Rockwell Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMTI) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

As you can tell, we’ve already made improvements. I think we’ve reported 3% for the first half of ’22 to 10% in the first half of ’23. We think there’s more room to go and we’re going to continue to drive our business to access that.

Dipesh Patel: Great. And then just several questions on TRIFERIC it sounded like you said you were going to deprioritize if and when this is applicable, when do you expect to finalize a revamped clinical development path for TRIFERIC and at what point would you consider it most advisable for the company to deploy substantive resources into developing TRIFERIC in the US as a prescription product and how large do you think that market opportunity is?

Mark Strobeck: So shortly after I joined the company, we took the determination to deprioritize the existing commercial product in the US and allow the existing international partnerships around TRIFERIC to continue to progress. As I mentioned, none of the — none of our guidance or our future financial success is really based off of those international partnerships. They required no additional resource really from us. So in a sense, they were — an opportunity to see whether we could secure any additional value off of TRIFERIC. I think what we’re seeing is that, that opportunity continues to be somewhat limited. And therefore the strategic choice that we made over a year ago to essentially deprioritize TRIFERIC, I think, is sort of proving out.

On the FPC platform, which is the basis of TRIFERIC, which we still have access to and could potentially develop further into some of the indications and markets that we’ve discussed previously. We’ve really put that on the shelf for now until we have the ability to generate positive cash flow for the company so that we can use that to potentially reinvest into that program. That’s the strategy that we’ve employed. And I think now that we’re moving towards profitability in a more accelerated fashion. We may have the opportunity to begin to evaluate that sooner. I similarly think because we are very active in the business development marketplace that there may be opportunities that we will identify that could be potentially equally or more attractive than investing further in that particular technology.

And so we’ll need to evaluate those. But the way we look at it is we need to get to profitability first to provide us the foundation that will allow us to grow significantly bigger.

Dipesh Patel: Okay. And then finally I have to ask this one. What milestones could be achieved, do you think in the next 12 to 18 months with TRIFERIC outside the US via Rockwell partners? And would any of those trigger sizable payments to Rockwell?

Mark Strobeck: Yes. So over the next 12 months, our commercial partner in Korea is going to continue to commercialize that product. That relationship carries with it royalties based on sales. So I think that could be a — we will continue to see how that product develops. In addition, our partner Drogsan in Turkey is in the process of seeking to register TRIFERIC in Turkey. If it is successful in doing that, there is royalties based on sales associated with that program. And at this point, all of the other partners that we have established effectively, the programs are on hold or are no longer being pursued. So those are the opportunities that, that we have going forward with respect to TRIFERIC. But as I said, I mean, as much as those offer potential lottery tickets for the company, the core business is where we are focused and where we believe we’ll deliver profitability and will give us the platform to allow ourselves to expand even further.

So if those opportunities deliver value, fantastic. But at the end of the day, they’re not critical for us to be successful at Rockwell and for us to continue to grow this business well beyond where we’ve been.

Dipesh Patel: Great. Certainly, I appreciate the details, Mark. Thank you so much.

Mark Strobeck: Thanks.