Enzo Biochem, Inc.

And welcome to the Enzo Biochem first quarter 2021 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief 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. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Jeremy Pfeffer, LifeSci Advisors. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Stacy, and good afternoon. Joining us today from the company are Barry Weiner, co-founder and president, and David Bench, chief financial officer. A press release announcing the results and the update was issued this afternoon and is available now on the ENZO website. I will now read the company's safe harbor statement. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. Such statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief, or current expectations of the company and its management, including those related to cash flow, gross margins, revenues, and expenses, which are dependent on a number of factors outside of the control of the company including the markets for the company's products and services, cost of goods and services, other expenses, government regulations, litigation, and general business conditions. Please see risk factors in the company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect actual results. The company disclaims any obligations to update any forward-looking statement as a result of developments occurring after the date of this conference call. During this conference call, the company may refer to EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure. EBITDA is not and should not be considered an alternative to net income or loss, income or loss from operations, or any other measure for determining operating performance. The company has provided a reconciliation of the difference to GAAP on its website, www.enzo.com. and in its press release issued this afternoon. I would now like to turn the call over to Barry Weiner, co-founder and president of Enzo Biogas. Barry?

Thank you, Jeremy. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on our quarterly update call today. We issued our first fiscal 2021 financial and operating results after the close of the market today, and I hope you've had a chance to take a look at them. As we continue to drive forward in the pursuit of some normalcy in our daily lives, we at ENSO are extremely proud to have been part of the healthcare response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the continuing challenges that were presented to our business by COVID-19, we delivered an extremely robust first quarter for 2021. The results were across multiple metrics of success. Both our revenue and accession volume increased significantly over the prior quarter, reaching pre-pandemic levels and exceeding our initial estimates by $1.7 million, which we provided earlier. Total revenue was $28.7 million, a 47% increase over the preceding fourth quarter of 2020, demonstrating continued evidence of recovery and the subsequent positive impact from COVID-19 on our business operations. We also saw continued margin improvement, leading to positive EBITDA of more than $1 million and positive earnings of approximately one cent per share. Before elaborating further on the quarter, obviously we hope everyone has remained safe and healthy during these difficult and frustrating times. The health and safety of our employees has always been of extreme importance, and we greatly appreciate their contributions to keep our business running safely. We have been very fortunate that the implemented measures to safeguard our employees have been successful while allowing us to maintain full operations so that we may continue to advance the important work we've been providing to our healthcare community. Even with the unprecedented challenges we faced this year, we were able to maintain our commitment to our core objectives. First, transforming into an integrated end-to-end diagnostic products and solutions company. Second, building and investing in the infrastructure for growth. Third, implementing efficiency measures to better bring in line our cost structure with the market needs. And fourth, building out our four key platforms and technologies to address enhanced value in the diagnostic sector. These objectives have helped us to further solidify ENSO's position as a comprehensive solutions provider in diagnostic products and services. Despite the unprecedented conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, We have mobilized our operational resources to address the expanding needs of the market by servicing opportunities in new areas, including point of care and direct-to-consumer offerings. While most companies and businesses during this period have remained partially closed, if not fully closed, ENZO employees have not only manned the front lines, but expanded our operational capacity to continuously support the testing needs of the market. We are extremely proud to welcome Dr. Mary Tagliaferri and Dr. Ian Walters, two highly respected and experienced industry professionals, to our board of directors, which now number four independent directors among the five on our board. As Executive Clinical Fellow and former Chief Medical Officer of Nectar, Dr. Tagliaferri brings deep business development, clinical research and development, and global regulatory affairs skills to our board. Dr. Walters is CEO of Portage Biotech, and he has held executive positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He is responsible for the development of more than 30 drugs, which led to five new oncology drug approvals. In addition to his business acumen, he will be instrumental in identifying new ways that ENSO can effectively support companion diagnostics, early drug discovery, and liquid biopsy techniques. The addition of these two new directors significantly expand the operational and commercial expertise of our company's boards. particularly concerning companion diagnostics and therapeutic opportunities. During the quarter, we work with our partners to provide COVID-19 testing services focused on our geographical region. This includes multiple universities, such as Stony Brook University and Farmingdale State University, as well as urgent care facilities, nursing homes, and corporations. These were implemented through our schools and institutional testing. We call it our SIT program, which we launched in June. We are working with local government entities, helping them through this pandemic crisis as well. We are focusing on building out these new relationships beyond COVID testing and transitioning them into long-term opportunities, utilizing ENSO's full menu of products and services. Our recent GoTestMeNow online portal is our first direct-to-consumer offering that brings quick, convenient COVID testing to individuals overseen by licensed physicians. Currently, we have now over 30 convenient locations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. It works as follows. A patient purchases the COVID-19 molecular or serological test directly from the GoTestMeNow website, website and then goes to an ENSO clinical labs patient service center or pop-up site for specimen collection. The results are delivered directly to the individual through our online portal. We plan to extend this online offering to sexually transmitted diseases and other types of testing. Furthermore, we are working on launching a home kit to enable self-testing for certain diseases. We also recently announced the commercial launch of a small portable microplate reader for use with the company's immunoassay products. This affordable device enables ENSO to offer a complete solution to academic, CRO, and other industrial customers. It is a compact plate reader that features an open design for quick plate loading and a USB connection. The personal 96-well format micro-reader plate and machine can be used for a variety of applications, including ELISAs, protein quantification assays, cell-based assays, and more. Ultimately, we hope it will provide new opportunities in point-of-care medicine. On the research front, in a recently published book titled In-Situ Molecular Pathology and Co-Expression Analysis, Enzo Loop RNA technology was expounded upon as a highly sensitive approach in the development of human papilloma virus probes. Enzo's Loop RNA was compared against the market leader and demonstrated higher sensitivity. We believe this technology may be extended beyond HPV for improved sensitivity with regards to other diagnostic testing. We also have several innovations and product launches, including serological testing in a post-vaccine environment that are in early days of adoption, but we think will be a critical element of diagnostic testing in 2021. And we look forward to updating our investors on these initiatives as they come forward. I'd like to turn the call over to David, who will provide a financial update.