This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.
Operator
Greetings and welcome to the Avenger first quarter 2023 results call. At this time all participants are in a listen only mode and a question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded and I will now turn the conference over to your host Matt Kreps. Sir you may begin.
Avenger
Thank you, Ali, and thank you all for participating in today's call. I'd like to welcome you to Avenger's first quarter 2023 conference call. Joining us today are Avenger's CEO, Jeff Soensky, and Principal Financial Officer, Nabil Spinelli. Earlier today, Avenger released financial results for the quarter-ended March 31, 2023. A copy of the release is posted on the Avenger website under Investor Relations. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that management will make statements during this call. They will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained in this call that are not statements of historical fact should be deemed to be forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements, including without limitation our future financial expectations, are based upon our current estimates and various assumptions. These statements involve material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to materially differ from those anticipated or implied by these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these statements. For a list and description of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business, please see our Form 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Average or disclaims any intention or obligation except as required by law to update or revise any financial projections or forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. Today's presentation will also include reference to non-GAAP financial measures, such as the adjusted EBITDA. The reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is also available within the earnings release, which can be found on Avenger's website. And with that, I'd like to now turn the call over to Jeff.
Ali
Thank you, Matt. Good afternoon and thank you all for joining us. During the first quarter and early part of the second quarter, we've made important progress in advancing our business and our mission of radically changing the way vascular disease is treated. In April, we received 510 clearance for our new Tiger Eye ST image-guided CTO crossing catheter and have already initiated limited launch activities. In January, we filed a 510 submission for Pantheris LV, our next generation large vessel image-guided atherectomy system. Since that time, we've advanced the regulatory review process with the FDA and continue to anticipate pre-market clearance in the mid-year timeframe, providing the opportunity for two new peripheral product launches in the second half of this year. Along with the introduction of our new Lightbox 3 imaging console in 2022, We believe the launch of these two new catheter systems in 2023 will fully build out our image-guided PAD product portfolio, allowing us to focus most of our R&D efforts on the development of our first coronary product application. Over the past several months, we've made significant progress on this initiative, advancing design candidates through the development process, gaining valuable feedback from coronary CTO specialists, and preparing for our first animal studies later this quarter. Based on our progress to date, we believe we remain on track to file an Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, application with the FDA in the next nine to 12 months to allow for initiation of a clinical study in 2024. While we made significant progress in our new product development activities, we also reported continued improvement in our operating metrics. During the first quarter, we increased gross margin by six percentage points and sustained our efficient operating cost model, driving significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA compared to the year-ago period. While revenue remained flat compared to the prior year, sales productivity, or revenue per sales head, improved by more than 25% as we delivered the same amount of revenue with lower sales head count. We continue our recruiting efforts to build our clinical sales force and have recently added two new clinical specialists, with two more expected to join our team this quarter. In addition to expanding our sales team throughout the year, we are confident that the anticipated full commercial launch of our two new peripheral products in the second half of the year will provide new growth opportunities for our business, expanding the addressable market for our products and increasing usage occasions and existing accounts. Our new Tiger IST CTO crossing catheter incorporates design upgrades to the tip configuration and catheter shaft to increase crossing power and procedural success in challenging morphology. It also incorporates design enhancements for ease of image interpretation during the procedure. Tiger IST continues to provide the distinctive high-definition real-time imaging, user-controlled deflectible tip, and faster rotational speeds introduced to the platform in 2021, all of which perform exceptionally well with our advanced Lightbox 3 imaging platform. We've already initiated limited launch and expect to announce the completion of first cases with Tiger Eye ST this month. The limited launch period provides important benefits to fully appreciate the clinical capabilities of this exciting new device and to prepare our clinical sales team for full commercial launch. If all goes according to plan, we expect to expand to full commercial availability in the third quarter of this year. As mentioned earlier, we filed a 510K submission for our new Pantheris LV image-guided atherectomy catheter in January and anticipate FDA clearance in the mid-year timeframe. Pantheris LV is our new large vessel device that incorporates key design principles from our highly successful Pantheris SV device. Pantheris LV is designed to treat vessels 3 to 7 millimeters in diameter and is ideally suited to treat lesions in the SFA and popliteal arteries, above and behind the knee, where the majority of PAD procedures are performed. Pantheris LV incorporates a proprietary design for plaque apposition without the need for a balloon and operates at significantly higher rotational speeds than our current large vessel offering. It also introduces enhanced guidewire and plaque management systems to the platform. Combined with our LightBox 3 imaging console, we believe these design innovations will streamline the atherectomy procedure, open additional case opportunities for our platform, and expand the mainstream appeal of our image-guided approach. Our 510 filing for Pantheris LV continues to advance through the regulatory review process. We've answered all open questions and provided documentation and additional testing requested by FDA and have no open requests on our 510 submission at this time. While subject to change, based on the progress we've made to date, we anticipate FDA clearance mid-year which would allow us to initiate limited launch in the third quarter and provide the opportunity for expansion to full commercial availability in the fourth quarter of this year. Within our existing product portfolio, our Pantheris SV small vessel atherectomy device continues to be a strong performer, delivering significant growth in procedures and revenue compared to the prior year. As discussed on past calls, Pantheris SV is primarily used to treat patients with below the knee lesions, many of whom suffer from critical limb ischemia or CLI, the most severe form of PAD. Pantheris SV provides tremendous benefits to physicians treating lesions within these very small two to four millimeter diameter vessels. The real-time imaging and precise control provided by Pantheris SB allows physicians to precisely target the disease while avoiding damage to the arterial vascular structures, which can lead to adverse events and a re-narrowing of the vessel or re-stenosis with conventional approaches. We are documenting the excellent clinical results physicians are achieving with this unique and highly differentiated device in our IMAGE-BTK post-market clinical study. designed to evaluate Pantheris SV for the treatment of below-the-knee lesions in a real-world clinical setting. We continue to build the clinical data set at the 12-month post-procedure study endpoint and expect to complete patient enrollment by the third quarter of this year. We are excited to share expanded outcomes data with the broader clinical community in the coming months with principal investigators for the study in the U.S. and Europe scheduled to present updated interim results at major clinical conferences in the second and third quarter. In addition to these efforts, in April, we announced the presentation of clinical data from our groundbreaking INSIGHT trial at the prestigious Charing Cross International Symposium in London by Dr. Arne Schwent, a vascular surgeon and one of the leading enrollers in the study. As a reminder, INSIGHT is an IDE study designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Pantheris for the treatment of instant restenosis, or ISR, when a previously implanted stent becomes occluded. The highly positive results from this study form the basis for a 510K application to the FDA to add a specific ISR indication for Pantheris. Based on the strength of the data, the FDA provided clearance to add this indication in November 2021, with Pantheris becoming the only directional atherectomy device approved for use in the treatment of ISR, a significant and challenging problem for thousands of patients every year. Key outcomes data presented from the INSIGHT study include 82% luminal gain or increase in the channel for blood flow following the procedure, 93% freedom from target lesion restenosis at six months post-procedure. 89% freedom from target lesion restenosis at 12 months post-procedure. Zero amputations for the six and 12 month patient cohorts. A 0.96 mean ankle brachial index or ABI at six months from the baseline of 0.69 pre-procedure. and a 71% improvement in the Rutherford class score, a measure of disease severity at six months. These are remarkable results, which speak volumes to the safety and efficacy of our catheters in a high-risk, difficult-to-treat patient population. Dr. Schwent noted, the results from the INSIGHT trial support Pantheris as a frontline treatment option for ISR, with the best combination of efficacy and safety in this patient cohort as compared to any other statistically significant data set produced by alternative technologies. Again, demonstrating the ability for real-time imaging combined with precisely controlled therapeutic catheters to make a clinically significant difference in the lives of PAD patients. As we look to the future, we're excited about the progress we are making in the development of our first coronary product application. targeting a superior image-guided solution to the complex, expensive, and uncertain procedures currently used to cross chronic total occlusions in the coronary arteries. By leveraging our proprietary technology platform, we believe we can redefine this market with the first and only fully integrated image-guided system for crossing coronary CTOs, and by doing so, provide a transformational value opportunity for Avenger. Our coronary CTO development program focuses on low-profile catheter designs that combine real-time OCT guidance with precise control and steerability to facilitate an integrated approach and allow a larger number of physicians to safely and efficiently cross coronary CTOs. Similar to our peripheral catheters, our coronary devices will incorporate a precise measurement capability to help physicians properly size balloons or stents prior to placement. critical for optimal outcomes. Perhaps most exciting from a business perspective, an image-guided coronary CTO crossing device with diagnostic capabilities would access existing reimbursement codes both for the therapeutic procedure and for coronary OCT diagnostic imaging immediately upon FDA clearance. We believe that an OCT-guided catheter designed for crossing efficiency with the need for fewer support devices and less contrast media usage, combined with an attractive reimbursement scenario, provides the opportunity for a differentiating and highly compelling economic value proposition. As we focus our R&D efforts on this initiative, we've made significant progress in our development program. In recent months, we've had multiple interactions with members of our clinical advisory board. made up of highly experienced interventional cardiologists in the fields of coronary CTO crossing and intravascular imaging. And through those interactions, gained valuable feedback for the evolution of our design prototypes. We are making final preparations to evaluate our leading design candidates in the first round of animal studies this quarter, as we work towards our goal of filing an IDE application with the FDA within the next nine to 12 months to allow for initiation of a clinical study for this revolutionary new device in 2024. I'll close my opening remarks today by reiterating the three strategic areas introduced on our March call to drive growth of our peripheral business. First, increasing case coverage capability and catheter utilization in our core geographic areas through the expansion and training of our clinical sales team. Second, Leveraging our new Lightbox 3 imaging console to drive new account activity and expand our user base. And third, completing the regulatory approval process for our two new peripheral devices in preparation for commercial launch in the second half of 2023, which we believe will broaden the appeal of our product portfolio and create new usage drivers for our platform. We are also making important investments for our future with the expansion of our proprietary technology platform to the larger coronary artery disease or CAD market with the defined goal of filing an IDE application with the FDA for our first coronary device in the next 9 to 12 months to allow for the initiation of a clinical study in 2024. Despite a challenging economic environment, we've made tangible progress against each of these goals in the first part of this year, while driving continued improvement in operating results. We look forward to reporting our continued progress against these initiatives throughout the year. At this point, I'd like to turn the call over to Nabil Spinetti, our principal financial officer and accounting officer, to take us through the financial results, and then I'll return for Q&A. Nabil?
Matt
Thank you, Jeff. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2023 was $1.9 million, compared with $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2022 and $2 million in the fourth quarter. As Jeff mentioned, sales productivity increased as revenue remained stable, with lower sales headcount during the quarter. We are currently hiring additional field salespeople to increase selling activities and expand case coverage capability in key markets. Worst margin for the first quarter was 34%. notably improved from 28% in the year-ago quarter and stable with the fourth quarter. Operating expenses for the first quarter were $4.9 million compared with $5.2 million in the year-ago quarter and $4.5 million in the fourth quarter. Net loss and comprehensive loss for the first quarter was $4.6 million compared with $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2022 and $4.2 million in the fourth quarter. Adjusted EBITDA, as defined under our non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, was a loss of $3.9 million compared to a loss of $4.6 million in the first quarter of 2022 and a loss of $3.8 million in the fourth quarter. A copy of the reconciliation from net loss to adjusted EBITDA can be found in today's press release, which is also posted on our website at avenger.com under the investor section. Cash-in-cash equivalents total $10.4 million as of the end of the quarter. At this point, I'd like to turn the call back to Jeff for Q&A.
Ali
Thanks, Nabil. We're excited about the recent TIGER IST clearance and initiation of limited launch, as well as the progress we're making towards regulatory approval of Pantheras LV, providing the opportunity for two major new peripheral product launches in 2023. Our clinical studies continue to provide irrefutable evidence of the clinical advantages of our image-guided approach, with KOL physicians spreading the news through podium presentations at major clinical conferences. And we're making tangible progress on the development of our first coronary product application, which we believe provides the opportunity to redefine a large and underserved market with a highly differentiated solution that can advance the standard of care for millions of patients. And by doing so, fulfill our mission of radically changing the way vascular disease is treated. At this point, we'd be happy to take your questions.
Operator
Thank you. At this time we will be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue and you may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question. 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 questions. Thank you. Our first question is coming from Swayamakula Ramakamp from HC Wainwright. You may proceed.
Swayamakula Ramakamp
Thank you. This is RK from HC Wainwright. Good afternoon, Jeff and Nabil. I hope you guys are doing good. So just to start off, thinking about the ISR data that, you know, you gave, you reported and recently reported an update on the ISR data. How is that being utilized in detailing the product? And have you seen any increase in adoption, you know, once the data is out?
Ali
Yes, thanks, RK. Not only is the data powerful, but the addition of the actual indication certainly makes a difference, enabling our sales force to directly market and support our device for use in ISR. As you may know, the only other directional atherectomy devices, the Hawk devices marketed by Medtronic, are actually contraindicated for ISR. So, by delivering a very high safety profile in the treatment of ISR and avoiding interference with stent struts, we enable physicians to provide a very large amount of luminal gain to restore blood flow without, of course, damaging the stent or damaging the tissue. Our luminal gain even prior to utilization of a balloon or any adjunctive therapy is 60%, over 80% when you use any adjunctive therapy, compared to a laser, which is the predominant atherectomy modality used for treating ISR currently, where we estimate around a 30% luminal gain following use of their device alone. Pantheris really delivers against this challenging population. It's a great way for our reps to go in, show the data, talk about the indication, and get trial in a new account because treating these ISR patients is very challenging. The stent struts light up wonderfully under OCT, and physicians can clearly and easily see the value in their very first cases of the real-time imaging. So that primarily is how it's used. It's a way for our reps to engage with new users. It's a usage occasion as a way in, and especially something that can happen quickly with our Lightbox 3 imaging console and of course our available Pantheris catheters. To just accelerate the adoption cycle and the engagement level with new accounts, It's also a way to add usage occasions with existing accounts or bring on new users with existing accounts.
Swayamakula Ramakamp
Perfect. So talking about adoption, if you can provide us some commentary on the TigerEye ST because obviously this was recently approved and I believe you have an ongoing limited launch at this point. And also, what or when should we expect the launch to become a full launch?
Ali
Yes, so as you know, we very recently received our FDA clearance just within, I guess, last week we announced the FDA clearance. It seems like longer than that. But we have been ready to go in preparing our launch activities or for our launch activities as we waited for the approval. So the same week that we got the approval, we kicked off the limited launch with our sales team. We've initiated training programs with the reps and clinicals who will be supporting our limited launch accounts. And we are now in the field, A, trying to get catheters into the limited launch accounts, but also supporting our first cases with the Tiger IST. So we expect to announce very soon, you know, within the next couple of weeks, the initial results from our first cases with Tiger IST. We will add accounts throughout the quarter, you know, with the objective to be in about 10 limited launch sites. And once we've done a certain number of cases and provided the opportunity for us to get a better understanding of the clinical capabilities of the device, and very importantly, prepare and train our sales team as well as provide clinical experience to our sales and clinical support team during this period, then make the decision and the announcement to proceed to full commercial availability. which again, we're early in the limited launch process, but we anticipate that the expansion to full commercial availability should happen early in the second half of the year in third quarter.
Swayamakula Ramakamp
Okay. And then on the LV product, on the Panther Race LV product, do you have a regular dialogue with the FDA in terms of expectations for that product you know, how, um, now that some of your, um, Salesforce has gained experience, um, is that, is that launch going to be, uh, you know, more smooth than, than the previous ones? Uh, any expectations or comments on that?
Ali
Yeah. So, um, so we are going through really a very standard review process with FDA. Um, as you know, we filed the five 10 K submission early in the year, early in January. We've had the typical informal as well as formal requests for questions and requests for information. We have provided all documentation and additional testing provided or requested by FDA at this point, and we have no open requests currently. So, you know, we're hopeful that we're nearing the end of the process. Obviously, there could be a request for additional information only in that, you know, area limited to where they've asked before. But we feel we've provided very comprehensive responses supported by data and are hopeful that we will receive the clearance, you know, within the timeframes that we've always anticipated in that midyear timeframe. And so based on that expectation, we are doing the same thing we did with Tiger IST and starting to prepare to initiate a limited launch very soon after clearance. So our expectation, of course a lot of this is out of our control, is that we will be in a position to initiate limited launch in the third quarter of this year. And because there are, you know, the atherectomy market is a larger market with more usage occasions, we think that we can move pretty quickly through that process. You know, of course, we do limited launch to ensure that the device is operating in the real, you know, real-world clinical setting as we expect it to, you know, to gain experience, really understand the device, and prepare our teams. And so if everything goes according to plan, we would expect that our Pantheras LV would be ready for expansion to full commercial availability, hopefully early in the fourth quarter. What's exciting about Pantheras LV is that it builds on the great success that our clinicians have had with our Pantheras SV, our small vessel device. It eliminates the need for a balloon to provide apposition, even in these larger three to seven millimeter vessels, which does streamline the atherectomy procedure. It spins at much higher speeds. Our current large vessel device spins at 1,000 RPM. The Pantheris LV is designed to spin at rotations up to 3,000 RPM, so really designed to do a good job in tough and challenging lesions and mild to moderate calcium. It also is a device that brings a lot of other efficiency to the platform. It has a new guidewire management system. It has a new plaque management system. So there's a lot of improvements in this device that are all designed not only to provide a great clinical outcome, as all of our devices do, but to streamline the procedure and kind of broaden the mainstream appeal of our platform. So a lot of excitement in the sales team and certainly internally here. We've had a lot of good input and advice from our peripheral clinical advisors in the development of that product and think we're well positioned for Pantera SLV to make a strong difference in the growth of our business. Very, very excited. I'm very excited personally to get this product out in the market.
Swayamakula Ramakamp
Thank you. Thanks for taking all my questions, Jeff.
Ali
Thank you, RK.
Operator
Thank you so much. We have reached the end of our question and answer session, so now I will hand the call back over to Mr. Sawinski for closing remarks.
Ali
Well, thank you very much for joining our call this afternoon. We appreciate your interest in our company and look forward to reporting our further progress as the year advances. Have a good afternoon.
Operator
Thank you, and this does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.
Disclaimer