MeiraGTx Holdings plc (MGTX) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good day and welcome to MeiraGTx Holdings 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Keith Harris, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MeiraGTx. Please go ahead.

Good morning. I'm Keith Harris, the Chairman of the Board of MeiraGTx Holdings plc and the Chairperson of today's meeting. I'm very happy to welcome you to our 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. We appreciate you joining us today through the virtual platform, which we have elected to use for this year's annual meeting in order to comply with the protocols imposed by the local governmental authorities and to ensure the safety of our shareholders, our directors and our employees. I hope everyone is feeling well and is healthy and managing through these uncertain times. Before I call the meeting to order, I would like to introduce to you the other members of my Board and the officers and guests of the company who are also with us today. The other members of the Board here today are Alexandria, better known as Zandy Forbes, our Chief Executive Officer; Ellen Hukkelhoven; Martin Indyk; Arnold Levine; Joel Marcus; Neil Mendoza; Nicole Seligman; and Thomas Shenk. Also here today are Rich Giroux, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer; and Robert Wollin, our Senior Vice President, Legal. I would also like to introduce Devon Brady and Michael Cellino of Ernst & Young LLP, the company's independent auditor. The meeting will now officially come to order. You should all see on the virtual shareholder meeting website the agenda for the meeting. These are the formal items of business we will be covering today as set forth in the notice of annual general meeting of shareholders and proxy statement. At the bottom of the virtual shareholder meeting website under the heading Meeting Materials is a list of the rules of conduct for the meeting. To conduct an orderly meeting, we ask that participants abide by these rules. During the meeting, only validated shareholders may ask questions in the designated field on the virtual shareholder meeting website. We ask that shareholders limit their questions during the formal portion of the meeting to those concerning the proposals to be considered by shareholders at today's meeting. We have reserved time for general questions after the formal portion of the meeting has concluded. [Operator Instructions] Our Board of Directors set April 6, 2020, as the record date for those shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting. We have a certified list of shareholders of the company as of the close of business on the record date that are entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting. The list was available for inspection for 10 days prior to this meeting and is available under the heading Meeting Materials on the virtual shareholder meeting website. I also have an affidavit of mailing, establishing that notice of this meeting was first distributed or made available on April 21, 2020, to all shareholders of record of the company as of the close of business on April 6, 2020. A copy of the notice of meeting and the affidavit of mailing will be included with the minutes of this meeting. At this time, I'd like to introduce Tracy Oats, a representative of Broadridge Investor Communications Services. The Board of Directors has appointed a representative of Broadridge directed inspector of election at today's meeting. Ms. Oats has signed the customary oath of office to execute her duties with strict impartiality. We will file this oath with the records of the meeting. Ms. Oats has informed me that a quorum is present. Therefore, I hereby declare this meeting to be duly constituted for the transaction of business. We will now proceed with the formal business of this meeting. There are 2 proposals to be considered by the shareholders at this meeting. Each proposal is to be determined by poll. The Board of Directors recommends that the shareholders vote for each of the proposals. Please note that we will give shareholders an opportunity to comment on the proposals themselves after all proposals have been presented. Voting will commence after all proposals have been presented. The first item of business is the election of each -- of Ellen Hukkelhoven, Joel Marcus and Nicole Seligman, to serve as a Class 2 director of the company to hold office until the company's annual meeting of shareholders to be held in 2023 and until his or her respective successor has been duly elected and qualified. The plurality of the votes cast, meaning that the 3 nominees receiving the highest number of affirmative for votes is the voting standard for this item of business and is required for each of the nominees to be elected of Class 2 directors. The second item of business is the ratification by ordinary resolution of the audit committee's appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2020. The affirmative vote of the holders of a simple majority of our ordinary shares present in person or by proxy and voting at this annual meeting is required for the approval of this proposal. This is a nonbinding vote on the company. That was the final proposal for today's meeting. [Operator Instructions] We will pause for a moment to see if there are any questions. Rob, can you tell us please if there are any questions on the proposals?

Keith, we do not have any questions.

Thank you. Since there are no questions, I will now turn to opening the polls for voting. The time is now 10:07 a.m. Eastern Time on June 2, 2020, and the polls are now open for voting on all matters before the meeting. Any shareholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change their vote may do so by clicking on the Voting button on the virtual shareholder meeting website and following the instructions. Shareholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or Internet and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action. We will pause for a moment to allow shareholders to vote. [Voting]

It is now 10:08 a.m. Eastern Time on June 2, 2020, and the polls are now closed for voting. Based on the preliminary report of the inspector of election, Ellen Hukkelhoven, Joel Marcus and Nicole Seligman have been elected as Class 2 directors by a plurality of the votes cast to serve until our annual meeting to be held in 2023 and until their respective successors have been duly elected and qualified. And secondly, the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2020, has been ratified by ordinary resolution. The final tally of the votes will be published within 4 days in a current report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is now 10:09 Eastern Time, and the formal portion of the meeting has concluded. This meeting is adjourned. Now we would like to open the meeting for shareholders' questions and comments. [Operator Instructions] Please note that the questions that are germane to the meeting will be addressed. We will pause for a moment to see if there are any questions. Rob, are there any questions please?

Keith, there are no questions.

Since there are no questions, we would like to thank you on behalf of all my colleagues on the Board and guests for attending today's meeting. Thank you very much.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.