以我認為這是——我認為這是不言而喻的，這是本季發生的事情的明顯驅動因素。

Yes. Let me add to that. Obviously, biopharma market has been constrained by lower funding than usual. If not mistaken, we probably hit the lowest point since 2016. And however, our portfolio is well positioned, right? So we have, in the core, the highest quality products that will produce and give you the best results. So you don't have to repeat your experiments, which, of course, is important in a constrained environment like this.

是的。讓我補充一下。顯然，生物製藥市場受到資金比平常減少的限制。如果沒記錯的話，我們可能會觸及 2016 年以來的最低點。但是，我們的投資組合定位良好，對嗎？因此，我們擁有最優質的核心產品，可以為您帶來最好的結果。因此，您不必重複實驗，這在這樣的受限環境中當然很重要。

And secondly, our instrumentation portfolio is to optimize efficiency. So to have fewer people in the laboratory to automate clunky processes that will give you the efficiencies you need and the reproducibility in your results that you need. So overall, our portfolio is tailored to a constrained environment like this one. And I think, therefore, that we will come out strong, once funding normalize.

其次，我們的儀器儀表產品組合是為了優化效率。因此，在實驗室中減少人員來自動化笨重的流程，這將為您提供所需的效率和結果的可重複性。因此，總的來說，我們的產品組合是針對像這樣的受限環境量身定制的。因此，我認為，一旦資金正常化，我們就會變得強大。

Yes, I'll just reiterate what Kim talked about in his opening comments to reinforce that is that our consumables on our instrument platforms were up again, this quarter, nearly 20%, and they've been up 20% or more every quarter for the past 4 quarters in this -- has been a declining market overall in the past year. So I think that -- it's a clear sign of how our tools provide the productivity that our customers need in an environment like this, not to mention the potential pent-up demand for new instruments once funding becomes more prevalent.

是的，我只是重申 Kim 在開場白中談到的內容，以強調這一點，即我們儀器平台上的消耗品再次上漲，本季度接近 20%，並且每個季度都上漲 20% 或更多。過去一年中，過去四個季度的市場整體呈現下滑趨勢。所以我認為，這是一個明顯的跡象，表明我們的工具如何在這樣的環境中提供客戶所需的生產力，更不用說一旦資金變得更加普遍，對新工具的潛在被壓抑的需求。

Got it. And then just my follow-up. Kim, you mentioned earlier this year and then on this call again that given the current environment, you could look more internally at your footprint and efficiencies, I think there was a restructuring charge in the quarter as well. Can you just elaborate on that statement and kind of how -- what efforts are you taking right now? And maybe for Jim, how we should think about the impact of those on margins?

知道了。然後就是我的後續行動。金，你在今年早些時候提到過，然後在這次電話會議上再次提到，考慮到當前的環境，你可以更多地在內部審視你的足跡和效率，我認為本季度也有重組費用。您能否詳細說明一下該聲明以及您現在正在採取哪些努力？也許對吉姆來說，我們該如何考慮這些對利潤的影響？

Yes. Thanks, Jacob. As I think about the constrained environment, you're always going to make sure that you tailor your organization to be most efficient in such environment. Not only to protect the bottom line but also to make sure that you're most efficient coming out of such constrained period. So yes, we have looked at level loading the capacity of our employees over certain businesses in certain buckets, volumes and revenues are more down than others. So we, of course, want to make sure that we do the right things there from a horsepower point of view.

是的。謝謝，雅各。當我考慮受限環境時，您始終要確保調整您的組織，使其在這種環境中最有效率。不僅是為了保護底線，也是為了確保您在擺脫這種受限時期時最有效率。所以，是的，我們已經研究了某些業務中員工的能力負荷水平，在某些方面，數量和收入比其他業務下降得更多。因此，我們當然希望確保從馬力的角度來看我們所做的是正確的事。

And then secondly, it's a good time to look at which businesses are core and strategic to you. And in our case, we found some businesses where there is a growth profile and/or a bottom line profile that doesn't fit our long-term financial strategies and expectations and/or businesses that take disproportional amount of management attention and that do not have synergies with our current channels or products. So those are businesses that we will evaluate. And over time, we'll divest.

其次，現在是了解哪些業務對您來說是核心和策略性業務的好時機。在我們的案例中，我們發現一些企業的成長狀況和/或利潤狀況不符合我們的長期財務策略和預期，和/或企業需要過多的管理層關注，並且不符合我們的長期財務策略和預期.與我們現有的通路或產品具有協同效應。這些是我們將評估的業務。隨著時間的推移，我們將剝離。

Sorry, go ahead, Jim. Sorry.

抱歉，請繼續，吉姆。對不起。

I was going to say with regards to the impact to margins. So what this does is some of the actions we're taking gives us a much higher level of confidence that the margins we reported this quarter will be the low point for the year. And we'll progress sequentially going forward. And I know you're going to ask me how much and I think we're targeting to get back into the mid-30% range by the end of the year for Q4.

我想說的是對利潤率的影響。因此，我們正在採取的一些行動使我們更有信心，我們本季報告的利潤率將是今年的最低點。我們將按順序向前推進。我知道您會問我多少，我認為我們的目標是在第四季度年底前恢復到 30% 的中間範圍。

Got it. Congrats to Chuck on the retirement. I'm not sure I saw my first day of retirement (inaudible) that's just me.

知道了。恭喜查克退休。我不確定我是否看到了退休的第一天（聽不清楚），那就是我。

Our next questions come from the line of Dan Arias with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Dan Arias 和 Stifel 的線路。

Kim or Chuck, can you just maybe talk a little bit about the antibodies business and the antibodies market just given that there are a decent number of moving parts in the mix when it comes to pharma spending, the Abcam deal, et cetera. It would just be great to get some color on what you think is relevant when it comes to the portfolio, pricing, share changes, et cetera.

Kim 或 Chuck，您能否談談抗體業務和抗體市場，因為在製藥支出、Abcam 交易等方面存在相當多的變動因素。當涉及到投資組合、定價、股票變化等方面時，如果您能夠了解一些你認為相關的內容，那就太好了。

Yes, Dan, thank you so much for your question. Our antibody business has done quite well. I think it's been running at the low single digits even in this environment. So with the headwinds in biopharma, we certainly have to make sure that some of our sales force focuses on academic markets and make sure that they close deals over there, and we get better in that space.

是的，丹，非常感謝你的問題。我們的抗體業務做得很好。我認為即使在這種環境下，它也一直以低個位數運行。因此，面對生物製藥領域的逆風，我們當然必須確保我們的一些銷售人員專注於學術市場，並確保他們在那裡完成交易，我們在這個領域會做得更好。

Our quality of our antibodies is world renowned and we know that we can compete even at higher prices with other antibody companies, and we are really confident that we will be able to continue to do so. Of course, we have had some headwinds in addition from destocking where people would have fewer or less antibodies on the shelf. However, we feel confident that symptom is now towards the end of its phase so that we feel that headwind will abate.

我們的抗體品質世界聞名，我們知道我們甚至可以以更高的價格與其他抗體公司競爭，而且我們非常有信心能夠繼續這樣做。當然，我們也遇到了一些來自去庫存的阻力，因為人們貨架上的抗體會減少或減少。然而，我們相信症狀現在已接近其階段的結束，因此我們認為逆風將會減弱。

Okay. Helpful. And then, Jim, I hate to ask about 2025 since the second half of this year is tough to call. But if I go back to the Analyst Day and I think about the growth platforms that you guys highlighted 4 or 5 of them had double-digit market growth rates attached to them. So does it feel like 6 to 12 months from now, your growth verticals are ramped up enough and the comps are favorable enough to where a 2-digit growth number that's more typical of what you've done in the past comes back into the picture?

好的。有幫助。然後，吉姆，我不想問 2025 年的情況，因為今年下半年很難預測。但如果我回到分析師日，我會想到你們強調的成長平台，其中有 4 或 5 個具有兩位數的市場成長率。那麼，從現在起 6 到 12 個月後，您的垂直增長是否已經足夠強勁，並且競爭是否足夠有利，以達到您過去所做的更典型的兩位數增長數字？ ？

Yes. What I'd say is this, Dan, is that we have a high level of confidence given our relative performance of our growth pillars even in this environment that once the market gets back to its long-term 4% to 6%, call it, mid-single-digit growth trajectory that we will be well in the double-digit growth once our core is back up there and then, of course, the growth pillars on top of that. So to ask me how long it takes to get there is also asking how long it takes for the market -- overall market to normalize. And I don't have a crystal ball on that. But assuming it does normalize as we get into the end of calendar year '25 and hopefully, by then, then the answer would be yes.

是的。丹，我想說的是，考慮到我們成長支柱的相對錶現，即使在這種環境下，一旦市場恢復到長期的 4% 至 6%，我們也有很高的信心。 ，中等個位數的成長軌跡，一旦我們的核心回到那裡，我們將很好地實現兩位數的成長，當然，在此之上的成長支柱。因此，如果問我需要多長時間才能到達那裡，也就等於問市場——整體市場正常化需要多長時間。我對此沒有水晶球。但假設當我們進入 25 日曆年年底時，它確實會正常化，並且希望到那時，答案是肯定的。

Our next questions come from the line of Patrick Donnelly with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗集團的 Patrick Donnelly。

And Chuck, I'll second my congrats there. Maybe, Jim, on the near term, just 3Q piece, we get a good amount of questions just in terms of how to think about it. Is it flat is kind of -- is that the right organic kind of year-over-year number to think about 3Q? If you can just help us kind of frame up the near term, it would be helpful on the organic growth side.

查克，我也表示祝賀。吉姆，也許在短期內，只是 3Q 部分，我們會收到很多關於如何思考它的問題。是否持平——這是考慮第三季的正確有機同比數字嗎？如果您能幫助我們制定近期框架，這對有機成長方面會有幫助。

Yes. I mean, specifically, right now, our base case is that the growth rate we experienced in Q3 will be similar to the growth rate we saw in Q2. So the deceleration of our growth rate that we've seen rate that we've seen in the past 3 or 4 quarters, we think is behind us.

是的。我的意思是，具體來說，現在我們的基本情況是，我們在第三季度經歷的成長率將與我們在第二季度看到的成長率相似。因此，我們認為過去三、四個季度的成長率放緩已經過去了。

Yes. Understood. Okay. And then maybe in China, it sounds like, obviously, I know Jim, we chatted and you were over there. Maybe just talk about your expectations for the recovery in that region? I know in the past, whether it was government or whatever it may be, you guys saw some real snapbacks quarter-to-quarter. Last time we chatted, it sounded like that was a little less likely, maybe a little more of a stability into a gradual recovery. But maybe just talk to us about what you saw over there and again, the expectations over the next few quarters relative to some of the past cycles that we've seen?

是的。明白了。好的。然後也許在中國，聽起來，顯然，我認識吉姆，我們聊天，你就在那裡。也許只是談談您對該地區復甦的期望？我知道過去，無論是政府還是其他什麼機構，你們都看到了一些真正的季度回升。上次我們聊天時，聽起來這種可能性有點小，也許是逐漸恢復的穩定性。但也許只是和我們談談您在那裡看到的情況，以及相對於我們所看到的過去一些週期對未來幾季的預期？

Thank you, Patrick. I'm going to hand this over to Kim. I know we feel exactly the same way about this, but he was there actually more recently than even I was. So go ahead, Kim.

謝謝你，派崔克。我要把這個交給金。我知道我們對此有完全相同的感覺，但他實際上比我來得晚。所以繼續吧，金。

Yes, Patrick. Well, thanks for the question. What we feel is that, obviously, China is an important country to us, right? 10% of our revenues come from there. We have been able to outgrow most of our peers over the last half decade. But that also made it tough over the last couple of quarters where China truly came to a standstill. And we feel that the activity in China is stabilizing. We do not see a clear light at the end of the funnel. Our comparables are going to be a little bit better in the coming quarters, but not for instruments, right? So it's not that we are over that hump.

是的，派崔克。嗯，謝謝你的提問。我們的感覺是，顯然中國對我們來說是一個重要的國家，對吧？我們10%的收入來自那裡。在過去的五年裡，我們的發展速度已經超過了大多數同行。但這也讓過去幾季的情況變得艱難，中國真正陷入了停滯。我們認為中國的經濟活動正在趨於穩定。我們在漏斗末端看不到明顯的光。在接下來的幾個季度中，我們的可比性將會好一些，但對於儀器而言則不然，對吧？所以這並不是說我們已經跨過了那個難關。

We do think, though, that China is going to be a fast-growing market in the future. We do expect that China will have a kind of a bias towards China for China. Therefore, we are building a local GMP facility to serve the local market. And then at the end of the day, we feel that our products with the high quality and the automation aspects will increase efficiency and we'll find a -- or continue to find a real good spot in China. And I think that the current pull-through of our consumables shows that the instruments are getting used yes, at a record pace at the moment.

不過，我們確實認為中國未來將成為一個快速成長的市場。我們確實預期中國會對中國抱持某種偏見。因此，我們正在當地建造 GMP 設施來服務當地市場。最終，我們覺得我們的產品具有高品質和自動化方面將提高效率，我們將在中國找到一個或繼續找到一個真正的好地方。我認為目前我們消耗品的使用情況表明這些儀器正在以創紀錄的速度使用。

As I mentioned, we are long-term believers in China, and we believe that China will get back to normalized funding. And use the funds to prioritize health care. So we're very optimistic over time. But if you ask when or what will trigger a V-shape recovery, that I won't be able to answer. We think it will be a slower recovery than usually.

正如我所提到的，我們是中國的長期信徒，我們相信中國將恢復融資正常化。並利用這些資金優先考慮醫療保健。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們非常樂觀。但如果你問什麼時候或什麼會引發V型復甦，我無法回答。我們認為復甦速度將比平常慢。

Our next questions come from the line of Dan Leonard with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Dan Leonard。

I just want to make sure I understand the decline in the Protein Sciences business. You commented on the antibody trends to Dan Arias low single-digit growth. But can you speak to the growth rate of core reagents in aggregate, so your antibodies, proteins, ELISA? And how steep was the decline in instrument revenue?

我只是想確保我了解蛋白質科學業務的衰退。您對 Dan Arias 的抗體趨勢發表了低個位數增長的評論。但您能談談核心試劑的整體成長率嗎，例如您的抗體、蛋白質、ELISA？儀器收入的下降幅度有多大？

Yes. I'll jump on this and then Kim can comment further, Dan. Thank you for the question. We're not going to give specifics at that level of detail. But what I would say is that in general, our overall, our reagents were down year-over-year even though antibodies were slightly up. And our instruments were down as well given the capital constraints in particular from our customers. However, again, as I'll mention again, the cartridges and consumables that are used specifically on those instruments were up nearly 20%. Cell and gene therapy is a big user of our reagents and also a high concentration of our biotech customers. And so that also impacted, we think, temporarily our reagent sales within the quarter.

是的。我會繼續討論這一點，然後金可以進一步發表評論，丹。感謝你的提問。我們不會提供如此詳細的細節。但我想說的是，總的來說，儘管抗體略有上升，但我們的整體試劑卻比去年同期下降。由於資本限制，特別是來自我們客戶的資本限制，我們的工具也有所下降。然而，正如我將再次提到的，專門用於這些儀器的墨盒和消耗品增加了近 20%。細胞和基因治療是我們試劑的大用戶，也是我們生物技術客戶的高度集中領域。我們認為，這也暫時影響了我們本季的試劑銷售。

Understood. And Jim, possible you could comment on the growth rate for the cell and gene therapy portfolio, specifically either just GMP proteins or more holistically as you measure all the touch points you have in that market?

明白了。 Jim，您是否可以對細胞和基因治療組合的成長率發表評論，特別是 GMP 蛋白，或更全面地衡量您在該市場中擁有的所有接觸點？

Yes. Well, it was down year-over-year. I'm not going to give the specifics to how much it was down. But I think an encouraging point is that the actual number of orders, invoices, et cetera, that we sold was still at an all-time record level. So what that tells us is that the customers were being more conservative in their purchases in terms of quantities, but still very active in their research within the cell and gene therapy.

是的。嗯，它逐年下降。我不會透露具體下降了多少。但我認為令人鼓舞的一點是，我們銷售的實際訂單、發票等數量仍處於歷史最高水準。這告訴我們，客戶在購買數量上更加保守，但在細胞和基因療法方面的研究仍然非常活躍。

I can add some information there. I think that -- as Jim mentioned, the volume of orders was higher than usual, but we did have a couple of larger orders push out. The thing that we can do as a company is make sure that we have new product introductions and the team is set to add 5 new GMP proteins to be released in the coming quarters so that we have a broader portfolio that serves more customers and we'll also increase share of wallet.

我可以在那裡添加一些資訊。我認為，正如吉姆所提到的，訂單量比平時要高，但我們確實推出了一些較大的訂單。作為一家公司，我們可以做的就是確保我們推出新產品，並且團隊將添加5 種新的GMP 蛋白質，並將在未來幾個季度發布，以便我們擁有更廣泛的產品組合，為更多客戶提供服務，並且我們”還將增加錢包份額。

Our next questions come from the line of Matt Larew with William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自馬特·拉魯（Matt Larew）和威廉·布萊爾（William Blair）的對話。

Just wanted to go back to the biopharma comments because, obviously, you referenced sort of a further deterioration in the quarter, which you had set up on the last call. But in the press release mentioned conservatism from a subset of biotech customers. So I guess if I just think about sources of the headwind being funding related versus being perhaps budget-related at biopharma companies that may have commercial assets, but again, could you describe me the budget process. What do you view as more of the gating factor? Are you waiting for turnaround in funding? Or is it more just budget had to get put in place and now there might be more constructive conversations.

只是想回到生物製藥評論，因為顯然，您提到了本季度的進一步惡化，這是您在上次電話會議中設定的。但在新聞稿中提到了一部分生物技術客戶的保守主義。因此，我想，如果我只考慮可能擁有商業資產的生物製藥公司的資金相關逆風來源，以及可能與預算相關的逆風來源，但您能否再次向我描述預算流程。您認為更多的限制因素是什麼？您是否正在等待資金週轉？或者只是需要製定預算，現在可能會有更多建設性的對話。

Yes. I think for us, given our weighting of customer base, the biotech funding was the biggest driver. I think the conservatism from pharma was secondary and hopefully, much more transitory. So that's -- I think that's our view. Kim, do you want to add?

是的。我認為對我們來說，考慮到我們客戶群的權重，生物技術資金是最大的推動力。我認為製藥公司的保守主義是次要的，而且希望是暫時的。我認為這就是我們的觀點。金，你要補充嗎？

Yes. No, I would agree.

是的。不，我同意。

Okay. Fair enough. And then obviously, you referenced M&A continuing to be a high priority, and it looks like some deals are starting to get done. Just curious, obviously, you had the Lunaphore acquisition here recently either from a size portfolio perspective, what are you seeing out there that's interesting? And are you starting to see valuations move more in line with public markets?

好的。很公平。顯然，您提到併購仍然是重中之重，而且看起來有些交易已經開始完成。只是好奇，顯然，您最近在這裡收購了 Lunaphore，無論是從規模投資組合的角度來看，您看到了什麼有趣的事情？您是否開始看到估值走勢與公開市場更加一致？

Yes. No, thanks for the question. To quickly jump on to the Lunaphore acquisition. It's obviously -- we are very, very happy with the acquisition itself, the assets. The team is amazing. Integration is going well. And of course, it will give us a fantastic position in the lucrative and fast-growing Spatial Biology market. As you know, this instrument, the comment will give us fully automated capabilities and multi-omic aspects where we can look at proteins and RNA in the same slide, and then combining that with the ACD portfolio and our antibodies here in R&D Systems, it's an unbelievable value proposition.

是的。不，謝謝你的提問。快速進行 Lunaphore 收購。顯然，我們對收購本身以及資產非常非常滿意。這個團隊很棒。整合進展順利。當然，這將使我們在利潤豐厚且快速成長的空間生物學市場中佔據有利地位。如您所知，該儀器的評論將為我們提供全自動功能和多組學方面，我們可以在同一張幻燈片中查看蛋白質和RNA，然後將其與ACD 產品組合和我們在研發系統中的抗體相結合，它是令人難以置信的價值主張。

We would love to do more of those. So we are always on the lookout. We have interest in looking at filling out our cell and gene therapy portfolios. We would like if there's opportunities to strengthen our core. We've talked about the 4 growth verticals. And if we can bolt something on to make those even stronger and get our positions more differentiated, that would be fantastic. And any opportunity that pulls through our core reagents is really on our list. And as you know, we always maintain a long list, but we will be disciplined in picking opportunities that would meet or exceed our financial expectations over time, which is basically contributing to the financial expectations that we've all set to Bio- Techne overall. And whether this would be a small or a large or a public or a private company, we really don't select between that. We are open to any of the -- any target that fits the mall that I just described.

我們很樂意做更多這樣的事。所以我們始終保持警惕。我們有興趣完善我們的細胞和基因治療產品組合。我們希望有機會加強我們的核心。我們已經討論了 4 個成長垂直領域。如果我們能夠增加一些東西，讓這些變得更強大，讓我們的地位更加差異化，那就太棒了。任何利用我們核心試劑的機會確實在我們的清單上。如您所知，我們總是保留一份很長的清單，但我們會嚴格挑選隨著時間的推移能夠達到或超過我們財務預期的機會，這基本上有助於我們為Bio-Techne 整體設定的財務預期。無論這是一家小型公司還是大型公司，無論是上市公司還是私人公司，我們都不會在其中做出選擇。我們對任何適合我剛剛描述的購物中心的目標都持開放態度。

Our next questions come from the line of Catherine Schulte with Baird.

我們的下一個問題來自凱瑟琳·舒爾特和貝爾德的對話。

Congrats to Chuck on the retirement. Maybe first, in pharma and biotech, I think you said down low single digits outside of China. Can you just talk a little bit about what you're seeing from emerging biotech versus kind of midsized and large customers and how you see those 2 groups playing out going forward?

恭喜查克退休。也許首先，在製藥和生技領域，我想你說的是中國以外地區的低個位數。您能否簡單談談您從新興生物技術與中型和大型客戶中看到的情況，以及您如何看待這兩個群體的未來發展？

Yes. Catherine, it's Jim. Thanks for the question. It's difficult to ascertain exactly small, sometimes smaller and larger biotechs, as you know, many are private companies knowing how big they are isn't always easy to determine. But I would just say, and generally speaking, the smaller the biotech, usually the more difficult the funding situation is. That being said, we haven't met the JPMorgan conference, call it another green shoot perhaps, but the level of activity that we saw around VC firms, private equity firms in general out sniffing around for all kinds of investment opportunities, whether it was in tools or whether it was in biotech, et cetera, was some of the highest levels that I've seen in many years there. So again, it's encouraging that perhaps the drought in funding is at its low point and might come back this calendar year, and that will obviously benefit our smaller biotech customers.

是的。凱瑟琳，是吉姆。謝謝你的提問。很難確定到底是小生技公司，有時更小還是更大的生技公司，正如你所知，許多都是私人公司，知道它們的規模並不總是那麼容易確定。但我只想說，一般來說，生技公司規模越小，通常融資情況就越困難。話雖這麼說，我們還沒有見過摩根大通會議，也許可以稱之為另一個萌芽，但我們看到創投公司、私募股權公司的活動水平普遍在尋找各種投資機會，無論是無論是在工具方面，還是在生物技術方面，等等，都是我多年來見過的最高水準。因此，令人鼓舞的是，資金短缺也許已達到最低點，並可能在今年捲土重來，這顯然將使我們的小型生物技術客戶受益。

Yes. And if I can add to that. I think that the smaller and newer biopharma companies obviously are in a different life cycle. So they typically still have to build out their labs and define their processes and validate their -- the way they measure things. So that's where we see our automation platforms, of course, being placed. And then the midsized ones are off and running, and they might have repositioned a number of projects that we run in parallel, but certainly, they typically already have our instrumentation and a little bit more consumable oriented because they are pulling through these consumables. And then large pharma has gone through a phase where they have repositioned their portfolio just as well. And there, we see a mix, right? So there is a capacity expansion by buying more instruments. And there's, of course, a pull-through in consumables. So that's how I look at the influence versus size.

是的。如果我可以補充一下的話。我認為規模較小、較新的生物製藥公司顯然處於不同的生命週期。因此，他們通常仍然需要建立實驗室並定義流程並驗證他們測量事物的方式。當然，這就是我們看到的自動化平台的放置位置。然後中型項目開始運行，他們可能重新定位了我們並行運行的許多項目，但當然，他們通常已經擁有我們的儀器和更多面向消耗品的東西，因為他們正在拉動這些消耗品。然後大型製藥公司也經歷了一個重新定位投資組合的階段。在那裡，我們看到了一種混合，對吧？因此，可以透過購買更多儀器來擴大產能。當然，還有消耗品的拉動。這就是我如何看待影響力與規模的關係。

Okay. Got it. And then you talked about these decelerating trends, hopefully being behind you here and 3Q organic growth looking similar to the second quarter. Do you think we could see a return to positive organic growth in 4Q? Or is that more likely going to be a fiscal '25 event?

好的。知道了。然後您談到了這些減速趨勢，希望在這裡能夠落後於您，並且第三季度的有機增長看起來與第二季度相似。您認為我們可以在第四季度看到有機成長的回歸嗎？或者這更有可能是 25 財年的活動？

Anything is possible, Catherine.

一切皆有可能，凱瑟琳。

Sure.

當然。

I mean, it's that within (inaudible) possibilities, yes. In fact, the tide has turned some momentum and China truly stabilizes, I think there's a potential for it. I'm not -- I would say -- I'd [leave it] by saying that it would be slight growth probably, but I think there's a potential for it. We're seeing sequential improvement in our businesses, so that's encouraging.

我的意思是，在（聽不清楚）的可能性內，是的。事實上，潮流已經扭轉了一些勢頭，中國真正穩定下來了，我認為這是有潛力的。我不會——我會說——我會說這可能會略有增長，但我認為它有潛力。我們看到我們的業務持續改善，這是令人鼓舞的。

Our next questions come from the line of Alex Nowak with Craig-Hallum.

我們的下一個問題來自亞歷克斯·諾瓦克（Alex Nowak）和克雷格·哈勒姆（Craig-Hallum）的對話。

How is Wilson Wolf progressing since you made that investment there. Just curious where they deployed their cash, the cash infusion and just how they're handling the biotech funding environment?

自從您在那裡進行投資以來，Wilson Wolf 進展如何？只是好奇他們在哪裡部署了現金、現金注入以及他們如何處理生物技術融資環境？

Yes. Thank you for the question. So Wilson Wolf has tremendous (inaudible) behind them now in this last year. Overall, the year was hard because the -- some of the early-stage activities and clinical projects have been canceled. So overall, they're down mid-single digits. But the last quarter and last half been much, much better back in the black. And we do see a progress in the pipeline. We see that there are various clinical studies rolling into next phases. And we even see an approval upcoming where the G-Rex is specked in. So overall, we believe that Wilson Wolf will be doing great again. And we know that John Wilson has invested in activities that bolster the adoption of our G-Rex and the Wilson Wolf franchise. As you know, we have a very genius deal structure around the Wilson Wolf. And at the latest is the end of calendar year 2027 that Wilson Wolf will be fully part of the Bio-Techne family.

是的。感謝你的提問。所以，威爾遜·沃爾夫（Wilson Wolf）在去年為他們提供了巨大（聽不清楚）的支持。總體而言，這一年很艱難，因為一些早期活動和臨床計畫已被取消。總體而言，它們下降了中個位數。但上個季度和後半段的獲利情況要好得多。我們確實看到了進展。我們看到有各種臨床研究正在進入下一階段。我們甚至看到即將批准 G-Rex 的加入。所以總的來說，我們相信 Wilson Wolf 將再次表現出色。我們知道約翰·威爾遜 (John Wilson) 投資了一些活動來促進我們的 G-Rex 和 Wilson Wolf 特許經營權的採用。如您所知，我們圍繞 Wilson Wolf 有一個非常天才的交易結構。最遲到 2027 年底，Wilson Wolf 將完全成為 Bio-Techne 家族的一員。

I'll just add to with regards to their financial performance. They had a tough calendar year '23 like we all have. But they actually did see significant sequential improvement in their December quarter and are expecting continued sequential improvement from there. So that's encouraging also. Given there they have even much wider visibility into the cell and gene therapy market than we do.

我只想補充一下他們的財務表現。他們和我們一樣度過了艱難的 23 年。但他們實際上確實在 12 月的季度中看到了顯著的環比改善，並預計從那時起將繼續實現環比改善。所以這也令人鼓舞。有鑑於此，他們對細胞和基因治療市場的了解比我們更廣泛。

Thank you. We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Kim Kelderman for any closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節已經結束。現在我想請 Kim Kelderman 發表結束語。

Yes. Thank you, and thanks, everyone, for joining the call. Of course, one last time, thank you, Chuck, for your leadership over the last decade plus. As you can hear, I'm excited about the long-term position and our prospects as a company. We have a great strategy in place. I'm also very proud of the Bio-Techne team for executing so well in this constrained environment. And I'm absolutely looking forward to navigating these constraints. And I'm looking forward to speaking again at our next earnings release.

是的。謝謝大家，也謝謝大家加入這通通話。當然，最後一次，謝謝你，查克，謝謝你在過去十多年的領導。正如您所聽到的，我對公司的長期地位和前景感到興奮。我們制定了一項偉大的戰略。我也為 Bio-Techne 團隊在這種受限環境中表現出色而感到非常自豪。我非常期待克服這些限制。我期待在下次財報發佈時再次發言。

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。此時您可以斷開線路。享受你一天剩下的時間。