Asensus Surgical, Inc. (AMEX:ASXC) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Anthony Fernando: Yes, Ross, I think primarily, the slowdown came from Europe. And the European between the holidays and summer breaks, et cetera, that had a contribution to that which I think was the primary player for the reason why we didn’t see a quarter-over-quarter growth. And also in the US, we didn’t see as much growth compared to what we saw last year. That was the primary reason for the quarter. But on an annualized basis, I think 17% is where we are and we are hoping to keep driving that number up in the fourth quarter as well.

Ross Osborn: Okay, got it. And then lastly, could you provide a little bit of background on Flex and what drove you to partner with them for LUNA?

Anthony Fernando: Yes, Ross. So, I think the LUNA platform is a relatively complex system. And for us, we’ve always tried to focus on what we are good at and really where we can add value. So, we understand the robotic space and the digital space and have very strong R&D regulatory capabilities to execute on that. And when it comes to manufacturing several years ago, probably about two, two and a half years ago, we came to the conclusion that it doesn’t make sense for us to deploy capital in a sense when there are specialists in the field like Flex who understand medical device, who have really extensive supply chain networks that can provide us really good cost in terms of procurement. So, with that, we started this dialogue almost two years ago and we’ve been working on multiple small projects with them, and that led to us trying to take a much bigger holistic view and say, okay, why don’t we work with you guys on the entire platform instead of the sub-assemblies or subcomponents that we’ve been talking about over the last two years, which led to this agreement where they will help us, and they will share their expertise, and we’ll collaborate on them ultimately taking over the full manufacturing where they are very well-suited to take this on.

Ross Osborn: Got it. Thanks for taking our questions.

Anthony Fernando: Thank you, Ross.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call back to Anthony Fernando for closing remarks.

Anthony Fernando: Thank you, operator. Thanks again for joining us today and for your support of Asensus. We look forward to updating you on our next quarterly call. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.