Q2 2024 VolitionRx Ltd Earnings Call
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by welcome to the Volition Rx Limited second quarter 2024 earnings conference call. During today's presentation, all parties will be in a listen only mode. Following the presentation. The conference call will be opened for questions.
Speaker Change: Have a question. Please press the star key followed by the number one on your Touchtone phone. If you would like to withdraw your question. Please press the starch Starkey followed by the number two if you are using speaker equipment. Please lift the handset before making your selection. This conference is being recorded today August 15th 2024 hour now.
Speaker Change: Like to turn the conference call over to Louise Bachelor Group, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. Please go ahead.
Louise Bachelor: Thank you and welcome everyone to todays earnings conference call for Volition Rx limited.
Louise Bachelor: Before we begin I'd like to remind everyone that some of the information discussed on this conference call will include forward looking statements covered under the Safe Harbor provisions at the private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Louise Bachelor: These statements are based on our beliefs as well as assumptions we have used upon the information currently available to us.
Louise Bachelor: Because these statements reflect our current views concerning future events.
Louise Bachelor: These statements involve risks uncertainties and assumptions.
Louise Bachelor: Actual future results may vary significantly based on a number of factors.
Louise Bachelor: It may cause the actual results or events to be materially different from future results performance or achievements.
Louise Bachelor: Expressed or implied by these statements.
Louise Bachelor: We've identified various risk factors associated with our operations.
Louise Bachelor: In our most recent annual report on Form 10-K.
Louise Bachelor: Quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Louise Bachelor: We do not undertake an obligation to update any forward looking statements made during the course of this call.
Speaker Change: Hasn't been Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer will open Nicole providing key highlights of the second quarter and indeed, the first half of 'twenty 'twenty four.
Don I'm: Then don't I'm, sorry about that Chief Medical Officer will provide a commentary about how clinical trials program.
Speaker Change: Terry cute I agree with Chief Financial Officer will then cover Volitions financial and operating results along with a discussion of recent finance activities before passing back to Cameron for a look ahead to upcoming milestones. We will then open the conference call to a question and answer session.
Speaker Change: I'll now call David Cole to come out.
David Cole: Thanks, Lew and thank you everyone for joining Volitions second quarter 'twenty 'twenty four earnings call. Today. We appreciate your time, you've been busy earnings call season.
Cameron: Thank you for your continued support in helping US advance our mission to save the lives and improve outcomes of millions of people and animals worldwide through our novel Epigenetics platform.
Speaker Change: This year, we have successfully supported our veterinary licensing and distribution partners to launch new to you that cancer test and I'm delighted that we have sold more tests in the first half of this year than we did in the whole of 2023.
Speaker Change: Through the end of June 'twenty 'twenty, four we sold more than 60000 EQ cancer tests.
Speaker Change: This is about 58000 tests for the full year of 2023.
Speaker Change: <unk> diagnostics.
Speaker Change: Out of the Mars Petcare group announced the launch of new vet tests, not only in the U S and Europe, but also as far afield as my home country of Australia.
Speaker Change: As well as India and Singapore.
Speaker Change: The list of countries is ever expanding.
Speaker Change: The antique team has been very actively marketing the in house test at a very compelling list price of $35 to the vet.
Fuji film that systems are also pricing the test Tibet at below $40 and on July 1st announced the countrywide launch of the new cancer tests in Japan.
Speaker Change: The very good initial feedback from that they are now marketing the test aggressively so another exciting market to watch.
Speaker Change: We have invested significantly over the recent years to build out our product pillars and to help ensure we have robust scientific and clinical evidence to support a potential breakthrough technologies.
Speaker Change: During the second quarter of 'twenty 'twenty four we continued to make significant progress in readying, our products and technologies, including our intellectual property for licensing our patent portfolio as of June 30 comprises 53 patent families.
Speaker Change: 86th granted patents with a further 128 patents pending worldwide. We believe this to provide a rich source of competitive advantage and I'd like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of all our scientific team.
Jane Mcauliffe: Notably Dr. Jane Mcauliffe.
Jane Mcauliffe: And our head of intellectual property Catherine Marilu.
Jane Mcauliffe: Our focus in the second half of 'twenty 'twenty four will include negotiating our first licensing deal in the human space.
Jane Mcauliffe: And to that end pharma benches has recently been engaged to act as an adviser to volition to help secure licensing deals.
Speaker Change: Pharma ventures is a respected international advisory company with a proven track record in licensing partnering and strategic alliances pharma ventures specialist experience in dealmaking and extensive network means that it is ideally placed to support us as we seek to commercialize a potentially groundbreaking oncology and captured PCI portfolio.
I will return later in the call to discuss future milestones and to answer your questions, but we'll now possibly a bit of a doctor Reza for summary of upcoming data for inclusion in the data rooms.
Not only for oncology, but also cause sepsis, where we already have received expressions of interest from key industry players.
Andy: Andy over to you.
Andy: Thank you Cameron and good morning, everyone.
Andy: <unk> seen that so I'll focus is to develop a low cost routine test.
What's the risk of sepsis, particularly those at risk of progressing to multiple organ failure.
Speaker Change: <unk> to monitoring the disease progression I was supposed to treatment.
Speaker Change: We've made excellent progress towards achieving these ambitious goals during the second quarter.
Speaker Change: A number of extensive studies with many large data sets expected to be available for a confidential data wouldn't this summer and publication as anticipated after the S. ICD I'm conference in October 2024.
Speaker Change: In summary across all the studies today, we will have data covering patients in days Chris.
Speaker Change: Critical care and emergency Department with key outcome measures can you Kinetz correlating with 28 day mortality.
Speaker Change: My team mortality disease severity duration of organ support length of stay within critical care and in hospital. All of these outcome measures are in line with our sepsis redefinition.
Speaker Change: Our first two studies have I think two and a half thousand patients.
Speaker Change: Have high resolution data based on commission and loan to change no data rather than to stay.
Speaker Change: K O two extremely well characterized and we believe this will be an extremely rich source of insight into the value of a 3.1. The samples have all been run and processed the data analysis is being finalized with the go to it being completed and ready to actually the day to them by the end of the month is shared with our Kols in September.
Speaker Change: Preliminary results across the cohorts are promising and consistent.
Speaker Change: As I reported last quarter, we extended the date Cross study in the United States to include six patients. That's the patients to be initiated into the study from the emergency department, rather than simply including high teen patients Mcqueen.
Speaker Change: Recruitment for the study has now closed and data analysis is almost complete.
Speaker Change: Our project with our key opinion leader Professor de Julian on in France is progressing well.
Speaker Change: This is a consortium project of an ongoing prospective study of which finished as the number again its loan to cheapen and nature large scale with high resolution is approximately 1500 patients in the study.
Speaker Change: Working closely with professor <unk> and his team we have performed an interim analysis as I said 450 patients.
Speaker Change: This will be added to the confidential data room and shattered her upcoming key opinion leader workshop in Paris in September.
Speaker Change: With regards to publications, we have again made good progress.
Speaker Change: The zip because that's how paper detailed on novel synthetic sepsis model.
Speaker Change: Published during the second quarter and the general if somebody isn't even status.
Speaker Change: The findings were reported emphasized the importance of investigating Nashville, theology, and biology to better understand its context, and when it becomes disorders and diseases.
Speaker Change: We hope to identify risk factors and further therapeutic targets, providing novel strategies for disease intervention and management.
Speaker Change: A second paper by temporary entitled understanding complex chromatin dynamics at primary human use shows cheering Pam as Houston, Texas is currently out for pay per view.
Speaker Change: And has received positive feedbacks I saw it as available to review on bio archives.
Speaker Change: We now have a pipeline of papers based off the initials of Cas paper. These all underlying the scientific validity and on UK Nats assay and we believe a great interest not only to our key opinion leaders in centers of excellence, but I'll say to a licensing partners or potential licensing partners.
Speaker Change: Finally from a publication perspective following on from the Kao event last year I have been working with professor not professing that Theyre seeing are all in a review article exploring the role of investigating next in sepsis.
Speaker Change: We hope to see this on BOL archives against thing.
Speaker Change: Forward in September we are hosting our second key opinion leader workshop again, it will be chaired by professor to Julian and attended by some of the worlds leading experts on sepsis. During this session. We will be sharing the key findings from our recent extensive studies as well as some of our significant work from our innovation team in America.
Speaker Change: I would like to reiterate that last year's event, the whole sense impression from the Cao group with it Nietzsche nets potentially websites one of the biggest breakthroughs in sepsis punishment in the last 30 years.
Speaker Change: We truly hyper statement is correct and the day to teach people presented population and our centers of excellence could provide the evidence to support this bold E P.
Speaker Change: You know Teva.
Speaker Change: We anticipate a number of clinical studies I mentioned earlier will be reported at a satellite symposium at the European Society of intense care medicine.
Speaker Change: One of the largest intensive care conference in the world.
Speaker Change: We are very proud to be sponsoring our first satellite symposium.
Speaker Change: There'll be many more details to follow but it's going to be a very busy second half of the year for new candidates in sepsis.
Speaker Change: We expect all of these activities to help us to continue to build momentum and solidify the keen interest to date and further our licensing discussions and negotiations with partners can you change it.
Speaker Change: Moving to cancer. We've also made solid progress with a sneaky and capture P. C L.
Speaker Change: The team a hospice cereals to Neil one of our centers of excellence is completed the Holdco Pro lung study presented that findings at the European Society for medical oncology in September and submit for pay per view and publication shortly thereafter.
Speaker Change: This data very much builds upon the earlier work from the team and Lee on demonstrating the clinical utility is in the acute and the diagnosis and manage in a lung cancer patient.
Speaker Change: I want to flag this and hopefully it will be something enticing pizza the council in September.
Speaker Change: Sticking with lung cancer the manuscript from the National Taiwan University study has recently been competed and again as you expect it to be published on bio archive within the next few weeks.
Speaker Change: Our colleagues in Leon have also completed a study on ovarian cancer and the manuscript is being finalized as we speak so.
Speaker Change: Compelling data across the board and much of it will be added or expected to be added to the confidential data room with pharma ventures and further studies in the next few weeks. So very much a case of watch this space and you can't cancer we've.
Speaker Change: We've mentioned before capture P. C. L. A novel liquid biopsy method involving the first reported physical isolation of a class of Cima derived DNA fragments from blood.
Speaker Change: Councillor derived DNA fragments have an extractive for removal of all background DNA from the same sequence for detection for that low cost and simple Pcr test.
Speaker Change: Volition tested this method and a small clinical experiments and detect at a range of solid and liquid cancers, including detecting cancers at the very earliest stages of this phase or stage one disease.
Go to Jake Mckellips and team has presented this method and associated data a number of cancer specific conferences and that's it.
Speaker Change: And the all important key opinion leader and potential centers of excellence that black.
Speaker Change: The team has continued to identify other potential biomarkers and the associated PCR tests, and especially gained ground looking at solid cancers and will conduct initial studies in larger patient cohort in short order.
Speaker Change: From a publication perspective, we are close to completing the manuscript and plan to submit this breakthrough method for peer review thing.
Speaker Change: We believe that this will be an incredibly important paper to add to our data room and support the ongoing commercial discussions with a wide range of potential licensing partners.
Speaker Change: I just want to conclude by saying that year to date, we have added and continue out supporting materials to our data rooms for Nietzsche nets capture P. C O N E acute cancer.
Speaker Change: These clinical data and scientific papers have proven to be of great interest to potential licensing companies and highlighting the promise of our patented technologies. Thank you very much for listening lots and lots to come in this space.
Speaker Change: With that I'd like to pass you over to Terry to the Finance report Thank Carolyn Terry.
Terry: Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining our call today.
Terry: I will now provide a summary of the key financial results for the quarter ended June 32024.
Terry: As announced in our first quarter results. We are continually working on a number of grades with the aim of ensuring volition is cash flow positive in 2025.
Key activities to achieve this goal all entering into one or more licensing or supply agreements in the human space for Newco nets, ncube cancer, and capture PCR and receiving milestone payments under those agreements.
Receiving the remaining $5 million of milestone payments from Heska for Nu Q vet for feline <unk>.
Terry: Increasing revenues.
Terry: Cutting cost to reduce expenditures by $10 million on an annualized basis versus prior year.
And obtaining further meaningful government non dilutive funding.
Terry: And I'm delighted to report we made progress on each of these threats.
Terry: From a revenue perspective during the second quarter of 2024, we recorded revenue of approximately $396000 approximately 83% higher than the same period last year and so the first half of 2024 revenue totaled $567000 up 55% versus.
Speaker Change: The first half of 2023, so we are seeing revenue growth starting to accelerate primarily driven by antics launch of the new cube at cancer tests on their in house platform in the U S and Europe in April.
Secondly from an expenditure perspective, we.
Speaker Change: We have and will continue to undertake a thorough review of all projects with the aim of streamlining our activities to help ensure that we deliver on our focused action plans and monetize our exciting technologies and intellectual property.
Speaker Change: By way of example.
Speaker Change: Head count as a 13th of June 2024 was 9% lower than the end of the second quarter of 2023.
Speaker Change: And the operating expenses for the second quarter of 2024 with 24% lower than the same quarter last year from a funding perspective as you are probably aware throughout the company's history. We have been successful in securing non dilutive funding on favorable terms and year to date, we have targeted a range of government agencies.
Speaker Change: Including in the U S to fund or co fund some of our strategic projects.
Speaker Change: As a reminder, we have previously received over $20 million in non diluted funding support from various Belgian and European agencies. We.
Speaker Change: We will provide further updates on this in the coming months.
Speaker Change: We ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of approximately $6 million.
Speaker Change: Subsequent to quarter end, we completed a registered direct offering of common stock and warrants to purchase common stock of up to $21.5 million in aggregate gross proceeds with a single healthcare focused investment fund.
Speaker Change: This deal comprises of $7 million upfront investment at closing and up to an additional $14 $5 million of potential aggregate gross proceeds upon the exercise in full on a cash basis of milestone linked warrants issued to the investors in the transaction.
And finally as Cameron has already highlighted our focus in the second half of 2024 with the support of pharma ventures will include negotiating our first licensing deal in the human space.
Speaker Change: Following we hope a similar approach as we achieved in the veterinary space.
Speaker Change: Thanks, Terry and thanks, Andy your comprehensive reports.
Speaker Change: As previously mentioned our focus continues to be on getting each pillar to support itself.
Either through product revenues.
Speaker Change: Stone payments out licensing.
Speaker Change: And or other non dilutive funding in the coming year.
Speaker Change: As well as on the companywide cost reduction measures of 10 million U S dollars.
Speaker Change: Our aim is to ensure volition is cash flow positive in 2025.
Speaker Change: The team has made strong progress towards this goal in the second quarter.
Speaker Change: We've also made strong progress through the first half of 'twenty 'twenty, four and getting the data required to support our strategy to monetize our IP through licensing agreements.
Speaker Change: I guess in the second half of 'twenty 'twenty four will include negotiating our first licensing deal in the human space and.
Speaker Change: And we are delighted to be working with pharma adventures to help secure such deals.
Speaker Change: We have accumulated a lot of experience from our various licensing and supply negotiations beneath you bet, which we believe will help us move towards commercializing some about other technologies, such as but not limited to EQ net <unk> cancer and capture PCR.
Speaker Change: As Andy discussed we have been busy preparing and supplementing our data rooms to support our active ongoing discussions and negotiations with interested parties.
Andy: The nature of these potential licensing annual supply agreements is both broad and complex.
Andy: As you can imagine there are a range of options. We are discussing from exclusive nonexclusive global versus regional national versus old clinical indications versus specific clinical indication.
Andy: We have had an incredible amount of interest in our technology, thus far and we're making strong progress on a number of fronts. It's an exciting time as we push out technologies up the value curve in order to maximize the monetization of our IP through payments for exclusivity.
Andy: Stone payments and ongoing licensing revenues.
Andy: So as we expect we believe this strategy will provide us with ongoing royalties and very meaningful milestone payments in the next 12 months.
Andy: And so enrolling this earnings call to a close I would like to thank you all for joining the call today, we very much appreciate it given how much is to digest over all of our pillars, we will now take questions.
Andy: Operator.
Speaker Change: Thank you we will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question. Please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Speaker Change: Confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You May press star two to remove your question from the queue for participants using speaker equipment. It may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys, one moment. Please while we poll for your questions.
Speaker Change: Okay.
Speaker Change: Our first questions come from the line of Bruce Jackson with the Benchmark Company. Please proceed with your questions.
Bruce Jackson: Hi, good morning, and thank you for taking my questions.
Speaker Change: Thanks Bruce.
Bruce Jackson: I'd like to focus on the the revenue uptake for the for the vet product you had a nice uptick this quarter and I know that to some extent. This is out of your control because you were working with our distribution partners, but you've got.
Speaker Change: The tests launching in Japan, and Amtech launched in April So just for the next couple of quarters. If he's got line of sight or are we just going to see sequential increases in revenue and could we know what kind of.
Speaker Change: What kind of uptake curve could we potentially be looking at.
Speaker Change: Thanks, Bruce that yes. It was a very a good uptick this quarter I will now pass you over to Terry.
Terry: And yes, it's difficult to know what that curve looks like.
Speaker Change: But you're right we saw a very good uptake.
Terry: It would be the revenue from that in Q2 was about double that of Q1, but it's difficult to know whether that sort.
Terry: It continues on a straight line like that as you said, we don't have direct line of sight into.
Terry: Into.
Terry: What what that's going to look like for the next couple of quarters, but we said we expect it to increase.
Terry: Over that over the next quarter or two because.
Terry: We've got.
Terry: Both <unk> and Fuji, having just launched in the in.
Terry: In the last quarter. So we're looking forward to seeing some some increase there over the next couple of quarters, but it is difficult for us to give guidance at this point.
Terry: Yeah and the.
Terry: So <unk>, obviously, just recently launched on the point of care and we're extremely happy with that machine.
Speaker Change: I think it's the first time that I'm aware of in history that any any point of care intensive test has been available for any living thing. So it's quite a quite a first and I think that could be a game changer, but obviously the lab market is also very important and Fuji are really hitting the ground running but it can be a little lumpy because they obviously stock and then they can go to just talk for a few months and reorder.
Speaker Change: All the indications we have it's been a very good response from the vet sensor.
Speaker Change: Sensitivity of.
Speaker Change: 76%, 97% specificity is obviously extremely good tests.
Speaker Change: We're very hopeful that it is really picking up but it could be a little bumpy over the next few quarters until it kicks into demand growing from all areas, but at the moment, we're very happy.
Speaker Change: Okay, Great and then one more on the income statement so Terry.
Speaker Change: Good expense control in the quarter for operating expenses.
Do you see that being the level.
Terry: That would be running at going forward.
Speaker Change: And it's coming down.
Terry: Each quarter end.
Speaker Change: As I mentioned previously.
Speaker Change: Yeah, the expenses have peaked.
Speaker Change: We're now focusing on commercialization so the R&D costs are coming down and then yes.
Speaker Change: We will continue to see those costs coming down each quarter and as I said the <unk>.
Speaker Change: So as to reduce the overall expenses by at least $10 million.
Speaker Change: Year over year on an annualized basis.
Speaker Change: We started.
Speaker Change: Really.
Speaker Change: Last quarter.
Speaker Change: Bringing bringing those down and then so some of the actions.
Speaker Change: We will continue Oh, youll see that the impact of those continuing over the balance of the year.
Speaker Change: The intent is to get that done by the end of the year, but going into next year, we've got a.
Speaker Change: A $10 million.
Speaker Change: The reduction in the overall expenses.
Speaker Change: And I think Bruce it's probably important to emphasize we absolutely understand the climate change from a few years ago.
Speaker Change: And he raising money now is expensive. So we are incredibly careful with every dollar we spend we actually just spent the last few days gone over weekends again, what else can we take out.
Speaker Change: And now we're cutting everything we possibly can but we're making sure that we are those things, which are leading to the revenue and also to the licensing deals. We continue to fund because I think the.
The licensing deals I think.
Speaker Change: They are getting very close to the rooms being ready we've had a lot of interest.
Speaker Change: They are truly potentially a fantastic breakthrough technologies, you've heard from Andy that the data is consistent and very promising.
Speaker Change: So we're very hopeful we can get a great licensing deal in the next few quarters as well so but we absolutely get it we are doing everything we can to take out every penny we can to make sure. We reach these milestones and there's quite a few big milestones. The next few months of the quarter.
Speaker Change: So extending the runway as much as possible to make sure we get them.
Speaker Change: Okay, great. Thank you very much that's it for me.
Speaker Change: Thanks, Bruce and have a good day.
Speaker Change: Thank you as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question. Please press star one on your telephone keypad.
Speaker Change: Our next questions come from the line of Oh, Yes, Zubkov with freedom broker. Please proceed with your question.
Speaker Change: Yeah.
Zubkov: Hey, good morning, and thank you for taking my question.
Speaker Change: Good morning, I had a question on the recently raised funding and it was said that each project is aimed to be funded separately and.
Speaker Change: I was wondering if this strategy is still valid and how to find and raised last week relates to the strategy.
Speaker Change: So we are absolutely trying to make sure every one of the key areas is self funding. So if that is the Miami conclude the milestone payments the Nic data looks absolutely fantastic as we said and we're going to be publishing a lot of it soon so we're very hopeful that through milestone payments and deals that can also be I think.
Speaker Change: The human cancer, we've been around 14 years now it's from my point of view, it's everything we wanted from the start and the human cancer side as well the new Q in in capture PCR also in lung cancer and also we've got daily coming out in <unk> in solid tumors, which is also very exciting you will see soon so I think it's very plausible did that.
Speaker Change: Is potentially so funding as well as well as all the different grants and three.
Speaker Change: We're expecting from the governments, we have a large amount of money coming in and we expect again from different government agencies both.
Andy: Both in Europe, and U S. So we do the fundraise, obviously, it's expensive money at the moment, but we wanted to make certain we could get these milestones out get the data out as Andy said in the next couple of months and all in all the different areas and do everything we can to get a licensing deal. So I think it's exactly.
Andy: The same strategy Terry when I speak of it.
Andy: Yes.
Terry: I think you've covered most of it.
Cameron: Cameron I think.
Cameron: Yes, we are getting they are getting the revenue to ramp in.
Speaker Change: Does that business getting licensing done.
Speaker Change: In the human space and then.
Speaker Change: Focusing on them.
Speaker Change: Bringing bringing the costs down and getting the.
Speaker Change: Some of the some of the government funding in.
Speaker Change: Yeah that should take us to a point next year. If we're successful will be cash flow positive next year.
Speaker Change: Great. Thank you very much.
Speaker Change: Thank you have a great day.
Speaker Change: Thank you our next questions come from the line of Steven Ralston with Zacks small cap research. Please proceed with your questions.
Steven Ralston: Oh, thank you.
Steven Ralston: Hum.
Steven Ralston: You've made a it's got some good traction here ramping up the product line.
Steven Ralston: Is there a way to break down I think you mentioned that it was lumpy.
Speaker Change: But through your distribution channels in different countries is there any way to get a breakdown to see where we're seeing the release, where the strength is.
Speaker Change: We are not providing that.
Speaker Change: At the moment.
Speaker Change: Yes, the numbers are still relatively lumpy as Cameron mentioned and.
Speaker Change: Yeah, we don't we don't.
Speaker Change: Don't see any.
Cameron: Meaningful trends from quarter to quarter at the moment, because we've still got two launches happening.
Cameron: And yes, it is difficult to provide any sort of meaningful guidance on trends at the moment. So.
Cameron: But that's something we'll be hoping to do when we put a bit more traction, but I think it's fair to say obviously the early revenue was.
Cameron: IDEXX and stuffing up which they've been working through we've now had a range of other partners who bought this bump is the launches.
Cameron: In Japan and with Mas.
Cameron: So it is picking up very much and we're also making a in the vet space. We're also making progress on the capped pre Olympics potentially for another milestone payment their launch of the cat product.
We've also feedback from a lot of different partners that democratize a place of work as you can tell from all the trials and the processes, but when you get into a larger number of samples micro tied to place.
Speaker Change: Ideal for workflow in the lab that they work well, but as you can imagine the plastic pipe for 40 test is not the same as a machine.
<unk> spent a lot of time and effort and now we have the.
Speaker Change: The test working when we automate in dogs and then therefore, we expect also to be able to do that in cost. If we have a cat product. So we're doing a lot of work and I think.
Speaker Change: The pick up now is from the point of care and from Japan, which is place, but we're hopeful to that we can get some more pick up and I think for the labs to really kick into high gear, they're going to automate is the way to go. So we've been doing a lot of work on that background as well now that won't continue into next year.
Speaker Change: And of course, we had monitoring to it and hopefully catch next year, perhaps its going to pick up but we're very encouraged with enthusiasm about two new partners <unk> and Fuji and also to work obviously done traditionally by biotech so.
Speaker Change: It's all there, but it will be.
Speaker Change: Up and down but the trend is obviously strongly upwards, we've done more in the first half of this year than all of us.
Speaker Change: I think it will become much more regular than a few quarters. Once all of them have done the launch phases and start ordering regularly.
Speaker Change: Thank you because concerning the cost cutting program.
Speaker Change: I mean, you made tremendous progress in R&D, and sales and marketing where reductions between 17 and 19% sequentially.
Speaker Change: But the general and administrative expenses are lagging a little behind that I think it was like single digit.
Speaker Change: Do you expect that to pick up I know you said it was.
Speaker Change: A two tier cost reduction program would you actually implemented some cost cutting over 12 months ago could you clarify that and whether you expect.
Speaker Change: G&A to.
Speaker Change: Expenses dropped significantly just like R&D and sales and marketing.
Speaker Change: So I think I think obviously.
Speaker Change: R&D is coming so some of that comes to a natural and just in terms of projects that are finishing up to that.
Speaker Change: A bit sooner.
Speaker Change: We are turning over every.
Ralph: Ralph could we can we can look at to find what we can cut out but.
Ralph: G&A, obviously takes a little bit longer.
Ralph: To tackle that and so we will see that coming down.
Ralph: Over the next few months, but yes.
Speaker Change: Yes, perhaps perhaps not as quickly as the R&D as those some of those projects just rolled off naturally.
Speaker Change: But the goal is as we said to continue to we'll continue to see progress on that over the balance of this year and into next year.
Speaker Change: Thank you yeah concerning the recent financing you have these milestone a and b warrants, which you're going to give a nice tail of funding when you meet these milestones.
Speaker Change: B warrant seemed to be quite specific about progress with the FDA approval.
Speaker Change: Could you. Please clarify the would you expect.
Speaker Change: Two triggered E warrants.
Speaker Change: Yes, so obviously.
Speaker Change: The warrants are commercially driven as you have said so they are.
Speaker Change: Expressed we are very happy actually.
Speaker Change: I would actually say that the scientific team at Epsilon about the data in cancer in sepsis.
Speaker Change: And we have a lot of interest from partners. So we do expect them to have a commercial deal in the next I mean, it doesn't take a few weeks by any means but certainly a quarter or two we should be getting very strong traction.
Speaker Change: And in at least a few of them and so the milestone we spend a lot of effort on this raise making sure that that was an achievable level they come down too.
Speaker Change: Getting some value and the price system become public I guess, but it's basically having a deal in the human space and given the excellent data we've seen in Q in lung and capture them in sepsis I think it's a very realistic possibility. So we tailored the milestones of things. We think we can achieve and that's what pharma vintages are doing and we're doing in sepsis.
Speaker Change: And we have the right to call those warrants so we're hopeful.
Speaker Change: That's in the next two quarters three quarters.
Speaker Change: When we can pull that warrant and that will then as you said you kind of go away.
Speaker Change: And the longer one is for the FDA, but that's obviously a few years away.
Speaker Change: Hopefully, we can meet that I want in the short to medium term.
Speaker Change: Thank you one last question on the financing.
Speaker Change: Are you implementing some sort of cash management program to get well and somebody raised you can still get reasonable interest rates to bring in a few extra hundred thousands dollars after.
Speaker Change: After cash balances was as the.
Speaker Change: As you as you just completed this a 7 million dollar financing.
Speaker Change: Yes, we do we do have some interest bearing accounts, where we put any spare cash that we do have so yeah. We are managing the cash.
As a as efficiently as we can.
Speaker Change: All right. Thank you just one last question.
Speaker Change #100: Concerning our ESMO in 2024, but mid September.
Speaker Change #101: How many papers are you going to present there.
Andy: Andy There's one paper being presented one paper being presented there.
Speaker Change #102: Fixing well not only is focused on lung cancer and we're very excited by the results there and the big one is the European Society of intensive care, which is in October and that's early October and in that I'm trying to go through the presentation and that we've got.
With any company in our data that we've actually put a satellite symposium, but we'll be sharing data from three upcoming scientific trials and from our three large clinical trials.
Speaker Change #102: Conducted say fall lots of lots of lots of work there.
Speaker Change #103: Thank you for taking my questions.
Speaker Change #104: Thank you Steven.
Speaker Change #104: Thank you I'm showing no further questions at this time I would now like to hand, the call back over to Cameron Reynolds for any closing remarks.
Cameron Reynolds: Thank you everyone and thanks for your interest in volition and I'd like to assure everyone. We are working incredibly hard to reach the milestones when commercialization on the cost cutting front, but also on the licensing front with pharma benches in the human space, We're very very happy with all the data, we're seeing and we finally got a range of different products, we can license in human cancer.
Cameron Reynolds: After 14 years, where it's at.
Andy: Exactly what we wanted when we started and also as Andy said the surplus that we're extremely happy with as well so and that's all coming out in the September October timeframe in publications in conferences and in data rooms for a large number of interested parties. So it should be an extremely interesting ended the year. So I'm looking forward to the next earnings call in November.
Cameron Reynolds: Thank you for your time.
Speaker Change #106: Thank you. This does conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation you may disconnect. Your lines at this time enjoy the rest of your day.
Cameron Reynolds: Okay.
Cameron Reynolds: [music].