Paul Edick: That’s a good question and we get asked that a lot. That is 100% in the purview of the partner. In today’s world of monoclonal antibodies and biologics and large molecules, it’s incredibly competitive. One of the reasons that it’s so confidential in terms of what we can and can’t talk about. But the price of entry is no longer an IV product. The price of entry for a lot of these molecules for a lot of these companies is really you have to at least be a subcutaneous injection. And then once we can deliver that, what happens is every one of those companies goes through their own internal prioritization process to say, okay, of all the assets that we have, what do we want to spend money on in clinical development? So it’s more of a market-based analysis that they’re doing on their pipeline.
We’re giving them the sub-Q option at the end of the day. If you look at some of the partnerships, Merck, very successful formulation process but they chose not to take their product forward for competitive reasons in the market that they were targeting. Same thing with — well, similar with Asahi Kasei a couple of years ago, they — we’ve successfully formulated. Their product failed to meet its endpoint in clinical studies. So nothing to do with us. So it’s a process and it’s a decision that is a pipeline-based decision for portfolios in the partner companies.
Allison Wey: Thanks, Paul. The last few questions are for you. So why aren’t management and the Board buying any Xeris share?
Paul Edick: That’s a good question. Our management team has bought — I think every single member of our management team has acquired shares with their own investments. We always have and whatever companies we’re in, we will continue to do that. And I, as I think people can see in the public record, buy shares at least annually, kind of almost semi-annually. I believe in this company and I continue to invest heavily with my own assets in this business and I believe eventually it’s going to really pay off in a pretty significant way.
Allison Wey: And you haven’t sold any shares, correct?
Paul Edick: None of the shares have been sold. I don’t even contemplate selling at this point.
Allison Wey: Thanks, Paul. You’ve mentioned in the past that part of the Xeris strategy includes acquisitions and that [indiscernible]. What is the likelihood of a purchase of an additional asset or an organization in 2024 given your recent statements?
Paul Edick: I don’t know the answer to that. I think as things become available, we’re very active. We’re looking at a lot of things. We look at anything that we come across our radar. We’re going to be very opportunistic but our goal is to continue to add to the enterprise. So if there’s an opportunity to efficiently financially benefits us to add a product that’s affordable, we’ll pursue it. Same thing with potential company acquisitions.
Allison Wey: Thanks. Has the company been approached with any acquisition office to date? And if so, could you delineate the financial parameters that would make such a transaction compelling?
Paul Edick: Yes. As a public company, nobody will ever answer that question.
Allison Wey: So what efforts are being undertaken to cultivate and deepen relationships with institutional funds and how might achieving a cash flow breakeven point influence long-term institutional participation?
Paul Edick: I think moving to cash flow breakeven or getting to profitability in any company is going to attract more and better institutional investment. I mean, that’s almost a given, I think. We spent a great deal of time with all of our shareholders and investors, from minor retail all through some of the biggest institutions in the business. And we’re at a lot of banking conferences. I think we’re going to 3 in the next couple of weeks. And our calendars are full. So we’re constantly having those conversations.
Allison Wey: Thanks. And one final question. The team has had success together building other companies. Is this team still committed to returning the same results as in the past. Paul, as the leader of this team, what are your strategic goals for Xeris over the medium term?
Paul Edick: So when talking about the team, the team is 100% committed. We came together to build an enterprise and we’re not done with that. We’re really still in the early stages. We continue to execute and have demonstrated this by driving significant revenue growth over all 3 products. We’ve built a promising pipeline. It may be a single asset but it could be a blockbuster asset. And we’ve established an emerging technology business. And I emphasize the word emerging, it’s early. And we’ve done this in the face of significant headwinds over the years which speaks to the kind of DNA we’ve built in this company. And I think in closing, we’re building a growth-oriented biopharmaceutical company committed to improving patient lives across the range of therapies and as a self-sustaining and continuing self-sustaining organization.
I think that’s it for the questions. I appreciate everybody sending them in. We hopefully have accumulated and aggregated the questions that came in, in a lot of different forms to answer a lot of questions. I think there’s, to some degree, a lot of the questions we get pretty routinely. And hopefully, we’ve clarified as best possible. And I’d like to thank everybody for joining us today for your thoughtfulness. And if you have additional questions, please continue to send them into Allison. And to conclude, I’d like to say that we’re very proud of our performance to date and look forward to growing in enterprise for which we can all be proud. And once again, to thank the healthcare professionals and the patients and the Xeris employees who make it happen every day.
Allison Wey: Thank you, Paul.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines. Have a great day. Thank you.
