NASDAQ:LENZ LENZ Therapeutics Q3 2026 Earnings Results & Report $3.49 +0.28 (+8.72%) Closing price 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$3.16 -0.33 (-9.31%) As of 07:01 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Massive. Learn more. LENZ Therapeutics missed analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue in its Q3 2026 results, released October 28, 2026. The company reported EPS of -$0.99 versus the -$0.8932 consensus estimate, while revenue of $3.38 million fell short of the $4.20 million estimate by $817.00 thousand. Research:ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast Earnings Announcement Details QuarterQ3 2026Report DateOctober 28, 2026TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateOctober 29, 2026Conference Call8:30 AM ET LENZ Therapeutics EPS ResultsActual EPS-$0.99Consensus EPS -$0.8932Beat/MissMissed by -$0.0968One Year Ago EPSN/AEPS Beat Rate4 of last 8 quartersLENZ Therapeutics Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$3.38 millionExpected Revenue$4.20 millionBeat/MissMissed by -$817.00 thousandYoY Revenue GrowthN/AUpcoming EarningsLENZ Therapeutics' Q4 2026 earnings is estimated for Thursday, October 29, 2026, based on past reporting schedulesConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by LENZ Therapeutics Q3 2026 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrOctober 29, 2026ShareShareShare This ReportLink copied to clipboard.Key Takeaways Positive Sentiment: VIZZ product revenue and prescriptions each grew more than 50% sequentially in Q3, reaching $2.6 million in product revenue and more than 38,000 paid prescriptions. Telehealth contributed over half of incremental prescriptions, while gross-to-net remained strong at approximately 93%. Positive Sentiment: LENZ is shifting to a consumer-led commercial model, supported by national television, digital advertising, telehealth, and pharmacy access. Management said VIZZ awareness exceeds 90% among eye-care professionals, with more than 15,000 prescribing ECPs and 94% U.S. market share based on Symphony data. Positive Sentiment: The reorganization is expected to reduce the workforce to approximately 40 employees and cut annual operating expenses by more than 50%, with targeted 2027 operating expenses of $70 million-$75 million. More than 70% of projected spending will be directed toward consumer-focused sales and marketing. Negative Sentiment: CEO Afschin Skjalm Paddock will step down effective December 1, 2026, with CFO Dan Chevallard becoming interim CEO while the board conducts a permanent search. LENZ expects approximately $5 million in one-time restructuring charges in Q4, and reported a Q3 net loss of $31 million, or $0.99 per share. Neutral Sentiment: LENZ ended Q3 with approximately $197.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and reported 11 ex-U.S. regulatory submissions under review. Management did not provide cash runway or revenue guidance. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallLENZ Therapeutics Q3 202600:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xTranscript SectionsPresentationParticipantsPresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the LENZ Therapeutics third quarter 2026 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following prepared remarks from management with accompanying slides, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Dan Chevallard, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:00:33Thank you, Tina. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. My name is Dan Chevallard, Chief Financial Officer of LENZ Therapeutics. We are joined today by Eef Schimmelpennink, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Shawn Olsson, our Chief Commercial Officer, and Dr. Marc Odrich, our Chief Medical Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call will contain forward-looking statements regarding LENZ's future expectations, plans, prospects, corporate strategy, regulatory and commercial plans and expectations, cash runway projections, and performance. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors and risks, including those discussed in our filings with the SEC, and which can also be found on our website. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:01:23In addition, any forward-looking statements represent only our views as of the date of this webcast and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligations to update such statements. The company encourages you to consult the risk factors contained in our SEC filings for additional detail. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Eef. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:01:47Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone. Today's results mark an important step forward for LENZ and VIZZ. In the third quarter, we saw more than 50% growth in both product revenue and total prescriptions, with strong momentum continuing into the fourth quarter. On October 1st, we marked the one-year anniversary of the VIZZ launch. Over the past year, we've built important foundations, gained valuable insights into what drives adoptions, and importantly, drove encouraging momentum from our consumer-focused initiatives. This last quarter, we continued to see that consumer demand generation is a key driver of growth. Expanding our Tired of Reading Glasses to national TV enabled us to reach a broader group of consumers with a clear message around an alternative to reading glasses. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:02:37Our newly established telehealth channel also gives interested consumers a convenient path to evaluation by an independent licensed eye care professional and, when appropriate, a prescription with home delivery. Together, these initiatives have helped establish a more seamless path from awareness to evaluation, treatment, and continued use. As I mentioned, the results were more than 50% growth in product revenue and total prescriptions in the third quarter, with strong momentum carrying into the early weeks of Q4. We have built a strong foundation with eye care professionals. VIZZ awareness now exceeds 90%, with more than 15,000 prescribing ECPs. At the same time, our launch experience has shown that physician awareness alone is not sufficient to drive adoption at the pace we want. The strongest growth response has come when consumer demand generation is paired with convenient access. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:03:41All of this is giving us greater clarity on the commercial model best positioned to support durable growth in this category. Based on what we have learned, we announced a strategic reorganization designed to align LENZ with this consumer-led commercial model. Going forward, consumer marketing will be the emphasis of our U.S. commercial strategy, with a much smaller and more focused sales and medical team maintaining important KOL, ECP, and trade relationships. This is an evolution of our launch strategy, not a change in our commitment to LENZ. The reorganization concentrates our people and capital on the activities that are demonstrating the clearest connection to patient acquisition and sales growth. It also creates a more efficient structure for the business we are building. As part of this transition, we expect our organization to move to approximately 40 employees, and we expect overall operating expense to decrease by more than 50%. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:04:47We are targeting 2027 operating expenses of approximately $70 million-$75 million, with more than 70% of our projected spend allocated to our consumer-driven sales and marketing strategy. We strongly believe this focused model gives VIZZ the opportunity to reach more patients, expanding this emerging category and building a durable business. With that, I will hand it over to Shawn, who will provide more detail on our commercial execution. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:05:17Thank you, Eef. As mentioned, we are one year into launch and have had measurable progress in three key areas: eye care professionals, consumers, and access. With ECPs, we have driven awareness of VIZZ to above 90%, achieved more than 15,000 prescribing ECPs, and over 75% of them have prescribed more than once. With consumers, we've launched our national campaign and have continued to optimize ad placement to support VIZZ's continued growth. On access, VIZZ is operating well and growing in all channels. VIZZ is now available through retail pharmacies, the ePharmacy, and since July, telehealth, giving patients several ways to access VIZZ. This broader campaign and the additional telehealth channel have been the key drivers of the 50% quarter-over-quarter TRx growth in Q3. Impressively, we have done that with Q3 working media spend broadly in line with Q2. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:06:20Looking at the performance of VIZZ, the presbyopia eye drop category is still in its infancy. We are focused on growing this market, and it is clear that VIZZ is the leader in this developing category. Since approval and launch through Q3, we have distributed more than 4 million vials, including samples and commercial products, and sold approximately 110,000 packs. This makes VIZZ the number one selling presbyopia eye drop in the U.S. since its approval. Furthermore, based on the 2026 TRx data from Symphony, VIZZ has 94% market share in the U.S. Building a new category takes time and therefore a disciplined allocation of commercial resources. The more than 50% growth in Q3 showed us what the consumer campaign can do, and that is where we will concentrate our efforts. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:07:14Consumer marketing will take the lead in our commercial strategy and receive a larger share of our commercial investment, including continued national television and digital advertising on the channels that deliver the strongest return. As we look towards our year two commercial focus for ECPs, our foundational awareness of VIZZ is built, and we are moving from one-on-one detailing to broad ECP engagement through marketing, supported by a small team focused on key opinion leaders, speakers, national and state level support. This keeps VIZZ top of mind in the eye care community while allowing us to direct more resources towards consumer demand, which will be our primary focus. We believe this is the right commercial model for durable growth. With that, I will turn the call back over to Eef. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:08:05Thank you, Shawn. Before handing the call over to Dan to discuss our financial results and outlook, I also want to address the leadership transition we announced. After nearly six years leading LENZ and more than 25 years in biotech, I have decided to transition from my role as President and CEO, effective December 1st, 2026, to be able to devote more time to other passions. This is a deeply personal decision, and it comes at a point when I feel confident in the direction of the company. We have built an important foundation for VIZZ, and we have greater clarity on the commercial model ahead, and we are aligning the organization around the opportunity in front of us. Dan and I will work closely together through December 1st to implement the reorganization, ensure continuity, and position him for success as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:09:01I have full confidence in Dan's ability to lead LENZ through its next phase. He knows the business inside out and has been closely involved in building the foundation for our commercial growth. Together with Shawn, Marc, and the full leadership team, he is well prepared to lead LENZ through its next phase, and I look forward to continuing to support him, the team, and the board as a strategic advisor. I am very grateful to the LENZ team, our past and present employees, and our board of directors for their support throughout this journey. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, encouraged by the momentum we are seeing, and confident in LENZ's future. With that, I would like to hand the call over to Dan. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:09:46Thank you, Eef. I would like to start by saying thank you for all of your contributions to LENZ, and I look forward to your continued guidance as we work through your transition. Your leadership has left a lasting mark on LENZ, on me, and the team we have built together. I am humbled by the confidence placed in me by Eef and the board of directors to step into this role. I am encouraged by our momentum. Our priorities are clear, and we are focused on executing in this next phase at LENZ. As both Eef and Shawn have discussed, early results from the July launch of telehealth and our nationwide TV advertising campaign have been encouraging, as evidenced by a sequential increase of over 50% in product revenue in Q3 over Q2, with meaningful script growth observed across distribution channels. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:10:36Impressively, our telehealth channel contributed more than 50% of the incremental scripts this quarter. Reflecting on Q3, we recorded total product revenues of $2.6 million, driven by over 38,000 paid scripts, representing a 50% and 51% sequential increase over Q2, respectively, and maintaining our consistently strong gross to net ratio of approximately 93%. In addition, we recorded $800,000 in license revenue related to the recognition of a portion of the upfront payment received from our commercialization agreement with Arrotex Pharmaceuticals signed in late Q2. I will provide a further update on our global commercialization efforts for VIZZ in a moment. Turning now to operating expenses, our cost of sales on third quarter product revenue totaled $0.5 million, and we continue to anticipate VIZZ to trend to an approximately 90% product gross margin over time. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:11:35Total SG&A decreased to $35.8 million in Q3, or approximately $31.5 million, adjusted to exclude non-cash stock-based compensation and an additional $0.3 million in one-time non-cash charge. This was a 10% quarter-over-quarter decline from Q2, which was in line with our expectations. Total research and development expenses remained zero in the third quarter, consistent with recent periods. Our Q3 net loss per share, both basic and diluted, was $0.99 per share in the quarter on a net loss of $31 million, and we ended the third quarter with approximately $197.3 million in cash equivalents, and marketable securities. As Eef discussed today, we announced a strategic consumer marketing-focused reorganization that is announced to concentrate our resources on the initiatives we believe have the greatest potential to drive durable patient growth, significantly lower our cost structure, and increase capital efficiency. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:12:38We anticipate completing substantially all activities related to the reorganization in the fourth quarter with an estimated $5 million in one-time net restructuring charges. As we look ahead, we expect our annual operating expenses will reduce by over 50%, and are targeting 2027 operating expenses in the range of $70 million-$75 million, with over 70% of our forward spend allocated to our consumer-driven marketing strategy highlighted today. As I have in prior quarters, I wanted to take a moment to provide an update on our global licensing and commercialization efforts. We continue to see VIZZ as a global product, and with a worldwide population of over 1.8 billion adults with presbyopia, we believe the opportunity to expand our commercial footprint is an important and promising one. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:13:32In Q3, we continued to advance our regulatory efforts with our commercial partners and now have 11 regulatory submissions under review and anticipate multiple additional submissions and potential ex-U.S. regulatory approvals in the months and quarters ahead. We remain focused on further expanding our global network in additional strategic geographies, and as I mentioned, we will maintain that effort as a strategic priority as we advance from here. With that, I will turn the call back over to Eef. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:14:02Thanks, Dan. To close, I want to thank the entire LENZ team for the commitment and dedication you have shown in bringing VIZZ from development through approval onto the U.S. market. We are very encouraged by the momentum we are seeing. We have a clearer and more focused commercial strategy, and we are taking decisive steps to build a more efficient and durable business. I believe in the opportunity ahead for VIZZ and in LENZ's ability to execute against it. With that, we would like to open up the call for questions. Operator00:14:38To ask a question, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star one to ask a question. Our first question comes from the line of Stacy Ku with TD Cowen. Please go ahead. Stacy KuAnalyst at TD Cowen00:14:54Hi. Thanks so much for taking our questions. Eef, it is good to see you go, and Dan, nice to see you step in. First on telehealth, where do you see the contribution going for VIZZ prescriptions? With strategic changes, there can sometimes be some growing pains. Do you expect to see continued prescription growth in the next few months? What gives you confidence in VIZZ's trajectory looking further out over the next few years? Then second, if you look at the prescription trajectory, maybe through Symphony, can you talk about how closely aligned the prescriptions have been correlating to your DTC strategy? Thanks so much. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:15:39Hi, Stacy. This is Shawn. Thanks for the question. Looking at the telehealth channel, what we're seeing is of the growth, telehealth is contributing the most to the recent growth in Q3. As we look forward, we continue to see that this will be a meaningful channel for us. What we are also very proud of is with our television campaigns and our advertising campaigns, we're seeing growth on all channels. All channels remain meaningful to us and all channels we saw growing in this quarter. What gives us continued confidence is as we look at the early KPIs, visitors to the websites, data going into this month, we continue to see that growth, and that gives us confidence in business continued growth going forward. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:16:30In terms of the Symphony data, we still believe the Symphony data is more accurate than the IQVIA data, and that's why we reference the Symphony data in this call. It continues to be a consistent amount off. It's hard for us to speculate if that will change going forward, but what we've seen so far is it continued to have about a 70% accuracy. Stacy KuAnalyst at TD Cowen00:16:53Thank you so much. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:16:55Thank you, Stacy. Operator00:16:57Our next question comes from the line of Marc Goodman with Leerink Partners. Please go ahead. Analyst at Leerink Partners00:17:05Hi. Good morning, everyone. This is Alyssa in for Marc. Now that the telehealth channel has been active for several months now, could you share what proportion of patients have required a live appointment versus completing the asynchronous ECP review? Secondly, could you provide any color on the characteristics or profiles of these early adopters? Thank you. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:17:30Hi, Alyssa. This is Shawn. Thanks for your question. When we look at the telehealth channel, the way the telehealth channel is structured is, first of all, to get into the telehealth channel, it starts by going through a screener. The screener filters out any high-risk patients to make sure that only patients that are appropriate continue on to that doctor evaluation. That doctor evaluation, it can be, as you said, both asynchronous or synchronous. Asynchronous being done at two separate times, synchronous being a call or a video face-to-face. The vast majority are done asynchronous. What we are happy to see is not only is telehealth working from providing new scripts, but it is also screening out appropriate new patients. We do see people screened out both in the screener phase as well as after the screener phase, when it moves on to the doctor evaluation. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:18:28I think you had a second question. What was the second question? Analyst at Leerink Partners00:18:32Oh, just any detail on the demographics or patient characteristics from this early wave of adopters. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:18:40Yeah, great question. What's nice about our ePharmacy channel, our telehealth channel, we can see that demographic data of the patients. What we see is the telehealth patient is very similar to the other patients that are using the product. In the telehealth channel, the split is roughly 50/50 male, female. It does skew slightly more towards the younger end of presbyopia, in that 45-55 range. But ultimately it is a very similar patient to what we're seeing in the other channels. Analyst at Leerink Partners00:19:13Thank you very much. Operator00:19:16Your next question comes from the line of Yigal Nochomovitz with Citi. Please go ahead. Analyst at Citi00:19:24Hi, this is Caroline on for Yigal. Thanks for taking our question. Can you tell us more about the sales cycle through telehealth? Specifically, do you have data that tracks when a consumer moves from seeing a digital or TV ad to engaging with the telehealth platform and ultimately filling a prescription? How does that compare with the traditional in-office pathway? Thanks. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:19:44Yeah. Hi, Caroline, this is Shawn again. Thanks for the question. What's great about the telehealth channel is we see a lot more data. What I can tell you is when we first ran our pilot TV campaign in select markets, when we first launched that, we didn't have the telehealth channel open yet. Typically, when we ran in those select markets, it was a four- to six-week cycle until we saw the lift from running the TV campaigns, till that patient went into the eye care office. Here, now that we have the telehealth open, we can see when TV is on and when TV is off, and a direct impact and correlation to scripts moving through the telehealth channel. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:20:31With the telehealth channel now open, that correlation from advertising and time to visit is within a couple of days compared to multiple weeks prior to the telehealth channel. That's what we're seeing, and that gives us, again, positivity in our advertising. It also allows us to very easily monitor where advertising is working and where it's not to correlate advertising back to that patient. Analyst at Citi00:20:59Great. Thank you. If I may, are your ex-U.S. partners taking notes from the U.S. launch in terms of deploying a sales force or not and leveraging DTC campaigns? Thanks. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:21:12Yeah, good question. This is Dan. I think we're definitely making sure that we're in constant communication with our commercial partnerships around the world. To the extent that they can leverage our learnings for their commercial strategy, that's always going to be a positive. Important, though, also to remember that the U.S. market and ex-U.S. markets are not the same. We always characterize our learnings in the U.S. as U.S.-centric, and hopefully the goal will be for them to leverage those for their specific markets. Analyst at Citi00:21:42Thanks. Operator00:21:45Your next question comes from the line of Lachlan Hanbury-Brown with William Blair. Please go ahead. Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:21:53Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I was wondering maybe you could talk more about the growth you're seeing outside the telehealth channel. Is that concentrated among certain prescribers? I know you don't have as much data there, but what kind of trends are you seeing there? Secondly, can you just talk to your confidence level that you don't need as much of a field team anymore? I get that it looks like the telehealth and the advertising are really driving things, but what gives you confidence that taking the field rep or the reps out of the field is not going to impact the growth trajectory moving forward? Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:22:30Hi, Lachlan. This is Shawn. Great questions. I think I heard the first question correctly, but just want to make sure. I think it was about the prescriber base in telehealth. Was that the first question? Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:22:42It was about outside of telehealth. We've talked about the nice uptick you're seeing in telehealth, but wondering if that's accounting for about 50% of growth. Obviously, you're seeing growth outside of telehealth as well. I'm wondering if you can talk about what you're seeing there in terms of the breadth and depth of prescribers and where that growth is coming from. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:23:02Got it. Thanks, Lachlan. We're very pleased that we now have over 15,000 prescribing ECPs. What we've seen since we've turned on our national TV campaign, one, we're seeing consistency in the prescribers with 75% now prescribing multiple times. But what we're also seeing in growth outside of telehealth is the broad excitement for an eye drop for presbyopia. These new prescribers, a lot of them are not targets. What we're seeing is we're driving consumers into eye care professionals around the country that necessarily haven't been called upon. So we're seeing broad adoption and prescribing from the eye care community outside of telehealth, which is very good. What was your second question, Lachlan? The impact of sales force? Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:23:54Just your confidence level. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:23:54Real quick. Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:23:55Yeah. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:23:56Yeah. On the impact of sales force, what gives us confidence in this? What we have seen is we have 90% awareness in that eye care community. They are fully aware. That repeat prescribing behavior, what we are seeing is when a patient comes in and asks about VIZZ is prescribed. Therefore, the real success is getting more patients to come in and ask about VIZZ. What we are seeing is a lot in the doctor's day to proactively bring up VIZZ. Our best focus and allocation of our dollars is to drive the patient in and ask about it. We have also seen this in markets where we have an empty territory or non-target doctors. They are writing VIZZ as much as those targeted doctors. That gives us confidence in the focus on the consumer campaign. Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:24:49Oh, thanks. Operator00:24:53Your next question comes from the line of Jason Gerberry with Bank of America. Please go ahead. Analyst at Bank of America00:25:00Hi, this is Melanie on for Jason. Thanks for taking our question. Just one on the leadership transition. How are you guys thinking about the process for the permanent CEO search, both in terms of timing and potential profile you are looking for, especially given the shift in commercial strategy? Thanks. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:25:22Thanks for the question. This is Eef. If you think about the transition, we want to make sure and are making sure that it's a very smooth one. Like I said, it was a personal decision on my end to transition out. I'll be leading the change that was just announced, making sure the organization is set up well for then Dan to step in as the interim CEO. As I've mentioned, Dan has a wealth of knowledge around the business. He's been with me and us for a long time now and integral to everything that we do within LENZ. So he's extremely well-positioned to lead the company. In parallel, the board has started a search, and obviously, Dan is one of the key candidates in that as well. We're not making any commitments around timelines. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:26:17Again, both me and the board have full confidence in Dan to lead the organization into its next growth phase. So we don't expect any impact on our strategy and the execution of it with this transition. Operator00:26:45Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Caufield with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead. Matthew CaufieldAnalyst at H.C. Wainwright00:26:52Hi, guys. I appreciate you taking our call, and apologies if this had been addressed previously. But in terms of marketing, in addition to the telehealth fulfillment channel, what possible factors would support ultimately turning on the DTC campaign in a greater capacity following the strategic commercial reorg? Thanks for any added color there. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:27:16Thanks. That is a great question. So again, this is Shawn. So what we continue to monitor on the DTC side is as we are pulsing different channels, so as we turn on TV, what is the response that we are seeing across not only telehealth, but all channels? We do the same thing across Instagram, across Facebook, across TikTok, as well as different ads. So what we continue to look at and measure is what is that consumer acquisition cost of our different ads. As we drive that consumer acquisition cost down or find ones that we feel are a valuable ROI, that is our signal to turn up that spend or change how much we are allocating dollars to the different channels. Matthew CaufieldAnalyst at H.C. Wainwright00:28:03Okay, that is helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you. Operator00:28:09Our final question comes from the line of Biren Amin with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead. Analyst at Piper Sandler00:28:16Thank you. This is Michael on for Biren. Thanks for taking the questions. I was just wondering if you could give a little bit more color on the refill rate. Given the recent cost restructuring, could you share how you are thinking about timeline to profitability? Thanks. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:28:35Thanks, Michael. This is Shawn. I will cover the refill rate. What we are seeing is we have multiple channels, but the channel where we can see the best data is the ePharmacy channel and the telehealth channel. Those channels represent the majority of our volume. The telehealth channel is still new. It is only about three months old, so we are early in there. The ePharmacy channel, we have data for over a year now. What we can see in our ePharmacy channel is that about 60% of the patients purchase more than one month's supply. We are encouraged by that number. For that same group, what we are seeing is over the course of a year, that group is buying more than five packs per year. That is a little bit more color on the refill rates and the total products being consumed by our predominant channel. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:29:30Michael, this is Dan. I will take your second question as it relates to forward guidance. Excuse me. Ending Q3, $197.3 million in cash. I think what we highlighted today was, as you think about our forward spend, approximately 50% reduction in our forward OpEx. What we guided is a $70 million-$75 million annual spend in 2027 and going forward. I think yo should expect to see the full impact of that change in spend trajectory in Q1. We are not providing cash runway guidance or revenue guidance at this time, as we have not previously. I think we give you those inputs for today based upon the disclosures we made here. Analyst at Piper Sandler00:30:13Got it. Helpful. Thank you. Operator00:30:20This concludes our question-and-answer session, as I am now showing no further questions. Thank you for your participation, and we will now conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesDan ChevallardCFOEef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and DirectorShawn OlssonChief Commercial OfficerAnalystsStacy KuAnalyst at TD CowenAnalyst at Leerink PartnersAnalyst at CitiLachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William BlairAnalyst at Bank of AmericaMatthew CaufieldAnalyst at H.C. WainwrightAnalyst at Piper SandlerPowered by Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K) LENZ Therapeutics Q3 2026 Earnings FAQ Did LENZ Therapeutics beat earnings estimates for Q3 2026? LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) reported earnings of -$0.99 per share for Q3 2026, missing the consensus estimate of -$0.8932. The report was announced on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. What was LENZ Therapeutics' revenue for Q3 2026? LENZ Therapeutics reported revenue of $3.38 million for Q3 2026, against a consensus estimate of $4.20 million. Where can I read LENZ Therapeutics' Q3 2026 earnings call transcript? The full LENZ Therapeutics Q3 2026 earnings conference call transcript is published on this page, including prepared remarks and the analyst Q&A session, along with the participants who spoke on the call. When is LENZ Therapeutics' next earnings date? LENZ Therapeutics' next earnings date is estimated for Thursday, October 29, 2026. MarketBeat tracks confirmed and estimated earnings dates for LENZ Therapeutics on the company's earnings history page. LENZ Therapeutics Earnings HeadlinesLENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (LENZ) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript1 hour ago | seekingalpha.comLENZ Therapeutics, Inc. Decreases Headcount By Approximately 75% To Approximately 40 Full-Time EmployeesOctober 29 at 1:52 PM | marketscreener.comMA free stock pick, from me to youElon's paid this chip supplier since 2012. When NVIDIA tried to buy the company, he fought the deal. Without its chip, his AI satellites don't fly. Now he wants 1,000,000 of them in orbit, 100 times what's up there today, and every one pays this company a royalty. Dylan believes shares could react by December 8th.October 29 at 1:00 AM | Behind the Markets (Ad)LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. Reports Earnings Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2026October 28 at 12:45 AM | marketscreener.comMLENZ Therapeutics, Inc. Reports Earnings Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2026October 28 at 12:45 AM | marketscreener.comMLENZ Therapeutics Announces Major Restructuring and CEO TransitionOctober 28 at 5:31 PM | tipranks.comSee More LENZ Therapeutics Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like LENZ Therapeutics? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on LENZ Therapeutics and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About LENZ TherapeuticsLENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing ophthalmic medicines for the treatment of presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and its programs are designed to provide an alternative to reading glasses and other corrective lenses. LENZ’s primary product candidate is aceclidine ophthalmic solution, developed under the names LNZ100 and VIZZ. The pupil-selective miotic is intended to improve near vision while preserving distance vision, without relying on the lens-shaping mechanism targeted by some other presbyopia treatments. The company has evaluated the therapy in clinical studies designed to assess its safety and ability to improve near visual acuity in adults with presbyopia. LENZ Therapeutics was founded to advance pharmaceutical approaches to age-related vision loss and has focused its development and commercial activities primarily on the United States. The company’s leadership includes co-founder and Chief Executive Officer E. Thomas Eng, M.D. Its work is centered on ophthalmic drug development, regulatory activities, and potential commercialization of treatments for presbyopia.View LENZ Therapeutics ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Latest Articles Where's the Beef? 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PresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the LENZ Therapeutics third quarter 2026 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following prepared remarks from management with accompanying slides, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Dan Chevallard, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:00:33Thank you, Tina. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. My name is Dan Chevallard, Chief Financial Officer of LENZ Therapeutics. We are joined today by Eef Schimmelpennink, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Shawn Olsson, our Chief Commercial Officer, and Dr. Marc Odrich, our Chief Medical Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call will contain forward-looking statements regarding LENZ's future expectations, plans, prospects, corporate strategy, regulatory and commercial plans and expectations, cash runway projections, and performance. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors and risks, including those discussed in our filings with the SEC, and which can also be found on our website. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:01:23In addition, any forward-looking statements represent only our views as of the date of this webcast and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligations to update such statements. The company encourages you to consult the risk factors contained in our SEC filings for additional detail. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Eef. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:01:47Thank you, Dan. Good morning, everyone. Today's results mark an important step forward for LENZ and VIZZ. In the third quarter, we saw more than 50% growth in both product revenue and total prescriptions, with strong momentum continuing into the fourth quarter. On October 1st, we marked the one-year anniversary of the VIZZ launch. Over the past year, we've built important foundations, gained valuable insights into what drives adoptions, and importantly, drove encouraging momentum from our consumer-focused initiatives. This last quarter, we continued to see that consumer demand generation is a key driver of growth. Expanding our Tired of Reading Glasses to national TV enabled us to reach a broader group of consumers with a clear message around an alternative to reading glasses. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:02:37Our newly established telehealth channel also gives interested consumers a convenient path to evaluation by an independent licensed eye care professional and, when appropriate, a prescription with home delivery. Together, these initiatives have helped establish a more seamless path from awareness to evaluation, treatment, and continued use. As I mentioned, the results were more than 50% growth in product revenue and total prescriptions in the third quarter, with strong momentum carrying into the early weeks of Q4. We have built a strong foundation with eye care professionals. VIZZ awareness now exceeds 90%, with more than 15,000 prescribing ECPs. At the same time, our launch experience has shown that physician awareness alone is not sufficient to drive adoption at the pace we want. The strongest growth response has come when consumer demand generation is paired with convenient access. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:03:41All of this is giving us greater clarity on the commercial model best positioned to support durable growth in this category. Based on what we have learned, we announced a strategic reorganization designed to align LENZ with this consumer-led commercial model. Going forward, consumer marketing will be the emphasis of our U.S. commercial strategy, with a much smaller and more focused sales and medical team maintaining important KOL, ECP, and trade relationships. This is an evolution of our launch strategy, not a change in our commitment to LENZ. The reorganization concentrates our people and capital on the activities that are demonstrating the clearest connection to patient acquisition and sales growth. It also creates a more efficient structure for the business we are building. As part of this transition, we expect our organization to move to approximately 40 employees, and we expect overall operating expense to decrease by more than 50%. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:04:47We are targeting 2027 operating expenses of approximately $70 million-$75 million, with more than 70% of our projected spend allocated to our consumer-driven sales and marketing strategy. We strongly believe this focused model gives VIZZ the opportunity to reach more patients, expanding this emerging category and building a durable business. With that, I will hand it over to Shawn, who will provide more detail on our commercial execution. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:05:17Thank you, Eef. As mentioned, we are one year into launch and have had measurable progress in three key areas: eye care professionals, consumers, and access. With ECPs, we have driven awareness of VIZZ to above 90%, achieved more than 15,000 prescribing ECPs, and over 75% of them have prescribed more than once. With consumers, we've launched our national campaign and have continued to optimize ad placement to support VIZZ's continued growth. On access, VIZZ is operating well and growing in all channels. VIZZ is now available through retail pharmacies, the ePharmacy, and since July, telehealth, giving patients several ways to access VIZZ. This broader campaign and the additional telehealth channel have been the key drivers of the 50% quarter-over-quarter TRx growth in Q3. Impressively, we have done that with Q3 working media spend broadly in line with Q2. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:06:20Looking at the performance of VIZZ, the presbyopia eye drop category is still in its infancy. We are focused on growing this market, and it is clear that VIZZ is the leader in this developing category. Since approval and launch through Q3, we have distributed more than 4 million vials, including samples and commercial products, and sold approximately 110,000 packs. This makes VIZZ the number one selling presbyopia eye drop in the U.S. since its approval. Furthermore, based on the 2026 TRx data from Symphony, VIZZ has 94% market share in the U.S. Building a new category takes time and therefore a disciplined allocation of commercial resources. The more than 50% growth in Q3 showed us what the consumer campaign can do, and that is where we will concentrate our efforts. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:07:14Consumer marketing will take the lead in our commercial strategy and receive a larger share of our commercial investment, including continued national television and digital advertising on the channels that deliver the strongest return. As we look towards our year two commercial focus for ECPs, our foundational awareness of VIZZ is built, and we are moving from one-on-one detailing to broad ECP engagement through marketing, supported by a small team focused on key opinion leaders, speakers, national and state level support. This keeps VIZZ top of mind in the eye care community while allowing us to direct more resources towards consumer demand, which will be our primary focus. We believe this is the right commercial model for durable growth. With that, I will turn the call back over to Eef. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:08:05Thank you, Shawn. Before handing the call over to Dan to discuss our financial results and outlook, I also want to address the leadership transition we announced. After nearly six years leading LENZ and more than 25 years in biotech, I have decided to transition from my role as President and CEO, effective December 1st, 2026, to be able to devote more time to other passions. This is a deeply personal decision, and it comes at a point when I feel confident in the direction of the company. We have built an important foundation for VIZZ, and we have greater clarity on the commercial model ahead, and we are aligning the organization around the opportunity in front of us. Dan and I will work closely together through December 1st to implement the reorganization, ensure continuity, and position him for success as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:09:01I have full confidence in Dan's ability to lead LENZ through its next phase. He knows the business inside out and has been closely involved in building the foundation for our commercial growth. Together with Shawn, Marc, and the full leadership team, he is well prepared to lead LENZ through its next phase, and I look forward to continuing to support him, the team, and the board as a strategic advisor. I am very grateful to the LENZ team, our past and present employees, and our board of directors for their support throughout this journey. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, encouraged by the momentum we are seeing, and confident in LENZ's future. With that, I would like to hand the call over to Dan. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:09:46Thank you, Eef. I would like to start by saying thank you for all of your contributions to LENZ, and I look forward to your continued guidance as we work through your transition. Your leadership has left a lasting mark on LENZ, on me, and the team we have built together. I am humbled by the confidence placed in me by Eef and the board of directors to step into this role. I am encouraged by our momentum. Our priorities are clear, and we are focused on executing in this next phase at LENZ. As both Eef and Shawn have discussed, early results from the July launch of telehealth and our nationwide TV advertising campaign have been encouraging, as evidenced by a sequential increase of over 50% in product revenue in Q3 over Q2, with meaningful script growth observed across distribution channels. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:10:36Impressively, our telehealth channel contributed more than 50% of the incremental scripts this quarter. Reflecting on Q3, we recorded total product revenues of $2.6 million, driven by over 38,000 paid scripts, representing a 50% and 51% sequential increase over Q2, respectively, and maintaining our consistently strong gross to net ratio of approximately 93%. In addition, we recorded $800,000 in license revenue related to the recognition of a portion of the upfront payment received from our commercialization agreement with Arrotex Pharmaceuticals signed in late Q2. I will provide a further update on our global commercialization efforts for VIZZ in a moment. Turning now to operating expenses, our cost of sales on third quarter product revenue totaled $0.5 million, and we continue to anticipate VIZZ to trend to an approximately 90% product gross margin over time. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:11:35Total SG&A decreased to $35.8 million in Q3, or approximately $31.5 million, adjusted to exclude non-cash stock-based compensation and an additional $0.3 million in one-time non-cash charge. This was a 10% quarter-over-quarter decline from Q2, which was in line with our expectations. Total research and development expenses remained zero in the third quarter, consistent with recent periods. Our Q3 net loss per share, both basic and diluted, was $0.99 per share in the quarter on a net loss of $31 million, and we ended the third quarter with approximately $197.3 million in cash equivalents, and marketable securities. As Eef discussed today, we announced a strategic consumer marketing-focused reorganization that is announced to concentrate our resources on the initiatives we believe have the greatest potential to drive durable patient growth, significantly lower our cost structure, and increase capital efficiency. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:12:38We anticipate completing substantially all activities related to the reorganization in the fourth quarter with an estimated $5 million in one-time net restructuring charges. As we look ahead, we expect our annual operating expenses will reduce by over 50%, and are targeting 2027 operating expenses in the range of $70 million-$75 million, with over 70% of our forward spend allocated to our consumer-driven marketing strategy highlighted today. As I have in prior quarters, I wanted to take a moment to provide an update on our global licensing and commercialization efforts. We continue to see VIZZ as a global product, and with a worldwide population of over 1.8 billion adults with presbyopia, we believe the opportunity to expand our commercial footprint is an important and promising one. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:13:32In Q3, we continued to advance our regulatory efforts with our commercial partners and now have 11 regulatory submissions under review and anticipate multiple additional submissions and potential ex-U.S. regulatory approvals in the months and quarters ahead. We remain focused on further expanding our global network in additional strategic geographies, and as I mentioned, we will maintain that effort as a strategic priority as we advance from here. With that, I will turn the call back over to Eef. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:14:02Thanks, Dan. To close, I want to thank the entire LENZ team for the commitment and dedication you have shown in bringing VIZZ from development through approval onto the U.S. market. We are very encouraged by the momentum we are seeing. We have a clearer and more focused commercial strategy, and we are taking decisive steps to build a more efficient and durable business. I believe in the opportunity ahead for VIZZ and in LENZ's ability to execute against it. With that, we would like to open up the call for questions. Operator00:14:38To ask a question, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. Again, that is star one to ask a question. Our first question comes from the line of Stacy Ku with TD Cowen. Please go ahead. Stacy KuAnalyst at TD Cowen00:14:54Hi. Thanks so much for taking our questions. Eef, it is good to see you go, and Dan, nice to see you step in. First on telehealth, where do you see the contribution going for VIZZ prescriptions? With strategic changes, there can sometimes be some growing pains. Do you expect to see continued prescription growth in the next few months? What gives you confidence in VIZZ's trajectory looking further out over the next few years? Then second, if you look at the prescription trajectory, maybe through Symphony, can you talk about how closely aligned the prescriptions have been correlating to your DTC strategy? Thanks so much. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:15:39Hi, Stacy. This is Shawn. Thanks for the question. Looking at the telehealth channel, what we're seeing is of the growth, telehealth is contributing the most to the recent growth in Q3. As we look forward, we continue to see that this will be a meaningful channel for us. What we are also very proud of is with our television campaigns and our advertising campaigns, we're seeing growth on all channels. All channels remain meaningful to us and all channels we saw growing in this quarter. What gives us continued confidence is as we look at the early KPIs, visitors to the websites, data going into this month, we continue to see that growth, and that gives us confidence in business continued growth going forward. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:16:30In terms of the Symphony data, we still believe the Symphony data is more accurate than the IQVIA data, and that's why we reference the Symphony data in this call. It continues to be a consistent amount off. It's hard for us to speculate if that will change going forward, but what we've seen so far is it continued to have about a 70% accuracy. Stacy KuAnalyst at TD Cowen00:16:53Thank you so much. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:16:55Thank you, Stacy. Operator00:16:57Our next question comes from the line of Marc Goodman with Leerink Partners. Please go ahead. Analyst at Leerink Partners00:17:05Hi. Good morning, everyone. This is Alyssa in for Marc. Now that the telehealth channel has been active for several months now, could you share what proportion of patients have required a live appointment versus completing the asynchronous ECP review? Secondly, could you provide any color on the characteristics or profiles of these early adopters? Thank you. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:17:30Hi, Alyssa. This is Shawn. Thanks for your question. When we look at the telehealth channel, the way the telehealth channel is structured is, first of all, to get into the telehealth channel, it starts by going through a screener. The screener filters out any high-risk patients to make sure that only patients that are appropriate continue on to that doctor evaluation. That doctor evaluation, it can be, as you said, both asynchronous or synchronous. Asynchronous being done at two separate times, synchronous being a call or a video face-to-face. The vast majority are done asynchronous. What we are happy to see is not only is telehealth working from providing new scripts, but it is also screening out appropriate new patients. We do see people screened out both in the screener phase as well as after the screener phase, when it moves on to the doctor evaluation. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:18:28I think you had a second question. What was the second question? Analyst at Leerink Partners00:18:32Oh, just any detail on the demographics or patient characteristics from this early wave of adopters. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:18:40Yeah, great question. What's nice about our ePharmacy channel, our telehealth channel, we can see that demographic data of the patients. What we see is the telehealth patient is very similar to the other patients that are using the product. In the telehealth channel, the split is roughly 50/50 male, female. It does skew slightly more towards the younger end of presbyopia, in that 45-55 range. But ultimately it is a very similar patient to what we're seeing in the other channels. Analyst at Leerink Partners00:19:13Thank you very much. Operator00:19:16Your next question comes from the line of Yigal Nochomovitz with Citi. Please go ahead. Analyst at Citi00:19:24Hi, this is Caroline on for Yigal. Thanks for taking our question. Can you tell us more about the sales cycle through telehealth? Specifically, do you have data that tracks when a consumer moves from seeing a digital or TV ad to engaging with the telehealth platform and ultimately filling a prescription? How does that compare with the traditional in-office pathway? Thanks. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:19:44Yeah. Hi, Caroline, this is Shawn again. Thanks for the question. What's great about the telehealth channel is we see a lot more data. What I can tell you is when we first ran our pilot TV campaign in select markets, when we first launched that, we didn't have the telehealth channel open yet. Typically, when we ran in those select markets, it was a four- to six-week cycle until we saw the lift from running the TV campaigns, till that patient went into the eye care office. Here, now that we have the telehealth open, we can see when TV is on and when TV is off, and a direct impact and correlation to scripts moving through the telehealth channel. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:20:31With the telehealth channel now open, that correlation from advertising and time to visit is within a couple of days compared to multiple weeks prior to the telehealth channel. That's what we're seeing, and that gives us, again, positivity in our advertising. It also allows us to very easily monitor where advertising is working and where it's not to correlate advertising back to that patient. Analyst at Citi00:20:59Great. Thank you. If I may, are your ex-U.S. partners taking notes from the U.S. launch in terms of deploying a sales force or not and leveraging DTC campaigns? Thanks. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:21:12Yeah, good question. This is Dan. I think we're definitely making sure that we're in constant communication with our commercial partnerships around the world. To the extent that they can leverage our learnings for their commercial strategy, that's always going to be a positive. Important, though, also to remember that the U.S. market and ex-U.S. markets are not the same. We always characterize our learnings in the U.S. as U.S.-centric, and hopefully the goal will be for them to leverage those for their specific markets. Analyst at Citi00:21:42Thanks. Operator00:21:45Your next question comes from the line of Lachlan Hanbury-Brown with William Blair. Please go ahead. Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:21:53Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I was wondering maybe you could talk more about the growth you're seeing outside the telehealth channel. Is that concentrated among certain prescribers? I know you don't have as much data there, but what kind of trends are you seeing there? Secondly, can you just talk to your confidence level that you don't need as much of a field team anymore? I get that it looks like the telehealth and the advertising are really driving things, but what gives you confidence that taking the field rep or the reps out of the field is not going to impact the growth trajectory moving forward? Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:22:30Hi, Lachlan. This is Shawn. Great questions. I think I heard the first question correctly, but just want to make sure. I think it was about the prescriber base in telehealth. Was that the first question? Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:22:42It was about outside of telehealth. We've talked about the nice uptick you're seeing in telehealth, but wondering if that's accounting for about 50% of growth. Obviously, you're seeing growth outside of telehealth as well. I'm wondering if you can talk about what you're seeing there in terms of the breadth and depth of prescribers and where that growth is coming from. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:23:02Got it. Thanks, Lachlan. We're very pleased that we now have over 15,000 prescribing ECPs. What we've seen since we've turned on our national TV campaign, one, we're seeing consistency in the prescribers with 75% now prescribing multiple times. But what we're also seeing in growth outside of telehealth is the broad excitement for an eye drop for presbyopia. These new prescribers, a lot of them are not targets. What we're seeing is we're driving consumers into eye care professionals around the country that necessarily haven't been called upon. So we're seeing broad adoption and prescribing from the eye care community outside of telehealth, which is very good. What was your second question, Lachlan? The impact of sales force? Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:23:54Just your confidence level. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:23:54Real quick. Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:23:55Yeah. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:23:56Yeah. On the impact of sales force, what gives us confidence in this? What we have seen is we have 90% awareness in that eye care community. They are fully aware. That repeat prescribing behavior, what we are seeing is when a patient comes in and asks about VIZZ is prescribed. Therefore, the real success is getting more patients to come in and ask about VIZZ. What we are seeing is a lot in the doctor's day to proactively bring up VIZZ. Our best focus and allocation of our dollars is to drive the patient in and ask about it. We have also seen this in markets where we have an empty territory or non-target doctors. They are writing VIZZ as much as those targeted doctors. That gives us confidence in the focus on the consumer campaign. Lachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William Blair00:24:49Oh, thanks. Operator00:24:53Your next question comes from the line of Jason Gerberry with Bank of America. Please go ahead. Analyst at Bank of America00:25:00Hi, this is Melanie on for Jason. Thanks for taking our question. Just one on the leadership transition. How are you guys thinking about the process for the permanent CEO search, both in terms of timing and potential profile you are looking for, especially given the shift in commercial strategy? Thanks. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:25:22Thanks for the question. This is Eef. If you think about the transition, we want to make sure and are making sure that it's a very smooth one. Like I said, it was a personal decision on my end to transition out. I'll be leading the change that was just announced, making sure the organization is set up well for then Dan to step in as the interim CEO. As I've mentioned, Dan has a wealth of knowledge around the business. He's been with me and us for a long time now and integral to everything that we do within LENZ. So he's extremely well-positioned to lead the company. In parallel, the board has started a search, and obviously, Dan is one of the key candidates in that as well. We're not making any commitments around timelines. Eef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and Director at LENZ Therapeutics00:26:17Again, both me and the board have full confidence in Dan to lead the organization into its next growth phase. So we don't expect any impact on our strategy and the execution of it with this transition. Operator00:26:45Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Caufield with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead. Matthew CaufieldAnalyst at H.C. Wainwright00:26:52Hi, guys. I appreciate you taking our call, and apologies if this had been addressed previously. But in terms of marketing, in addition to the telehealth fulfillment channel, what possible factors would support ultimately turning on the DTC campaign in a greater capacity following the strategic commercial reorg? Thanks for any added color there. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:27:16Thanks. That is a great question. So again, this is Shawn. So what we continue to monitor on the DTC side is as we are pulsing different channels, so as we turn on TV, what is the response that we are seeing across not only telehealth, but all channels? We do the same thing across Instagram, across Facebook, across TikTok, as well as different ads. So what we continue to look at and measure is what is that consumer acquisition cost of our different ads. As we drive that consumer acquisition cost down or find ones that we feel are a valuable ROI, that is our signal to turn up that spend or change how much we are allocating dollars to the different channels. Matthew CaufieldAnalyst at H.C. Wainwright00:28:03Okay, that is helpful. I appreciate it. Thank you. Operator00:28:09Our final question comes from the line of Biren Amin with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead. Analyst at Piper Sandler00:28:16Thank you. This is Michael on for Biren. Thanks for taking the questions. I was just wondering if you could give a little bit more color on the refill rate. Given the recent cost restructuring, could you share how you are thinking about timeline to profitability? Thanks. Shawn OlssonChief Commercial Officer at LENZ Therapeutics00:28:35Thanks, Michael. This is Shawn. I will cover the refill rate. What we are seeing is we have multiple channels, but the channel where we can see the best data is the ePharmacy channel and the telehealth channel. Those channels represent the majority of our volume. The telehealth channel is still new. It is only about three months old, so we are early in there. The ePharmacy channel, we have data for over a year now. What we can see in our ePharmacy channel is that about 60% of the patients purchase more than one month's supply. We are encouraged by that number. For that same group, what we are seeing is over the course of a year, that group is buying more than five packs per year. That is a little bit more color on the refill rates and the total products being consumed by our predominant channel. Dan ChevallardCFO at LENZ Therapeutics00:29:30Michael, this is Dan. I will take your second question as it relates to forward guidance. Excuse me. Ending Q3, $197.3 million in cash. I think what we highlighted today was, as you think about our forward spend, approximately 50% reduction in our forward OpEx. What we guided is a $70 million-$75 million annual spend in 2027 and going forward. I think yo should expect to see the full impact of that change in spend trajectory in Q1. We are not providing cash runway guidance or revenue guidance at this time, as we have not previously. I think we give you those inputs for today based upon the disclosures we made here. Analyst at Piper Sandler00:30:13Got it. Helpful. Thank you. Operator00:30:20This concludes our question-and-answer session, as I am now showing no further questions. Thank you for your participation, and we will now conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesDan ChevallardCFOEef SchimmelpenninkPresident, CEO, Secretary, and DirectorShawn OlssonChief Commercial OfficerAnalystsStacy KuAnalyst at TD CowenAnalyst at Leerink PartnersAnalyst at CitiLachlan Hanbury-BrownAnalyst at William BlairAnalyst at Bank of AmericaMatthew CaufieldAnalyst at H.C. WainwrightAnalyst at Piper SandlerPowered by