SAN DIEGO, March 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telesis Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: TBIO), a
leading provider of RNA and DNA solutions enabling researchers to accelerate
therapeutic discovery through advanced, flexible, and rapid automated synthesis
in their own lab, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and
year ended December 31, 2023. Results highlight strong BioXp® kit sales,
expanding gross margin and reduced operating expense.
In discussing the results, Todd R. Nelson Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Telesis Bio
said, "I'm pleased with our operating execution in a challenging macro
environment during 2023. Our company experienced record BioXp kits sales and
expanding gross margin against the backdrop of significant cost cutting
initiatives undertaken to align our operating structure with our strategic
vision for growth. We believe that our rapid and flexible mRNA synthesis kits
are game-changing and unlock tremendous value by providing customers control
over their screening and discovery on timelines that were not possible
previously."
Highlights
* BioXp® kit revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 exceeded $1.0 million, the

    highest level in the history of the Company, an increase of 59.6% from the
    prior quarter and 25.9% compared to the same quarter in 2022. This increase
    was driven by rapid adoption of highly differentiated mRNA workflows, which
    grew at more than 300% compared to the same quarter in 2022. For the full
    2023 fiscal year, BioXp kit sales increased 10% compared to the prior year.
  * Total consolidated revenue for 2023 was $27.5 million, up slightly from
    $27.4 million achieved in 2022. Total revenue, excluding BioXp instrument

sales and discontinued BioFoundry Services operations, was $20.9 million for the full-year period, an increase of 12.4% compared to $18.6 million for the

    same categories in the prior year.
  * Collaboration revenue for the year, driven in part by the successful
    achievement of several key technology milestones, was $8.7 million, an
    increase of 30.7% above the prior year's collaboration revenue of $6.7
    million.
  * Industry-wide acceptance of mRNA technology has driven the Company's launch
    of BioXp mRNA de novo synthesis kits and rapid cell-free RNA synthesis
    solutions. These products enable customers to accelerate cell and gene
    therapy, vaccine and antibody discovery, and state of the art development
    workflows. The Company anticipates that use of RNA in drug discovery
    workflows will continue to grow, and it intends to prioritize continuing
    development of the capabilities of its highly differentiated BioXp and SOLA
    platforms to these workflows.
  * In 2023, the Company undertook cost reduction activities to achieve
    significant reductions to its overall cost structure. For full-year 2023,
    exclusive of non-cash goodwill impairment, operating expense was $52.1
    million, a reduction of 16.1% from the prior year's operating expense level
    of $62.1 million. For the fourth quarter of 2023, exclusive of non-cash
    goodwill impairment, operating expense was $10.8 million, a reduction of
    24.4% from the prior year's fourth quarter level of $14.3 million. Some of
    these cost reductions were completed late in the year and are not fully
    reflected in results for the fourth quarter of 2023. Such reductions are
    expected to result in favorable reductions to operating expense in 2024.

* During 2023 the Company's program to insource supply of oligos was completed and internal production now has the capacity to supply at least 70% of the
Company's ongoing oligo needs. Further, the Company has completed efforts to

    insource instrument manufacturing. Both efforts are expected to favorably
    impact gross margin and product quality in 2024.

* In other recent highlights, the Company continues to pursue activities under its strategic research collaboration and license agreement with Pfizer. This

    program is based upon Telesis' proprietary SOLA platform which utilizes
    enzymatic DNA synthesis technology for potential application by Pfizer in
    mRNA-based vaccines and other biopharma products.

Summary of Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results
Revenue of $7.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2023 was down compared to $9.5
million for the same period in the prior year due to continued capital spending
weakness gripping the entire industry and the resulting mix-shift toward lower-
priced BioXp 3250 instruments. Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023 was
$27.5 million, compared to $27.4 million for the prior year. The increase of
$0.1 million was driven by an increase in collaboration and royalty revenue of
$2.1 million, offset by a decrease in product and service revenue of $2.0
million.
Gross margin at 68.1% for the fourth quarter of 2023 was flat from 68.1% for the
same period in the prior year. On an annual basis, gross margin was 61.6% and
56.8% for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. This
increase was driven by improving product mix, an increase in high margin
collaboration revenue, and early contribution from oligo insourcing which
achieved production status in the fourth quarter and demonstrated the capacity
to internally fulfill more than 70% of the Company's oligo supply needs.
Exclusive of a $11.4 million fourth quarter 2023 non-cash charge for goodwill
impairment, total operating expense for the quarter was $10.8 million, a $3.5
million or 24.4% reduction from the fourth quarter of 2022. A restructuring
program in the fourth quarter of 2023 largely resulted in the year-over-year
reduction in operating expense. This restructuring saw consolidated Telesis
headcount fall from an October month-end level of 190 employees to 138 employees
by the end of the year. For the full year 2023, exclusive of non-cash goodwill
impairment, operating expense was $52.1 million compared to $62.1 million in the
prior year. All categories contributed to the year-over-year reduction of $10.0
million or 16.1%.
During the fourth quarter of 2023 the Company recorded a goodwill impairment
charge of $11.4 million. As of December 31, 2023, this charge reduced the
carrying amount of goodwill to $3.5 million. For the year ended December
31, 2022, the Company did not record any impairment of goodwill.
Net loss was $18.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to a loss of
$8.1 million in the same period in the prior year. Net loss per share was $0.61
for the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to $0.28 for the corresponding prior
year period. For the year ended December 31, net loss was $49.0 million in 2023
compared to $48.5 million for the same period in the prior year. Per share net
loss results were $1.64 and $1.65 in 2023 and 2022, respectfully.
As of December 31, 2023, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and
investments were $19.3 million, and long-term notes payable was $5.3 million. In
November 2023, the Company repaid $15.0 million under its 2022 Term Loan
Agreement.
The Company will not be issuing additional forward-looking guidance at this
time.
About Telesis Bio
Telesis Bio is empowering scientists with the ability to create novel, synthetic
biology-enabled solutions for many of humanity's greatest challenges. As
inventors of the industry-standard Gibson Assembly® method and the first
commercial automated benchtop DNA and mRNA synthesis system, Telesis Bio is
enabling rapid, accurate and reproducible writing of DNA and mRNA for numerous
downstream markets. The award-winning BioXp® system consolidates, automates, and
optimizes the entire synthesis, cloning and amplification workflow. As a result,
it delivers virtually error-free synthesis of DNA and RNA at scale within days
and hours instead of weeks or months. Scientists around the world are using the
technology in their own laboratories to accelerate the design-build-test
paradigm for novel, high-value products for precision medicine, biologics drug
discovery, vaccine and therapeutic development, genome editing, and cell and
gene therapy. Telesis Bio is a public company based in San Diego. For more
information, visit www.telesisbio.com. Telesis Bio, the Telesis Bio logo, Gibson
Assembly, and BioXp are trademarks of Telesis Bio Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other
than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking
statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These statements include statements and guidance regarding
Telesis Bio's future financial performance as well as statements regarding the
future release and success of new and existing products and services. Such
statements are based on current assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from current
expectations. These risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our
control, include risks described in the section entitled Risk Factors and
elsewhere in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K which was filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date of this release, March
28, 2024. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and
should not be unduly relied upon. Telesis Bio disclaims any obligation to update
these forward-looking statements.
Contact:
William J. Kullback
Chief Financial Officer
bill.kullback@telesisbio.com
Telesis Bio Inc.
Selected Statements of Operations Financial Data
(in thousands, except per share amounts)

                             (unaudited)
                         Three Months Ended               Twelve Months Ended
                            December 31,                      December 31,
                   -------------------------------   -------------------------------
                        2023             2022             2023             2022
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Revenue:

 Product sales      $      1,585     $      3,482     $      9,691     $     10,913
 Service revenue           1,438            1,609            6,291            7,121

Collaboration
revenue 3,304 3,463 8,690 6,650
Royalties and

 other revenue               650              915            2,837            2,751
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------
 Total revenue             6,977            9,469           27,509           27,435
 Cost of revenue           2,228            3,023           10,559           11,840
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------
 Gross Profit              4,749            6,446           16,950           15,595

Operating
expenses:
Research and
development 3,669 4,139 17,496 23,460
Sales and
marketing 3,604 4,681 13,514 16,489
General and
administrative 3,568 5,510 21,090 22,131
Goodwill

 impairment               11,389                -           11,389                -
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Total operating

 expenses                 22,230           14,330           63,489           62,080
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Loss from

 operations              (17,481 )         (7,884 )        (46,539 )        (46,485 )
 Interest income             417              348            1,743              738
 Interest expense           (514 )           (611 )         (3,105 )         (1,955 )

Change in fair
value of
derivative
liabilities 5 29 331 8
Loss on
extinguishment of

 debt                          -                -                -             (727 )
 Other expense, net         (111 )             (8 )           (130 )            (26 )

Provision for

 income taxes                 (3 )             (6 )            (24 )            (24 )
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------
 Net loss           $    (17,687 )   $     (8,132 )   $    (47,724 )   $    (48,471 )
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Less: redeemable
convertible
preferred stock

 dividends                  (579 )              -           (1,300 )              -
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Net loss
attributable to
common

 stockholders       $    (18,266 )   $     (8,132 )   $    (49,024 )   $    (48,471 )
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Net loss per share
attributable to
common
stockholders-basic

 and diluted        $      (0.61 )   $      (0.28 )   $      (1.64 )   $      (1.65 )
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Weighted average
common stock
outstanding-basic

 and diluted          30,010,395       29,564,157       29,849,832       29,463,361
                   --------------   --------------   --------------   --------------

Telesis Bio Inc.
Selected Balance Sheet Financial Data
(in thousands)

                                                     December       December
                                                       31,            31,
                                                       2023           2022
                                                   ------------   ------------

Balance Sheet Data:
Cash, restricted cash, cash equivalents and short-

 term investments                                   $   19,333     $   43,753
 Working capital                                        22,167         41,594
 Total assets                                           70,411         81,362
 Total liabilities                                      40,873         34,797
 Redeemable convertible preferred stock                 29,300              -
 Accumulated deficit                                  (161,465 )     (113,741 )
 Total stockholders' equity                                238         46,565

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