TriSalus Life Sciences, Inc. (TLSI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to TriSalus Life Sciences' 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. My name is Mats Wahlström and I'm the Chairman of the Board of TriSalus Life Sciences. The meeting will now officially come to order. The time is 8:03 Central Daylight Time on August 13, 2024. And the polls are open for voting on all matters to be presented. If you have not yet submitted a proxy and wish to vote on these items or wish to revoke a proxy you previously submitted, please do so by accessing the voting link e-mailed to you prior to the start of the meeting. Before we proceed with the formal business of the meeting, let me introduce to you the other members of the Board that are with us here today. Mrs. Mary Szela, President and Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach; Mr. Kerry Hicks and Mr. George Kelly Martin; and Mr. Sean Murphy, who also serves as our Chief Financial Officer. We also have members from the management team joining us. Also with us today is Dan Voogt, representing Grant Thornton LLP, the company's auditor, Matthew Brown, representing Cooley LLP, our outside legal counsel; and Erika Young from Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, who will serve as our inspector of elections. We will proceed with the formal business of the meeting as set forth in your notice of annual meeting and proxy statement. We will first present the 2 proposals submitted for approval by our Board. You may submit questions during the meeting by typing your questions in the Q&A box and then clicking on the Submit button. Please refer to the rules of conduct. We will respond to appropriate questions that are germane to a meeting proposal or the meeting itself after all the proposals have been presented. We invite any stockholders who have questions not related to the proposals to contact our Investor Relations department. Please see the Investors section of our website for contact details. After we present the proposals, we will announce the preliminary results of the voting. As I mentioned earlier, the polls are open for voting on all matters to be presented. Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote and each share of Series A preferred stock is entitled to 1.07 votes. After I describe each item to be voted on and accept appropriate questions, we will promptly close the polls. We will not accept ballots, proxies, revocations or changes after the closing of the polls. If you have already submitted your vote by proxy and do not wish to change your vote, you do not need to vote now and your shares will be voted as previously instructed. If you intend to vote and have not already done so, you must submit your vote now by accessing the link sent to you before this meeting in order for it to be counted. If you have not voted, I encourage you to vote using the link now. Will the secretary please report at this time with respect to the mailing of the proxy materials of the meeting.

I have an affidavit certifying that on July 22, 2024, Broadridge commenced the mailing of the proxy materials. Proxy materials were deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid and addressed to each shareholder of record at the close of business on June 26, 2024.

Thank you, Sean. I'm appointing Erika Young, a representative of the Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, to act as inspector of election at this meeting. Erika has taken and subscribed the customary oath of office to execute her duties with strict impartiality. We will file this oath with the records of the meeting. Her function is to decide upon the qualifications of voters, accept their votes and when balloting on all matters is completed to tally the final votes. Will the secretary please report at this time with respect to the existence of a quorum?

I have been informed by the inspector of election that the proxies have been received for 17,841,889 of the 31,455,515 votes entitled to be cast, which represents approximately 57% of the voting power of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the record date. This constitutes a quorum for the meeting today, and we may now carry out the official business of the meeting.

Thanks, Sean. We will proceed with the formal business of this meeting. There are 2 proposals to be considered by our stockholders. The first item of business is the election of 4 nominees for director. Our Board of Directors is divided into 3 classes, each class consists as nearly as possible or 1/3 of the total number of directors and each class has a 3-year term. There are 4 directors in Class I nominated for election at this meeting. Mr. Murphy, Mr. Hicks, Mr. Singhal and Mrs. Hyveled. All nominees were previously elected by our stockholders except for Mrs. Hyveled, who was appointed by the Board in May of 2024. The second item of business today is the ratification of the appointment by the Audit Committee of the Board of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year-ending December 31, 2024. That was the final proposal for today's meeting. I now would like to see if there are any questions from stockholders related to the proposals. Do we have any written questions?

No questions.

Our records show that no questions have been submitted. The time is now 8:12 and the polls are now closed for voting. No additional ballots, proxies or votes and no changes or revocations would be accepted. Any votes cast today will be counted in the final tally along with the proxies previously submitted. Sean, may we have the results of the voting?

The report of the inspector of elections covering the proposals presented at this meeting is as follows: the proposal to elect Mr. Murphy, Mr. Hicks, Mr. Singhal and Mr. Hyveled -- Ms. Hyveled as Class I directors to serve until 2027 Annual Meeting is carried; the second proposal, the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year-ending December 31, 2024, is ratified.

Thank you, Sean. We expect to report our preliminary voting results, or if available to us on a timely basis, of final voting results on a current form of Form 8-K to be filed with the SEC within 4 business days after the end of this meeting, if not earlier reported. We expect to report our final voting results in an amendment to our Form 8-K within 4 business days after the final results are known to us. At this time, I would like to introduce Mary Szela, our Chief Executive Officer and President, to share a few remarks on our accomplishments over the past year. Mary?

Thank you, Mats. Reflecting on our first year as a public company, I'm proud to share that 2023 was a remarkable year of progress for TriSalus Life Sciences. It was a year marked by significant milestones that propelled our company forward and solidified our commitment to delivering sustainable growth and long-term value to our shareholders. We're a team of individuals passionately pursuing improved outcomes for liver and pancreatic cancer patients. Our innovative platform integrates our FDA-cleared Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery technology with our investigative immunotherapeutic, nelitolimod, a TLR9 agonist to activate the immune system in the liver and pancreatic tumors. This combination approach is designed to address underappreciation in organ-specific barriers that prevent liver and cancer patients from achieving the full benefit of immunotherapy advances. Throughout the year, we achieved notable successes that underscore our dedication to innovation and improving patient outcomes. Our commission -- our commitment to our mission is outlined below. Full year revenues of $18.5 million, up 49% over the prior year. Gross margin of 86% for the full year. We received assignment of a new APC from the Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services to ensure continued permanent reimbursement for TriNav via assignment of a new HCPCS code. Real-world data published on the TriNav system, demonstrating significant improvement in the delivery of therapeutics to liver tumors in patients with high disease burden. We received a 510(k) clearance for TriNav Large and our TriGuide system. And we completed enrollment of 100 patients in several Phase I clinical trials in uveal melanoma liver metastases, hepatocellular cancer, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic cancer. Data is maturing, and we plan to analyze data from all 3 clinical studies in the second half of 2024 to determine the next steps. And lastly, we initiated the first-in-man clinical trial of our novel pancreatic infusion technology, which is 510(k) cleared, in combination with nelitolimod to demonstrate safety and efficacy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Looking ahead, we remain steadfast in our mission to redefine standards of care and transform the lives of patients battling liver and pancreatic cancer. With a clear focus on innovation, collaboration and excellence, we're poised to navigate the evolving health care landscape and deliver sustained value to our shareholders. Thank you all for your unwavering support as we continue our journey to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our patients. I would now like to turn it back to Mats Wahlström to make the closing remarks.

Thank you again for your attendance at today's meeting and for your continued support of TriSalus Life Sciences. This concludes today's official business and the Annual Meeting of Shareholders is adjourned.