Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE:ELAN) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Todd Young: Mike, looking at year-end leverage, right, we’ve just provided the net debt numbers relative to EBITDA. So that’s 5.3 times to 5.9 times. Projected. If you do look at all the assumptions we’ve provided in the appendix for modeling purposes, there’s a lot of cash that still goes out the door on the project expense as we said. We’ve got cash taxes, CapEx as well as the cash interest. So if you look at all of that, while we’re not guiding to a gross debt paydown, that gets you to about $100 million of paydown depending on net working capital performance. That was a very disappointing area for us in 2022, and we’ve got new initiatives with a lot of focus on that across the company in 2023 as that needs to improve to help us drive better performance on the cash line. So those are the key things we’re looking at. But at the end of the day, right now, it would be about $100 million of net pay down.

Operator: Next question comes from Erin Wright from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Erin Wright: So one on innovation and one on the parasiticide. So can you break down what you are baking in, in terms of the guidance for 2023 in terms of innovation contribution? And how we should be thinking about that ramping in 2024? And what’s that growth as well as net contribution from innovation in ’24. Does your long-term innovation target now embed the small acquisition as well as the expedited launch of Bovaer. And then just my second question is on the broad spectrum parasiticide, — how are you thinking now in terms of the competitive positioning — do you you’ll think be still third to market? Or is it for to market? And will you be able to take share more so from the existing combination products out there? Or will it be mostly legacy OTC and oral parasiticides?

Katy Grissom: Sure. Todd, do you want to start on innovation?

Todd Young: Sure. Erin, we’ve got $220 million to $250 million in innovation sales in 2023 after doing $133 million in 2022. So that’s ramping in the $90 million to $115 million range. Overall, we have not changed the $600 million to $700 million, but we are excited about these innovative antibiotic alternatives we’re adding as well as Bovaer coming earlier, just gives us more confidence in the ability to deliver on that $600 million to $700 million amount. And again, we look forward to ramping in ’24, but we’re not giving guidance on that today.

Jeff Simmons: Erin, regarding the broad spectrum parasiticide, — so submission made last year, continued path. I want to emphasize on really the whole pipeline that really nothing has slipped we have increased confidence in the overall pipeline and the progress, the quality of the submissions that are being made, I will highlight really the differentiation. We’re not going to highlight all the details of what that is. But what we would say is differentiation matters most, and we believe we have a differentiated leading product that can come in that’s already passed the heartworm threshold coming into this product. The other news here in this earnings call is our pivot as we finish the system standup, we’re pivoting now to commercial excellence.

Bringing Tim on, Tim Bennington, with his experience leading some of the largest launches in the business, our energy is now channelled around launch readiness, commercial excellence globally, how we can ramp products more segment them even better and take more share earlier. That is the focus and Tim’s charge as he comes in, complementing the existing team that’s focusing on the existing business.