NeurAxis, Inc. (NASDAQ:NRXS) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Tim Henrichs: Thank you, Brian. I’m excited to be on board and let me add my welcome to everyone joining us on this call. These financial results, which are currently unaudited, were included within our press release, which was issued earlier and will be provided in detail within our 10-K that will be filed. I will aim to add some color on key areas of the financial results, as well as an outlook on certain areas where I can. At a high level, 2023 was a transition year for us. The company laid the foundation that will allow us to accelerate on the commercialization of this amazing technology. We were able to complete the remainder of the 14 studies which showed the medical community the true effectiveness of our technology and laid the foundation for the insurance coverage that we are achieving.

We also were able to take the company public to help fund our growth strategy. While achieving these milestones was expensive and time consuming, these steps lay the foundation that will allow us to accelerate revenues in the coming years as we gain insurance coverage and market awareness. Most importantly, we continue to make strides toward profitability with these investments behind us. Our net loss in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $5.3 million, primarily due to a $3.7 million charge for the extinguishment of debt. Our operating loss of $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 improved sequentially from a $3 million operating loss in the third quarter of 2023. Given our current cost structure, our goal as a company to reach profitability [as a] (ph) function of our sales volume, given our strong growth margins.

Our recent successes in obtaining substantially more insurance coverage since December keeps us on that path. And finally, we have strengthened our liquidity position heading into 2024 as we have secured $6.1 million in financial commitments since December via strong long-term investors who know the MedTech space well. With that, I’ll go into the financial highlights in detail. Revenues for fiscal year 2023 of $2.5 million were down 8.4% from $2.7 million in fiscal year 2022, while the company was focused on its clinical results. The change was primarily due to fewer shipments to certain customers as they manage through the insurance reimbursement process to insurance policy coverage. New customers and total patients coming to NeurAxis has increased, but they have come to our financial assistance programs due to a lack of written insurance policy coverage, therefore paying a discount price and lowering our ASP and revenues.

As we mentioned before, we are highly focused on expanding our insurance coverage. While we have made great strides in recent months in gaining coverage, note that there is a lag until accounts begin ordering the product while they get their coding and billing in order. As such, we expect growth in late 2024 and into 2025. 2023 fourth quarter revenues were $531.5 thousand compared to $613.1 thousand for the same period in 2022. While revenue was down in the quarter compared to last year, we had more accounts ordering from us and we had more patients coming to us via our GPS patient assistance program. And Brian mentioned earlier what those numbers turn into with policy coverage. We continue to have very strong gross margins. Gross margin for fiscal year 2023 was 87.7% compared to 88.9% in fiscal year 2022.

The change in gross margin was primarily due to growth in our financial assistance programs that provide discounts to patients without insurance coverage. Gross profit margin in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 86.4% compared to 87.7% for the same period in 2022. Selling expenses for fiscal year 2023 were $323.6 thousand, a decrease of 21.3% compared to $410.9 thousand for fiscal year 2022. The decrease is primarily due to lower commissions with the commission rate being lowered at the beginning of 2023. Selling expenses for the fourth quarter were $72.6 thousand, an increase of 10.1% compared to $66.0 thousand for the fourth quarter of 2022. Research and development costs for fiscal year 2023 were $169.3 thousand, a decrease of 25% compared to $225.6 thousand for fiscal year 2022.

The decrease is primarily due to the initiation, payment and expense of more patient trials. In fiscal year 2022, as the company prepared for more FDA submissions, the trials continued into fiscal year 2023. General and administrative costs for fiscal year 2023 were $8.3 million, an increase of 62.6% compared to $5.1 million for full year 2022. Increased costs were due primarily to increased headcount to build out our market access and patient assistance teams, including recruiting costs and the incremental costs of becoming a publicly held company in the latter half of the year, including but not limited to, higher insurance, investor relations and Board of Director costs post IPO and one-time advisory costs. G&A costs for the fourth quarter of 2023 were $2.0 million, an increase of 46.1% compared to $1.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2022.

The increase was primarily driven due to increased headcount and professional services tied to market access and a higher cost structure from becoming a publicly held company including insurance and Board seats. The company’s net loss in fiscal year 2023 was $14.6 million versus $4.8 million in fiscal year 2022, primarily due to higher G&A, the full amortization of the debt discount, and a $3.6 million loss on the extinguishment of debt. The net loss in the fourth quarter of $5.3 million was primarily driven by the $3.7 million debt extinguishment charge and higher G&A costs from headcount advertising, new public company costs, and professional fees as we gain market access. Cash on hand at December 31, 2023 was $78.6 thousand. Cash used by operations of $6.7 million was substantially less than our net loss of $14.6 million, primarily due to the $4.9 million non-cash debt discount charge and the $3.6 million non-cash debt extinguishment charge.