IceCure Medical Ltd (NASDAQ:ICCM) Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Eyal Shamir: Yes. Thank you, Anthony. So I would like firstly to clear about Brazil. Brazil required two submissions, so we got already, as I mentioned in my review, that we got the regulatory approval from ANVISA on our single use probes. We are still waiting to get the approval on our machine on our box. This should be during the first semester of next year. We have already signed distribution agreement and they started to do soft launching and actually even sending some breast to some training in the U.S. So as soon as we will get the regulatory approval, we will start commercialization, which is supposed to be in . Canada has also expected to be during the first semester of next year as well as Vietnam. So this is the plan.

Anthony Vendetti: Okay. So everything’s on schedule.

Eyal Shamir: Yes.

Anthony Vendetti: Okay, great. All right. Thank you so much. I’ll hop back in the queue.

Eyal Shamir: Thank you.

Operator: The next question is from Kemp Dolliver of Brookline Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Kemp Dolliver: Thank you, and good day. I have a couple of questions for Dr. Bednarski, mainly related to her practice. So how many breast cancer cases do you see annually? And how does the demographics of your patient population square with the data that is in the press release and has been talked about with regard to percentage that are low risk cases versus high risk cases as a starting point?

Hania Bednarski: Yes. So I will mention — thank you for the question. I will mention that I have recently had a change in my practice. So I was hospital employed earlier in the year and recently came back in the private practice. And as an aside, I’ve been doing cryoablation both in hospital employment and in private practice. So my practice has changed a bit, so my numbers have dropped a little. And I would say that right now, I’m averaging probably about 120 new cancers a year. In the past, I’ve averaged about 200 to 250 breast cancers per year. So numbers have dropped a little bit, especially with the change in my practice with going to all cash based practice. That said, I feel that my patient population percentages really do follow the general population.

So there’s really no difference there. And I would say that about 60% to 65% of my patients are Stage 1 Luminal A cancers, which is in line with the general population. So I think that’s of the patients that I see, about 60% to 65% very easily fit into the criteria for cryoablation procedures.

Kemp Dolliver: Great. Thank you. And you mentioned earlier that roughly 10% of your patients just want the lumpectomy. And I’m curious, is there — do you notice any demographic patterns here? For instance, I’m wondering if these are older patients who are just — they’re emotionally tied to lumpectomy versus younger patients who may be more open to trying something new.

Hania Bednarski: No, interestingly, I would tell you that there’s really no demographic difference. I’ve seen both respond very similarly and very differently all at the same time. So I would not say that there’s a specific demographic that fit into that type of assessment. Although I will say that not that we can really call a certain demographic on this, but those patients that are much more anxious are the ones that will want that tumor out. The ones that no matter what you tell them, even when I tell them breast cancer is not an emergency and we have time to put our thoughts together and get all of our steps in a row and all of that good stuff, the reality is that, there are some patients that they hear the word cancer and it’s automatically it’s such an emotional emergency that it becomes a medical emergency. And they really just want that tumor out.

Kemp Dolliver: Got it. Thank you. And what improvements would you like to see in either the console or the probes?

Hania Bednarski: Yes, I think that the only improvement that I would love to see at this point is the hose that connects the probe to the console is a little bulky and difficult to maneuver. So I would say that that’s probably it. The handheld probe fits very nicely in my hand. I have a, I guess, a mid to large hand for a woman, but it’s really very easy to use. It’s not heavy, it’s easy to maneuver, but that hose if we could make it a little bit more pliable, I think that that would be my only concern. The footprint of the machine, the footprint of the console is nice.­ It’s — I think from my practice, it works just fine. I don’t know if there’s a possibility to make the console smaller to have a smaller footprint. But honestly, I think that it works just as it is.

Kemp Dolliver: Great. Thank you. And one last question and that is how did you finance the acquisition of the system? Because there are presumably numerous options out there with regard to how you structure the transaction?

Hania Bednarski: Correct. So I’m currently leasing the unit and I am purchasing the disposables. And that’s working out very well.

Kemp Dolliver: Great. Thank you for your answers.

Hania Bednarski: Thank you.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. There is a follow-up question from Ben Haynor of Alliance Global Partners. Please go ahead.