Rapid Micro Biosystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:RPID) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Rachel Vatnsdal: Okay, got you. And maybe if I can just squeeze one last one in. The guide is pretty back-end loaded just can you talk generally about your visibility into those placements in the back half of the year? Two placements in 1Q, 15 on the year, so to get to that high single digit placement number in 4Q, I guess how much visibility do you have into that from a customer conversation perspective.

Rob Spignesi: Yeah. Case it’s Rob. Yeah, as I touched on in the intro question by Dan, what’s giving us confidence in the guide is the conversations we’re having with customers and in some cases regarding their purchase intentions on multiple systems and just the shape of the process and when we expect things to land. And of course we’re still kind of ramping into the year. So, as well as well as a broader sort of mix of other opportunities we have in our funnel across all through all of our regions, sort of the sum total of this kind gives us the confidence in the outlook. And it also just practically speaking is kind of how we think about the year rolling out with a bit more of the back end waiting.

Operator: Our last question comes from Max Masucci from TD Cowen.

Stephanie Yan: Hi, this is Stephanie on from Max. Thanks for taking my questions. Most of my questions have already been asked, so if I can ask a couple of quick ones. So you mentioned in your prepared remarks that you have about 20 or so events since Conferees planned for the year, which is great to hear as you head into 2023, what are the key catalyst and milestones that we should be keeping an eye on for the year?

Rob Spignesi: So, the key milestones we have in our year with regard to, um, external facing shows our largest one is end of the year, which is PDA. If Stephanie, if your question is referring to the publicly facing or open trade shows if not but please steer me. But with regard to milestones PDA’s a big one. We’ve got a collection of other events around the world that will attend. We we’re always excited about our growth direct day, which is a chance to bring together a number of new and prospective customers. Typically, this is centered around Europe. We’re hopeful to have one in the US this year as well, which is a really good chance to bring the ecosystem together — to come together and do all things growth directly for a full day. I wouldn’t call it a catalyst per se, but it’s certainly a milestone as we think about interacting with key customers around the world.

Stephanie Yan: And then on the consumable utilization side, so I know this has already been touched on a bit in the Q&A, but how quickly have existing customers been ramping on that consumable utilization versus your expectation? Do you see that there could be potential for further acceleration versus your expectations for the year?

Sean Wirtjes : Yeah, I’ll start and maybe Rob will have a comment as well. I think, it depends on the customer. I think over in general, we are improving in terms of how we work with our customers to help them make that transition more quickly. But a lot of times it is heavily dependent upon their situation and resourcing and plan. Having said that, that’s getting better. I would also say that, we are continuing to work with customers to find different ways to, even when they’re in routine use and pulling through kind of where we originally expected them to increase that utilization. So whether it’s new applications we are — we have customers who are adding products or they’re getting new indications to existing products, or they need more capacity, or they have the ability to utilize more capacity on the system. So, that’s also a way that we believe over time we’re going to be able to get that pull through number higher for the business.