Seres Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRB) Q1 2024 Results Conference Call May 8, 2024 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Carlo Tanzi - IR
Eric Shaff - CEO
Terri Young - Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer
Lisa von Moltke - Chief Medical Officer
Marella Thorell - CFO
Matthew Henn - EVP, Chief Scientific Officer

Conference Call Participants

Ted Tenthoff - Piper Sandler
John Newman - Canaccord Genuity
Tess Romero - JPMorgan
Jeff Jones - Oppenheimer
Keay Nakae - Chardan

Operator

Thank you for standing by. My name is Alex, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Q1 2024 Seres Therapeutics Earnings Conference Call [Operator Instructions].

I would now like to turn the call over to Carlo Tanzi, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Carlo Tanzi

Thank you, and good morning. Our press release for the company's first quarter 2024 financial results and business update became available at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time this morning and can be found on the Investors and News section of the company's Web site. I'd like to remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements, including about the potential for VOWST, the timing and results of our clinical studies, future product candidates and development plans, our ability to generate additional capital, the sufficiency of cash to fund operations, and other statements, all of which are not historical facts. Actual results may differ materially.

Additionally, these statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which are discussed under the Risk Factors section of our recent SEC filings. Any forward-looking statements made on today's call represent our views as of today only. We may update these statements in the future, but we disclaim any obligation to do so. On today's call with prepared remarks, I'm joined by Eric Shaff, Seres' Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Terri Young, Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer; Dr. Lisa von Moltke, Chief Medical Officer; and Marella Thorell, Chief Financial Officer. In addition, Dr. Matthew Henn, Chief Scientific Officer, will be available to answer questions.

With that, I'll pass the call to Eric.

Eric Shaff

Thank you, Carlo, and good morning, everyone. In 2024, Seres has continued executing on our mission of bringing revolutionary microbiome therapeutics options to patients in need. We will provide an update today on the commercial launch of VOWST as well as our plans to develop a next wave of life-changing microbiome therapeutics. We have tremendous optimism in the promise of microbiome therapeutics to provide transformative clinical benefits to patients, including for serious diseases that impact large populations and the potential to impact the growing risk that antimicrobial resistance poses to global public health. Last year was an historic year for the company as we obtained FDA approval for VOWST and, alongside our collaborator Nestle Health Science, we successfully launched VOWST into the marketplace for adults suffering from recurrence C. diff infection. These events marked major milestones for Seres for the microbiome field in general and most importantly for patients who have been waiting for a more effective approach to treat this difficult disease. We believe that obtaining FDA approval of the first oral microbiome therapeutic provides clear evidence of the company's scientific leadership position in the field. We are proud of the impact that VOWST has had on patients, their families and on the entire recurrence C. diff community. To date, we have seen demand from an extensive group of health care practitioners for VOWST across the recurrence C. diff patient pool and thousands of patients have now been treated with VOWST. However, we did not see the continued level of growth that we had hoped for in the first quarter as compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Accelerating demand is a top priority for the Seres-Nestle partnership, and we are optimistic about 2024 growth potential based on the refinement to launch execution Nestle has recently implemented. Nestle has been carefully examining launch execution and has implemented refinements as the launch proceeds.