Calyxt, Inc.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to CAELIC's second quarter 2022 earnings results conference call and webcast. During today's presentation, all parties will be in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, the conference will be open for questions. If you have a question, please press the star key followed by the one key on your touch-tone phone. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press the star key followed by the two key. If you are using speaker equipment, please lift the handset before making your selections. This conference is being recorded today, August 4, 2022. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Bill Koschak, Calix Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, and good afternoon. This is Bill Koschak, the Chief Financial Officer of Calix. I would like to thank you for taking time to join us for Calix. second quarter 2022 earnings results conference call and webcast. Presenting with me today is Michael A. Carr, our president and chief executive officer. A press release detailing these results crossed the wire after today's market closed and is available on our company's website, calyxt.com. Before we begin the formal presentation, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made on the call and webcast, including those regarding future financial results and future operational goals and industry's prospects, are forward-looking and may be subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the call. Please refer to Calix's SEC filings for a list of associated risks. This presentation also includes a discussion of adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share. Both are non-GAAP financial measures. In Calix's press release and its filings with the SEC, each of which is posted on our website at calix.com, You will find additional disclosure regarding these non-GAAP financial measures. References to these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to GAAP financial measures and should not be considered a substitute for results that are presented in accordance with GAAP. Lastly, this conference call is being webcast. The webcast link is available in the investor relations section of calix.com. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Michael for his opening remarks. Michael?

Thank you, Bill. And thank you for joining us on Calix earnings and corporate update call today. Throughout the second quarter of 2022, the Calix team tangibly advanced each area of the business, including progressing our development and sale of customer demand-driven plant-based chemistries, the procurement of infrastructure partners to greatly expand our manufacturing capabilities, and technology and plant trait licensing. Throughout the quarter, Calix continued to work on scaling and standardizing production in its pilot biofactory system and building out related capabilities. I am proud of the significant progress we have made in a short period of time. It is a testament to our new strategic direction being on track. Today, I will specifically walk you through our progress over the past few months and then have Bill provide a financial update. We are focused on advancing discussions and relationships with new customers in the cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. All are large and innovative industries with customers that have current business needs to source sustainable and finite plant-based chemistries. These potential customers are also known to be fast adopters of innovation and are actively seeking to reduce their carbon footprints. In the second quarter, Calix received nine new chemistries from potential customers for evaluation, bringing the total number of chemistries cumulatively evaluated for development with our Plattspring platform and for production in our biofactory to 95. Of these 95 chemistries, 31 have met CALIC's target product profile or TPP criteria. We plan to further evaluate and discuss these chemistries with the potential customers. Importantly, the evaluated chemistries include several that were identified by potential customers as having been unsuccessfully attempted by others in the synthetic biology industry. This speaks to the unique technology and approach of Calix to engineer plant metabolism to produce innovative and high-value plant-based chemistries for use in customers' materials and products. Leveraging the 31 customer demand-driven chemistries that have passed our TPP criteria, Calix is currently negotiating term sheets with several potential customers the development of a select number of those plant-based chemistries as a reminder we are targeting two to four customer demand driven compounds for development by year end we are also pleased to share that calyx is performing a pilot project for potential high value chemistry for a large global consumer packaged goods company we expect to deliver an engineered solution in early 2023 This could form the basis for potential engagement to complete development and produce the chemistry for that company. Other companies in the space may also be interested in this chemistry. In the second quarter, we also initiated conversations with multiple potential infrastructure partners. I'm pleased to report that we have exchanged a term sheet with one of them in our advancing discussions with others. These potential infrastructure partners offer a global footprint and capabilities to enable Calix to increase speed to scale, they have capacities from pilot to commercial scale production these potential partnerships have the potential to enable the development and production of chemistries at industrial scale for customers in our key and markets importantly our progress with these infrastructure partners not only supports future deals but also brings value to ongoing customer conversations of note i can report the genuine interest of these potential infrastructure partners in working with Calix and that they understand and appreciate that we are going after hard to solve, high value, and potentially high margin chemistries. This asset light approach enables the deployment of our capital to the development of a robust customer base and accelerates the speed at which we can bring chemistries to potential customers instead of deploying that capital on large scale manufacturing. In addition to our focus on our plant spring driven product development for biofactory production, we are also canvassing a wide range of potential licensees for both our technology and our historically developed plant traits, and we have made important progress on this front. Since we refocused our licensing business in late 2021, including the strategic hire of Pete Ball, our technology licensing leader, We have developed our strategy for maximizing potential revenue from the licensing of our technology and our plant traits as announced last quarter. In a few months, we have successfully procured term sheets for the licensing of our patents and for the license of our plant traits. For plant traits specifically, there's been significant interest in Calix's high fiber wheat trait for breads, pastas, and other wheat applications, as well as Calix's second generation high oleic soybean trait for heart healthy oil applications. These term sheet discussions with potential licensees are continuing to advance. I attribute this substantial progress to the right team, the right technology, and at an opportune time. Our potential licensees see the value in our offerings, especially in these times of global supply chain issues and food insecurity. Our project with a large food ingredient manufacturer who contracted with us to develop a soybean intended to produce a replacement for palm oil remains on track for completion in the first quarter of 2024. This manufacturer is funding our development costs over the term of the agreement and holds an option for future development and commercialization. Given world events, Calix has recently received inbound interest from other manufacturers and users of palm oil. And incidentally, Calix was included in a recent Wall Street Journal article about this very topic and the potential for Calix to provide solutions. We continue to anticipate that ongoing issues with global inflation in food and other products will drive further interest in additional palm oil alternatives. This includes our cosmeceutical end market, and Calix is particularly well suited to bring forward solutions based upon our proprietary technology and expertise in plant-based synthetic biology. I'd like to now turn the call over to Bill, who will cover our second quarter financial results. Bill?

Thank you, Michael. Earlier today, we issued a press release describing our second quarter 2022 results. We also filed our Form 10-Q for the quarter this afternoon. Our cash, cash closings, and restricted cash were $11.9 million as of June 30, 2022. Revenue was nominal in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $11.9 million in the second quarter of 2021. The decrease in revenue was driven by the late 2021 completion of the wind down of the soybean product line. Revenue in the second quarter of 2022 is primarily associated with our agreement with a food ingredient manufacturer to develop a palm oil alternative and, as previously reported, we expect revenues to decline meaningfully from 2021 levels because of the wind down of our soybean product line. Total operating expenses were $6.8 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to $6.3 million in the second quarter of 2021. The increase was primarily driven by the adoption of the lease accounting standard, which shifted amounts previously reported in interest net to operating expenses. Net loss was $2.5 million in the second quarter, or 5 cents per share, compared to $4.8 million, or 13 cents per share, in the prior year period. The improvement in net loss was driven by non-operating income and expenses, including the mark-to-market of our common warrants liability, which declined in value due to a decline in stock price in 2022, partially offset by the gain realized on the forgiveness of the payroll protection program loan in the second quarter of 2021. The improvement in net loss per share was driven by the improvement in net loss and the year-over-year increase in weighted average shares outstanding. Adjusted net loss was $6.7 million in the second quarter, or $0.14 per share, compared to $7.8 million, or $0.21 per share, in the prior year period. The improvement in adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share was driven by the improvement in net loss and the year-over-year increase in weighted average shares outstanding. As previously reported, we are also pleased to have received $10 million in net proceeds from the offering we completed in February, in spite of difficult capital market conditions and from a well-respected institutional investor. This has enhanced our balance sheet and left us positioned for future success. We anticipate the proceeds from that offering, along with our disciplined use of cash, to support the continued targeted growth and scaling of our biofactory business model. This plan continues to resonate with investors. As a result of our discretionary spending and based on our current business plan that Michael mentioned, we continue to expect Calix's cash runway to reach early 2023, inclusive of planned spending to support the targeted growth and scaling of our biofactory business model. That runway includes only committed customer payments for licensing and product development activities as of today. As a result, any customer cash flows from new deals would serve to extend our cash runway further. For additional details about our financials for the second quarter of 2022, please refer to our press release or filings with the SEC. I'll now turn the call back to Michael for his closing remarks.

Thanks, Bill. I'd like to reiterate that the second quarter of 2022 was a period of tangible advancement for Calix. We have evaluated nine new customer demand-driven plant-based chemistries in the quarter, bringing cumulative chemistries evaluated for development to 95, along with several term sheets currently under discussion. We are set to deliver an engineered solution for a high-value molecule in early 2023 to a large global consumer packaged goods company. We continue to progress with several potential infrastructure partners able to produce chemistries in various sizes of bioreactors from pilot to commercial scale. We are also evaluating multiple term sheets for technology licensing, and there is significant interest in the licensing of our plant traits. As I said earlier, I am very proud of the significant progress we have made in the past few months. Our new strategic direction is on track, and we continue our focused drive to realize value for our stakeholders. Our recent progress is due in no small part to the tireless dedication of our employees, whom I want to thank. We look forward to providing you with updates in the coming months. Operator, that concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the line for questions.

Thank you, sir. We will now begin the question and answer session. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star then 1 on your touch-tone phone. If you are using a speaker phone, we ask that you please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then 2. We'll pause momentarily to assemble our roster. And today's first question comes from Brian Wright. Oh, I apologize. Today's first question comes from Bobby Burleson at Canaccord. Please go ahead.

Thanks. I feel like I won at bingo or something. I guess, Michael, the first question, first of all, how are you doing, both of you?

Doing well, doing very well. How are you today, Bobby?

Glad to hear it. Yeah, same here. Still healthy. I guess the first question would be on the large-scale manufacturing asset light approach where you guys don't want to invest in that kind of production internally. Just curious, how much IP is involved taking a hypothetical molecule from what you guys do in the biofactory to what an infrastructure partner might do Is there a lot of IP that that infrastructure partner brings to the table, or do you guys pretty much deliver most of it before you hand off?

Well, there is certainly IP located there. As we've discussed in the past, we have our pilot biofactory in place, and we continue to drive the scaling process there. We continue to advance and apply the RAML approach to it. with the goal of not only becoming more efficient but more productive. And there's certain steps that we've taken in terms of the media, the nutrient media that we use, which is proprietary, and other steps that are important to the actual production within a bioreactor. So while there is that infrastructure component to it, there is still some IP that is related to calyx.

Okay, great. And then... Maybe just on the term sheets that you guys are evaluating, are there financial considerations largely that you guys are deliberating on now, or is it just a general kind of complexity of these types of contracts, or what is it that one needs to kind of deliberate on? Is it you doing the deliberation or the... the counterparty? Or just kind of curious, any color on how that is progressing?

Sure. As you can imagine, we're pretty excited about it. I mean, not only in the cumulative total of molecules that we've received, but the various customers that have approached us, the appreciation of our plant-based and rather unique technology as it relates to synthetic biology. But I think you sort of touched on it, Bobby. These are, you know, longer-term relationships. We've noted publicly that our process is approximately 36 months in duration on the outset, and that includes our development up front with the Plattspring platform, and then another 24 months as it relates to the scaling within the production. As we've also mentioned before, that's very, very competitive in comparison to other synthetic biology companies. So you can imagine when those type of relationships and those type of development processes take a little bit of time to become agreed upon. But overall, we're, again, I think, really pleased with where we are, noting that our total here that we've outlined is two to four development deals by the end of the year. And, again, we feel pretty comfortable with where we stand today.

Okay. And then just, you know, maybe on – once again, on the two to four development agreements by the end of this year, I know initially – You guys were maybe hoping that you could get one of those done by the end of last year. Sounds like you still have the end of 2023 target in your sights. But curious if any other timelines beyond the signing of these agreements might require some type of change in perspective. Or do you think once these are signed, the subsequent timelines are still kind of intact as you originally saw this opportunity.

Yeah, I think we feel pretty comfortable with the original timelines and then the two to four for the year, for sure.

Okay, great. And Bill, one for you before I hand it over. Sounds like you've got that cash runway through early 2023 without any incremental, you know, cash flows from customers besides what you've already agreed upon now or signed now. Just curious how much discretion there is or wiggle room you have on the spending regardless of that cash runway. Is there a way to dial down spending if you needed to or are you guys kind of running at the bare bones level of spending you think is required to address these opportunities?

Bobby, thanks for the question. As we talked about in the call, we have $11.9 million of cash at the end of the quarter with a runway into early 2023. We're really pleased with the offering that we did back in February that helped our balance sheet out and the investor enthusiasm that we saw when we raised the money back then. And so with that said, you mentioned that the projection includes only committed customer cash. So the extent that we have confidence both in executing license agreements and the two-to-four development agreements Michael talked about, that would only serve to the extent they come with cash, and we expect them to, would only serve to extend our runway. We are very disciplined in our cash usage. I wouldn't describe where we're at as – bare bones, right, that bare bones could really impair the business. If you think about the future growth prospects, and so we've been trying to balance out, you know, things, but above all, being very disciplined in terms of how we think about what we're doing. And as we talked in the, you know, in the call, we've got a good runway and the opportunities to extend it, the opportunities to do other things if we have to, some combination of the things I mentioned, along with other third-party funding, whether it's a public or private debt or equity, those types of things, some combination thereof. Those are all things we talk about as well.

Great. All right. Thanks, Michael. Thanks, Bill. Thanks, Robbie.

And our next question today comes from Emmett Dale with HC Wainwright. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. You know, with respect to the pilot, capacity at infrastructure partners, when would you go to them versus using your biofactory, plant-based biofactory infrastructure that you have? Would you need it because you may be running multiple compounds at the same time, or is there another reason why you would go to an infrastructure partner at the pilot stage?

yeah thanks for the question good good good question you know we've early on outline the importance of infrastructure partners, particularly as it relates to an asset light approach and being able to. Use those dollars elsewhere and development, we did put the pilot bio factory in place and commissioned it late last year, you know we continue to go through that scaling process it's a 200 liter system. One thing that's important for us is we've seen with the great interest in what we're doing evidenced by the number of molecules that come in is the aspect of speed to scale. So in addition to leveraging an asset light approach on the capital side, there's also being able to have a relationship with infrastructure partners that furthers that speed to scale. And what I mean by that is really going from pilot sizes to commercial sizes. And, of course, that's a function also then of the capacity required by the customer. Some of the molecules that we're looking at in general are much higher value, more difficult. In some cases, that is defined by lower volumes. But there are other molecules that have those same characteristics that have bigger requirements and more of a commercial scale. And that's also where infrastructure partners can play, where capacity is something that could be of importance.

Thank you. And then you highlighted that some customers are coming to you with requests for development work that others were not successful in executing. Does this imply you potentially have an opportunity to charge much higher prices or premium sort of prices for the work you do if you are successful in delivering what the customer is looking for?

That possibility certainly exists. As we mentioned in the call earlier, we're definitely going over challenging or going after challenging molecules, typically higher value, higher margin. We pointed out, you know, since we've made our move into these end markets that our technology in using a multicellular plant approach in comparison to a single cell microbe, for example, can handle more complex molecules and more difficult challenges. So what you outline here is certainly possible and sort of speaks to our unique technology and our model. Okay.

Yeah, that's all I have for now. I will take my other questions. Thanks so much. Great. Thank you, Matt.

And, ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star then 1. Our next question today comes from Brian Wright at Roth Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Good afternoon. Is there – and I have to think about, you know, with 31 compounds being evaluated for, you know, they meet the TPP and term sheet negotiations. Like, is there a way to think about could – are you waiting for – are you prioritizing as far as highest, you know, financial – impact is the first one to sign and then after that and like could it be a cascade thing once you get the first one you could get you know all four pretty quickly after number one and then number two is there any capacities constraints since there are 31 that are being you know that meet your criteria you know could you do six not to say that you've only said two to four but Is there anything preventing you if the terms were, you know, attractive?

Thanks, Brian. I mean, good questions. I mean, the one thing that we've been really disciplined on, and I'm pleased with what the team has done, is taken those, you know, 90, 95 molecules that have come in and run it through our TPP, that target product profile, which is really designed for two, and we'd describe it simply here, is twofold. And that is, one, the technical feasibility of our technology to ensure the highest degree of success for our customers, and then secondarily, the economic feasibility of it. So that sort of speaks to your question in that we want to be able to, for the shareholders, drive the greatest value, which would be the molecules that are able to provide the best economic return. In terms of capacity, something that we're definitely managing, I think Bill's pointed out here today, and we've said this several times, We're very, I think, very good stewards of capital. If you look at what we've done over the last couple of years and certainly how we've managed it with with our new business model and new business or strategic direction. But we are also designed to be able to scale. So we're committed to the two to four molecules, but certainly we are positioned and looking ahead to be able to do more as it makes sense for the shareholders.

Great. Thank you.

And, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's question and answer session. I'd like to turn the call back over to Michael Carr for closing remarks.

Thanks to everyone for joining us on the call today. If you were not able to address all your questions on today's call, please feel free to contact us or our investor relations firm, Argo Partners. We'd be happy to help you. Operator?

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. We thank you all for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day.