Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (RYTM) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon. Hello, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to David Meeker, Chairman of the Rhythm Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon. I am David Meeker, Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals and the Chairperson of today's meeting. Let me take this opportunity to welcome all those attending our 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which we are holding virtually. Before the meeting is called to order, I'd like to introduce you to the other members of the Board and officers of the company who are on the webcast today. We do have the full Board present from the Board are: Stuart Arbuckle; Camille Bedrosian; Jennifer Good; Christophe Jean; Ed Mathers; David McGirr; Lynn Tetrault; and Todd Foley. And from the company, in addition to myself, we have Hunter Smith, our Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary; and David Connolly, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. I would also like to introduce Jon Lang of Ernst & Young LLP, the company's independent registered public accountants, who is available to respond to appropriate questions via the question-and-answer function on the annual meeting web page as well as Nicole McNeil of Latham & Watkins, counsel to the company, who will act as secretary of today's meeting. I'll now turn the meeting over to Hunter Smith, who will conduct the formal part of the meeting. Hunter?

Thank you, David. I now call the meeting to order. We will proceed with the formal business of the meeting as indicated in the notice of annual meeting in the company's proxy statement. Polls open today, June 9, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time for voting on all matters before the meeting. If you have not already voted and wish to vote, the polls will remain open until we finish presenting the proposals and close the polls. You do not need to vote during the meeting if you have already voted and do not wish to change your vote. On the virtual meeting web page, you will find the agenda for the meeting. You will also find the rules of conduct for today's meeting. Please review these rules carefully. Note that only stockholders who are logged into the meeting using their control number and beneficial holders who have registered in advance will be able to vote and submit questions at today's meeting. The secretary will file the proof of mailing notice of the meeting with the records of the meeting. All stockholders of record at the close of business on April 15, 2021 or holders of a valid proxy are entitled to vote at today's meeting. The inspector of election has a complete list of the holders of record of the company's common stock on the record date for the meeting and for verified stockholders. At this time, I'd like to introduce Patti Peachey of Computershare Trust Company NA, who will serve as the inspector of election at today's meeting. Ms. Peachey has signed the customary oath as inspector of election to execute her duties with strict impartiality. The oath shall be filed with the minutes of the meeting. Ms. Peachey has informed me that there are present at this meeting online or represented by proxy the holders of a majority of the total number of shares of common stock of the company outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting. There is, therefore, a quorum present today, and I hereby declare this meeting to be duly constituted for the transaction of business. There are 4 items of business to be considered by the stockholders at today's meeting. The Board recommends that the stockholders vote for each of the 3 proposals and 1 year for the fourth proposal. The first item of business is the proposed election of Stuart Arbuckle; Christophe Jean and Lynn Tetrault as Class I directors, each to serve for a 3-year term until the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their representative successors are duly elected and qualified. The second item of business is the proposal to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended -- ending December 31, 2021. The third item of business is the approval of the following resolution: resolved that the company's stockholders approved by a nonbinding advisory vote the compensation of the named executive officers as disclosed in the company's proxy statement for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the compensation tables and narrative discussion. The fourth item of business is the approval on an advisory nonbinding basis of the frequency of future advisory votes on the compensation of our named executive officers. That was the final item of business for today's meeting. If you wish to vote and haven't already voted, please vote now by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions. You do not need to vote electronically if you have already sent your signed proxy or if you have voted by telephone or Internet. We will pause for approximately 30 seconds before closing the polls. [Voting]

It is now 2:07 p.m. on June 9, 2021, and the polls are now closed for voting. We will pause for a moment while the inspector of election makes her final tabulation of votes. I have received the preliminary report of the inspector of election. The final report of the inspector of election will be kept with the company's records of the annual meeting. Based on the preliminary report of the inspector of election, Stuart A. Arbuckle, Christophe R. Jean and Lynn A. Tetrault J.D. have been elected as Class I directors of the company to serve until the annual meeting of stockholders in 2024 and until their respective successors have been duly elected and qualified. And the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021, has been ratified by the stockholders of the company. The resolution to approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of Rhythm's named executive officers has been approved. Once our stockholders have approved on an advisory basis a frequency of 1 year for future advisory votes on the compensation of named executive officers. The final tally of votes will be published within 4 business days and a current report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The meeting is now adjourned. We will now give a brief update regarding our business.

Thank you, Hunter. A very brief update of the business. It's been an eventful year for Rhythm -- sorry, Rhythm as a company. As people probably know, we had approval of our drug setmelanotide, brand name IMCIVREE in November of this year that was followed by a positive readout of Phase III data and 3 -- 2 additional genes, Bardet-Biedl and Alström syndrome in December. And in January, we provided a preliminary look at the data from our Phase II Basket Study, which revealed that an additional 5 genes showed some level of response to treatment with setmelanotide. That put us in a position for a very intense first half of the year, which was characterized by a large number of regulatory filings, protocol development and plans for initiation of a number of critical clinical trials, most noteworthy a Phase III trial in the 5 genes, which we read out the Phase II data in January and a new Phase II trial looking at an additional 31 genes. Other upcoming events in the second half of this year will include our filing of our Bardet-Biedl and Alström's data with the FDA and the EMEA with the expectation that we would get approval for those 2 -- those additional genes in 2022 as well as the initiation of the 2 trials I mentioned as well as a number of smaller trials. So again, a very, very positive year for Rhythm overall. Thank you. Hunter?

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the annual meeting. Thank you all very much for participating. Operator, I turn it back to you.

This does conclude today's meeting. You may now disconnect.