AmerisourceBergen Corporation

Hello, and welcome to the AmerisourceBergen Q3FY20 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please send to a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note, today's event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Bennett Murphy, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Murphy, please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us for the conference call to discuss Amerisource Bergen's fiscal 2020 third quarter results. I am Bennett Murphy, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, and joining me today are Steve Collis, Chairman, President, and CEO, and Jim Cleary, Executive Vice President and CFO. On today's call, we'll be discussing non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these measures to GAAP are provided in today's press release and are also available on our website at investor.meritsworthbergen.com. We have posted a slide presentation to accompany today's press release on our investor website. During this conference call, we will make forward-looking statements about our business and financial expectations on an adjusted, non-GAAP basis, including but not limited to earnings per share, operating income, and income taxes. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and change. For discussion of key risks and assumptions, we refer you to today's press release and our SEC filings, including our most recent 10-K. Merit Search Bergen assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and this call cannot be rebroadcast without the express permission of the company. You'll have an opportunity to ask questions after today's for Marks Land Management. We ask that you limit your questions to one per participant in order for us to get to as many participants as possible within the hour. With that, I will turn the call over to Steve.

Thank you, Bennett, and good morning to everyone on today's call. Amerisource Bergen delivered strong results in the third quarter of 2020, driven by the resilience of our business and our associates who worked diligently to ensure continued patient access. Our teams are leveraging AmerisourceBergen's scale, expertise, and culture to deliver collaborative and innovative services and solutions to our partners as they navigate the complexities of the current environment. My remarks this morning will center on two key topics. First, I will highlight how AmerisourceBergen continues to protect and support our associates. specifically how we remain focused on advancing our talents and culture through development, career growth, and diversity initiatives, and why this is a clear competitive advantage. Second, I'll discuss how Marisol Spurgeon is positioned to deliver value over the long term for our shareholders and also for our associates, customers, suppliers, and the communities we serve. As we shared last quarter, the health, safety, and well-being of our associates continues to be our top priority. We have taken a number of steps to support our associates, particularly those on the front line, guided by our purpose and value at every turn. We have prioritized the safety of our associates. We have continued to work diligently to facilitate patient access, supporting our manufacturer and provider customer, as well as navigating these challenging times. I remain incredibly proud of the work our associates are undertaking across all areas of our business. As I discussed on our earnings call last November, our talent is one of AmerisourceBergen's biggest competitive advantages. Our associates power our culture and are driven by our purpose. We are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures and this is demonstrated across the entire organization. We know the experience of our associates is enhanced when they believe in the values and purposes of their employer. And as a company, we have prioritized this by focusing on talent development, career growth, and diversity initiatives. In May, AmerisourceBergen was named a Diversity Inc. Noteworthy Company for the fourth consecutive year due to our hiring, retention, and promotion of women, minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, and veterans. While I am proud that AmerisourceBergen has been recognized for our diversity and inclusion efforts, we are committed to fostering an even more diverse and inclusive workforce. We are dedicated to growing, learning and shaping our approach to diversity and inclusion for the betterment of our workforce and the communities we serve. With this in mind, we took time over the past several weeks to discuss social injustice and racial inequity and fostered a candid dialogue to discuss topics including racism and unconscious bias. We facilitated all associate town halls where black leaders and other leaders of color volunteered to share their insights and personal experiences in dealing with discrimination and systemic racism. These discussions, though somewhat difficult, are a necessary step to foster true change. We recognize this is an ongoing effort and we are committed to continuous improvement. There is significant intrinsic value created for all our stakeholders by having a strong culture and diversity that mirrors society as a whole. I look forward to sharing more about the progress we are making in this important area in the quarters to come. Now turning to our results, the June quarter demonstrated the resiliency of our business. As we successfully manage through the new challenges across the global healthcare system. The supply chain has become the invisible pillar of medical innovation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AmerisourceBergen and our industry as a whole have become understood for what we truly are, a strategic asset as awareness has been heightened around the importance of pharmaceutical security, channel data, and sustainability of supply. AmerisourceBergen is taking this opportunity to deepen our relationship with our partners and expand on our value proposition as we continue to execute on our pharmaceutical-centric strategy. The four key differentiators that serve as pillars of our company continue to position us for continued value creation. First, our broad and strategic relationships provide stability and partnerships with key customers in each segment of the healthcare system. Members of our Good Neighbor Pharmacy Network demonstrated the essential roles they play within their communities during this difficult time. Thousands of independent pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and staff members have been working tirelessly on the front lines to ensure their patients continue getting the care they need, even when things are at their most chaotic. They have all adapted at lightning speed to combat the pandemic and serve their communities in new and inventive ways. Whether through delivering care packages to the immunocompromised or offering a meal to those who lost their jobs during this crisis. Independent pharmacies have supported patients while maintaining the highest level of customer service. We are proud to partner with these frontline healthcare providers to deliver care to those who need it most. Second, we continue to build on our leadership position in specialty distribution and services. Our industry-leading specialty distribution businesses have a Merisource Bergen position to leverage our relationships and expertise in a key part of the market. We continue to see increased biosimilar utilization particularly in oncology, where our ion business differentiate our value proposition for both our provider customers and manufacturer partners. The growth we are seeing in biosimilars uptake is encouraging for the future, not only for AmerisourceBergen, but for patient access and the US healthcare system overall. On the distribution side, we've been working closely with our provider customers as they take the necessary actions to improve operability. Community-based practices have adapted to continue treating patients through telehealth visits and by implementing new safety protocols to treat the most critical cases in the office. In order to minimize patient care disruption, healthcare providers have implemented new distancing protocols, enhanced office cleaning procedures, and acquired additional PPE for staff. The value proposition of community-based care has never been clearer as the past few months have further illustrated the vital role of specialty practices in the treatment of critically ill patients in controlled environments. Patients are keenly aware of specialty physician practices' ability to provide safe, effective, and convenient treatment at a time when health and well-being have never been so important. I mentioned last quarter that the initial restrictive measures negatively impacted necessary patient access to things such as screenings and testing. As the country continues to navigate the complexities of this pandemic, it is vital that care is not deferred. Providers are more equipped to operate in the current environment to the benefit of the health and well-being of all patients. Third, Amerisource Bergen Associates. continue to focus on providing innovative services and solutions for our partners in the healthcare system to navigate these challenging times. Amerisource Bergen is uniquely positioned to help our customers in the current environment and is focused on providing them with important resources. For example, our sourcing and distribution teams are leveraging our commercial expertise and data and analytics capabilities to provide manufacturing and government entities with actionable channel insights. We are able to provide significant transparency into the pharmaceutical supply chain and related end markets, which is an important resource as stakeholders seek to be fully informed by data as they face new challenges. AmerisourceBergen is focused on being solutions oriented and continuing to identify ways to add value. particularly at this time of heightened focus on the pharmaceutical supply chain. And at our MWI animal health business, we announced two new offerings designed to help veterinarians manage the financial impact of COVID-19. The offerings allow practices to provide flexible financing solutions for clients who may be struggling to afford quality care for their pets or who may just want more certainty in an uncertain economic landscape. The offerings ease the financial burden of both routine and emergency pet care, while also helping practices achieve more consistent revenue, long-term client engagement, and most importantly, better outcomes for their patients. Finally, turning to our fourth differentiator, we continue to focus on strong corporate stewardship in order to create value for all our stakeholders. In addition to some of the initiatives I mentioned earlier, During the quarter, the Marisol Bergen Foundation brought together more than 60 nonprofit partners and peers during a virtual conference to facilitate collaboration, share best practices, and learn from one another. The event focused on developing strategies to address some of the most difficult issues affecting society today, including pandemic resilience, social justice, and racial equality. health, and community improvement. Marisol's Bergen is committed to strong corporate citizenship and continuous improvement. We are driven by our talent and culture, differentiated by our vast customer relationships and leadership in specialty distribution and services, and united in our responsibility to create healthier futures. Our values, strategic partnerships, and market leadership position Amerisource Bergen to continue to create long-term value for all of our stakeholders. Thank you again for your interest in Amerisource Bergen. With that, I will turn the call over to Jim for a more in-depth review of our third quarter fiscal 2020 results. Jim?