ClearPoint Neuro, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLPT) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

So it’s doing two things worth. One, it is getting us experience in these new geographies, and that helps drive some of the device business as well because even if we get approval with the goal of treating patients with one of our pharma partners, we’re very, very clear that a complicated gene therapy infusion case should not be your first case. So what commonly happens is we say, yes, we’re going to do that eventually, but we’re going to start on some simple biopsies, DBS procedures, maybe some laser procedures as well to get familiar with the overall system and prepare for these trials down the road. So we get that benefit. Secondarily, we get the benefit of putting up additional sort of walls and moats around our company and around our technology.

It’s very hard to get approval for a cannula, for example, in the United States. It’s very hard to get it approved in Europe as well. Many companies that would maybe compete with us in the future might even just stop at those two locations. But if we can actually have approval for our devices in a number of different geographies, that’s just one more reason that a pharma company should be working with us because we can actually cover a much broader population of the world, which is honestly more how pharma companies think than device companies. So again, it’s a little expensive. It’s contributed to some of our cash burn during this regulatory work, et cetera. However, again, it’s just like know-how and team hiring and IT investment, this regulatory and quality investment is something that we think is going to protect us in the future.

Neil Chatterji: Great. Again, congrats on the quarter, and that’s it for me.

Joe Burnett: Okay. Thank you, Neil.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Joe Burnett for closing comments.

Joe Burnett: Thank you, Maria. And once again, thank you to everyone interested in being a part of this team’s journey here at ClearPoint. We recognize the challenging global environment that we are all forced to live in today, and we assure you that we are going to help patients around the world as best as we possibly can by keeping our heads down, staying focused and executing against our four pillar growth strategy to develop products that truly improve the quality of life for our patients and their families. Hope you all have a great night. Good bye.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.