Seer, Inc.

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the SEER first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. This time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a Q&A session. To ask a question during the session, you need to press star 1-1 on your telephone, and you will hear an automated message advising you your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised today's conference is being recorded. I would like to handle the conference over to your speaker today, Carrie Mendeville, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Earlier today, SEER released financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. If you have not received this news release or if you'd like to be added to the company's distribution list, please send an email to investor at seer.bio. Joining me today from SEER is Omid Farraqzad, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chair, and David Horn, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that management will make statements during this call that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements involve material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to materially differ from those anticipated. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties appears in the section entitled forward-looking statements in the press release SEER issued today. For a more complete list and description, please see the risk factors section of the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, SEER disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any financial projections or forward-listing statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. This conference call contains time-sensitive information and is accurate only as of the live broadcast May 9th, 2023. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Omid.

Thanks, Kerry, and thank you everyone for joining us this afternoon. I will begin our call today with a review of our first quarter results, as well as the progress we're making across our core focus areas to drive growth. Then I will turn the call over to David, to provide more detail on our financial results. Thanks to the tremendous effort of the entire team at SEER, we had a solid start to the year and ended the first quarter with $4.1 million in revenue and continued growth in our installed base. Even more importantly, we're increasingly seeing more and more data being shared by our customers, the initiation of larger studies with a growing interest in population scale studies. and the first customer publications making their way through the peer review process. We have consistently said that the increased publication of customers and third-party data will be critical to developing the market, and this is exactly what we're seeing. We now have more than 150 public presentations on Sears technology to date with additional data expected at the American Society of Mass Spectrometry, or ASMS, annual conference in early June. With this solid start, we're reiterating our 2023 guidance and continue to expect revenue in the range of $23 to $25 million for 2023, representing significant year-over-year growth of 48% to 61%. While we continue to drive top-line growth, we're taking a very disciplined approach with our operating expenses in order to protect a robust balance sheet With over $410 million in cash, we're well positioned to execute on our multiyear strategic plan and are building a resilient organization that can make a meaningful impact on the advancement of science and medicine. We're committed to leveraging our resources to drive innovation, creating value for our customers and investors, and contributing to the positive trajectory of the proteomics field and human health overall. As mentioned on the last earning call, this year, we're focused on executing across our four core areas. First, enabling breakthrough discoveries with the prototype product suite. Second, demonstrating the power of our technology. Third, catalyzing new applications and markets. And finally, fourth, expanding our industry leading team. Starting with our first objective. The Proteograph product suite is highly extensible and is providing reproducible, unbiased access to the proteome with flexibility and scale, allowing it to address many unmet needs in our customers' hands. We're encouraged by the growing enthusiasm for what the Proteograph workflow can enable. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, more customer data is being shared publicly. Dr. Karsten Suri, a leading multiomics researcher and a professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine, has a manuscript under peer review that is now available as a preprint in BioRxiv. This is the first study using the Proteograph product suite to perform protein quantitative trait loci or PQTL analysis. I view this study as an important milestone in which the biological value of connecting genomic variant data to deep unbiased proteomic data at the peptide level has been robustly exemplified. In a cohort study of 325 diabetic subjects and controls, Dr. Suri identified approximately 3,000 proteins and over 18,000 peptides and associated these with genetic variants across the study, allowing him to identify variation in plasma protein concentration among subjects. Importantly, this publication highlights the shortcoming of affinity-based approaches in which the measured abundance of a target protein may be impacted by protein-altering variants that change the binding epitope of the affinity reagent. Dr. Tsui's work highlights the importance of peptide-level resolution to more deeply understand the proteome, which the ProteoGraph product suite is uniquely able to deliver at scale. Another interesting emerging application of the ProteoGraph is targeted mass spectrometry workflows for quantifying specific high-value human plasma and serum proteins. For example, in obesity and diabetes research. Most assays today in obesity and diabetes research rely exclusively on antibodies. Yet certain publications have shown this approach has limitations, including failure to detect the intended target for the post-transitionally modified biologically active forms. The combination of mass spec-based targeted proteomics combined with the proteograph workflow provides a solution to this problem with a robust, highly reproducible method for detecting and quantifying the desired protein variants across a wide range of concentrations at the peptide level. Dr. Jenny Van Eyck, who's a professor of cardiology and director of the Advanced Clinical Biosystem Research Institute and founder of the Precision Biomarker Labs at Cedars-Sinai, is leading this work. Dr. Van Eyck is an international leader in clinical proteomics and current president of the Human Proteome Organization, or HUPO. Her team has leveraged the Proteograph product suite to identify and quantify clinically relevant biomarkers that are inaccessible to immunoassays. The targeted methods they perform using the proteograph ensures accurate quantitation of lower abundance proteins that are not easily acceptable by standard proteomics workflow, while also allowing the monitoring of several hundred other plasma proteins of interest, which may contain additional biomarker leads. Importantly, this method allows for rapid completion of large-scale studies and the potential for quick diagnostic turnaround in an assay that can be offered as a service to stratify obese and diabetic patients into optimal treatment groups. Her team presented the prototype evaluation data at the targeted mass spectrometry assays in diabetes and obesity research meeting that is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases late last year and are currently in the process of scaling up this study toward a publication later this year. Dr. Van Eyck's research is a great illustration of the unmet needs that the proteograph workflow can address in the hands of customers and speaks directly to its potential to deliver new clinical applications that have not been possible with existing methods. In January, one of our multi-omic liquid biopsy customers, Prognomic, announced early results for what they believe to be the largest deep multiomics study to date. This study was run across 1,031 subjects with non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, and non-cancer control, and demonstrated the power of diverse molecular biomarkers to improve sensitivity and specificity in early detection of NSCLC. Last month, They presented new data in two posters at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting that demonstrated novel biomarker discovery and the potential feasibility of their approach for early cancer detection. Their first poster leveraged deep multi-omics profiling of proteins, metabolized transcripts, and cell-free DNA in blood from NS-CLC patients for biomarker discovery. Data showed multiple biomarkers for NSCLC detected across all omic types with many overlapping biomarkers of interest and demonstrated a broad ability to distinguish between individuals with and without cancer. The proteograph played a significant role in biomarker identification, demonstrating the importance of peptide-level resolution to drive novel biscomfrey. The second poster, demonstrated that a multi-omic classifier achieved high sensitivity and specificity for detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, or PDAC, also referred to as PDAC. In a case control study of 146 subjects, In this proof of concept study, Prognomic leveraged multi-omic data to identify novel combination of analytes with both known and unknown relation to PDAC into high performance biomarker panel for detection and discrimination of PDAC from non-cancer controls. The high performance of analytes collected from blood draws makes these panels amenable to rapid development and utilization. Results support the feasibility of this approach as a potentially clinical useful test for early detection of PDAC. These results from Prognomic illustrate how the proteograph can drive the identification of novel biomarkers, which can then be utilized in clinical application. This is just the beginning of what we believe the proteograph will enable in the hands of customers. In late March, at the U.S. Human Proteome Organization Conference, There was one podium presentation and nine posters highlighting SEER technology, including customer data on COVID-19 vaccine response and an optimized method for the prototype with the Thermo Fisher Orbitrap Explorys 4AV using SAMES Pro. The oral presentation covered the first look at the Alzheimer's disease cohort of approximately 1,800 plasma samples using our next product, which is in the hands of several early access customers. We also hosted a well-attended industry workshop with three featured presentations highlighting protograph performance, flexibility to address multiple sample types, and ability to drive large-scale studies. In June, at the upcoming American Society for Mass Spectrometry, or ASMS, annual conference, We are looking forward to more exciting data with 15 SEER and 12 customer abstracts in the program. Customer posters and presentations include using an aging in mouse model, translational pharmacoproteomics in non-alcoholic Staphylohepatitis or NASH, improved sensitivity with precision for quantitation in targeted applications, and host cell proteins for biologic manufacturing among others. And we're continuing to drive standardization and partnership with our commercial partners Thermo Fisher, Brooker, and Cyax, with multiple posters and talks demonstrating the exceptional performance of the photograph across these leading mass spec platforms. One customer study of note at AFMS is from Dr. Steve Carr's lab at the Broad Institute. Dr. Carr will have an oral presentation demonstrating the performance of the proteograph in plasma from multiple myeloma patients using the Bruker PIMSTOP-HT and DIA-PICEPS. These results are particularly exciting as they show how larger-scale studies that are enabled by the proteograph with optimized mass spec protocol can get us deeper into the proteome than previously possible. In 2017, Dr. Carr published a seminal paper that achieved a depth of 4,500 proteins in plasma, and this paper has remained a benchmark for deep unbiased proteomics in plasma until now. Importantly, the 2017 study, given the complexity of the workflow, was accomplished on only 16 samples. Dr. Carr's current study identified over 5,900 proteins and is being applied to 300 samples. This is yet another example of the step function increase in the depth and throughput of proteomics that has been enabled by the proteograph product suite. It is exciting to see an acceleration of customer-driven data beginning to make its way into publications of significance. One such notable example of a customer manuscript under peer review includes the use of the proteograph to follow the civilian crew of SpaceX Inspiration4 combined with additional multi-omic data to further understand the body's response to space flight. This project is providing new opportunities to understand the molecular and cellular changes that occur in humans during space travel. We look forward to sharing more details following the publication of this study. We have visibility to multiple additional manuscripts being submitted by customers in the coming months. As more third-party data is generated, we will see more proof of the unique value of Pertograph to drive novel biological insights that will accelerate the next generation of multi-omic studies. We feel very confident about our market opportunities and thrilled by the emerging validation of the Pertograph in ANZA customers and expect a progressive increase in the velocity of adoption in the coming several quarters. Turning our attention to the second objective, demonstrating the power of the Protegraph product suite. We continue to innovate, extend the capabilities of our technology, and drive our own abstract and publications. In March, we announced that our paper on bone morphogenic protein 1, or BMP1, was published in PLOS One. This peer-reviewed publication highlighted the importance of the Protegraph in identifying peptide level insights that discovered links between protein variants and lung cancer progression at the protein isoform level. In upcoming months, we expect to have multiple papers released from SEER, in addition to what we are expecting from our customers. These papers will continue to advance the field of nanobio interactions proteomic workflows and large-scale data science, showcasing the disruptiveness of our technology and its unique ability to push the boundaries in proteomics. We remain committed to delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive more access to proteomic data. We know that enabling streamlined data processing, analysis, and interpretation is key. Throughout 2023, We will continue to expand our software capabilities and lay the roadmap for large-scale studies with our proteograph analysis suite. We believe that this will be an important component of our workflow and will serve to enable more customers to onboard deep unbiased proteomics at scale. From the very beginning, We believe there would be broad interest to incorporate unbiased deep plasma proteomics into studies at scale, well beyond the existing install base of mass spec users engaging proteomic research. That is exactly what we're seeing play out in our discussion, consistent with our original vision The market opportunity is large spanning the mass spec install base as well as the genomic market with increased appetite for adding multi-omic data to genomic data sets. Our next product is meant to capitalize on this need to serve a broader audience. It is already in early access with multiple sites and we're getting great feedback on its performance. Our first product delivered a step function change in unbiased proteomics, and this next product does the same. We are really excited about what it will enable in the market, and we look forward to sharing more with you in the upcoming months. Turning to our third objective, catalyzing new applications and markets. Our technology is inherently extensible. It is species-agnostic, and it's compatible with a diverse range of sample types. The ProteoGraph product suite is being used in a range of applications across our growing customer base in academic research, translational, commercial, pharma, CROs, and even applied markets. One example of a new application that has emerged from our customer base is the use of the ProteoGraph to detect host cell proteins or HCPs. HCPs are proteins produced or encoded by the host organism used to produce recombinant therapeutic protein, such as those used in biomanufacturing of vaccines. Removal of HCP is one of the biggest challenges for the production of biopharmaceuticals. An ideal HCP screening assay is high throughput, reproducible, quantitative and sensitive with high dynamic range. The proteograph fits this bill. In a study in partnership with a major pharmaceutical company, we demonstrated that the proteograph product suite detects two to six times more HTPs than traditional methods, identifying 98% of the HTPs and overall improving measurements across purification steps. A poster on this work will be presented at the upcoming ASMS by our pharma partner. Customers continue to find value in proteograph proof of principle studies as they build the case for capital equipment funding within their organization, including the grant submission process for academic customers. These small studies of 40 to 100 samples are a key enabler for customers to onboard our technology and often result in posters or abstracts on their own, as preliminary insights and putative biomarkers can be uncovered even from small studies at its size. We had the shipment of a proteograph to a non-human health company in the first quarter, for example, following a small proof of principle study conducted for disorganization. With our proof of principle study program, we have demonstrated use of the proteograph in chicken, dog, cat, baboon, and plant tissue across studies looking at cold exposure, diet, aging, cognitive impairment, multiple cancers, and transplant. We will continue to drive market development efforts such as these studies, collaboration, and KOL work to accelerate and enable broad market adoption. Through these efforts, we're building relationships with key opinion leaders and expanding our scientific advisory board with the recent addition of Dr. Josh Kuhn, Dr. Chris Mason, and Dr. Jenny Lanike. Dr. Kuhn is a professor of chemistry and biomolecular chemistry at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Mason is a professor of genomics, physiology, and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine and a director of the Wolfe Quant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction, as well as an affiliate of Memorial Full Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, Harvard Medical School, and Yale Law School. As mentioned earlier, Dr. Van Eyck is professor of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai, as well as the director of the Advanced Clinical Biosystem Research Institute, founder of the Precision Biomarker Labs, and the current president of the HUFO. These relationships are reinforcing the power of the photograph in the hand of these luminaries in their field. They're partnering with us to imagine a new future in multiomics, and I'm excited to continue our engagement to push the boundaries of what's possible together. Before I turn the call over to David, I want to share an update on our leadership team. Scott Thomas, our chief commercial officer, will be transitioning from here in July. I want to thank Scott for his contribution leading and developing a commercial organization. Our two senior regional vice presidents will lead commercial in the Americas and EMEA, APAC, respectively. We have an excellent team in place and we're confident We will continue to deliver on the promise of our transformational technology. With that, I will now turn the call over to David.