Opko Health, Inc.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Opco Health first quarter 2023 financial results conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Yvonne Briggs. Please go ahead.

Yvonne Briggs Thank you, operator. Good afternoon. This is Yvonne Briggs with LHA. Thank you all for joining today's call to discuss Opco Health's financial results for the first quarter of 2023. I'd like to remind you that any statements made during the call by management other than statements of historical fact will be considered forward-looking. and as such will be subject to risks and uncertainties that can materially affect the company's expected results. Those forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the various risks described in the company's SEC filings, including the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and in subsequently filed SEC reports. This conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the date of the live broadcast May 3, 2023. Except as required by law, OPCO undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this call. Before we begin, let me review the format for today's call. Dr. Philip Frost, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will open the call. Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Vice Chairman and President of OPCO, will then provide an overview of Opco's pharmaceutical business, as well as BioReference Health. After that, Adam Logel, Opco's CFO, will review the company's first quarter financial results, and then will open the call to questions. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Dr. Frost.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. In early March, we announced that MODEX, entered into an exclusive worldwide license collaboration agreement with Merck to develop our multivalent nanoparticle Epstein-Barr virus vaccine. The agreement provides validation of MODX's multi-targeting technology by simultaneously engaging four key proteins used by EBV to infect cells. This represents a first-in-class strategy to prevent the viral infection which is a cause of mononucleosis and has also been implicated as the leading cause of certain malignancies and the development of multiple sclerosis. We're delighted to have entered into this transaction with Merck as we believe they are the ideal partner for the development and future commercialization of our EBV vaccine. Elias will detail the terms of the agreement in a few minutes. As for growth hormone, Pfizer continues to drive the sales of Angenla, or Sometragan, a once-weekly injectable growth hormone product that's expected to ease a patient's burden versus the standard daily injections. Angenla is now approved in over 40 countries and has been launched in 17, including the major markets of Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Pfizer expects to launch in another 15 or more countries during the remainder of this year, covering all priority international markets by year-end. We're looking forward to significant sales growth for Ingenla with the new launches and as market penetration continues to grow. Adam will provide further detail on Opco's gross profit share and royalty payments from Pfizer. We look forward to providing updates on Simatragon's regulatory status in the U.S. with the expectation of a forthcoming definitive response from the FDA and also commercial progress in international markets. As for our diagnostic division, we're pleased with the ongoing turnaround bar references experience as we reduce costs and right-size the business. As a leading national laboratory, BioReference continues to focus on innovation and higher value testing in its specialty segments, including oncology, women's health, and urology, as well as seeking to drive growth with additional partnerships or joint venture arrangements. Our profitable Ibero-American business continues to grow, is currently expanding its veterinary product line from its base in Spain into France and other European markets. With that brief overview, I'll now turn the call over to Elias to provide further discussion and commentary on our pharmaceutical and laboratory businesses. Elias?