LENZ Therapeutics Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
August 11, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: July prescriptions increased more than 45% month over month after LENZ launched telehealth prescribing and expanded its national TV campaign; management said growth was observed across all channels.
  • Positive Sentiment: Early persistence data were encouraging, with more than 60% of ePharmacy patients purchasing multiple monthly packs. Among the more mature cohorts, repeat purchasing is tracking toward an average of five packs annually among patients who refill.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Q2 product revenue was $1.7 million on approximately 27,000 packs sold, up 9% sequentially, while total revenue reached $5.5 million partly due to $3.8 million in ex-U.S. licensing revenue.
  • Negative Sentiment: The company reported a $31.9 million net loss, or $1.02 per share, and adjusted SG&A was $34.9 million despite falling 14% quarter over quarter. Management plans to evaluate Q3 data before determining the appropriate level and mix of commercial spending.
  • Positive Sentiment: LENZ expanded its international commercial network with a fifth partnership covering Australia and New Zealand, while nine regulatory submissions remained under review and additional submissions were expected by year-end.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
LENZ Therapeutics Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 8 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the LENZ Therapeutics second quarter 2026 financial results conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following prepared remarks from management, 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.

Speaker 1

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. My name is Dan Chevallard, Chief Financial Officer of LENZ Therapeutics. We are joined today by Abe Skillepottick, 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.

Speaker 1

In 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, including our second quarter 2026 Form 10-Q, which is being filed today. With that, I will now turn the call over to Abe.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Dan, and good afternoon, everyone. We are now several quarters into the launch and have a clear view of how adoption is developing. Today, I want to share the progress we're seeing, what the latest data are telling us, and how those insights are shaping our priorities for the second half of the year. Q2 reflected continued, though modest, growth. Encouragingly, in July, as we launched telehealth and expanded our existing tired-of-reading-glasses campaign on national TV, we saw a significant increase in new patient starts and over 45% growth in month-over-month total prescriptions. We recognize that one month does not establish a trend, but these early results are consistent with the direction we hope to see. We have consistently said that the second half of the year will provide our first opportunity to assess and discuss patient persistence.

Speaker 2

Now, several quarters into launch, we have sufficient data to begin doing that, and what we are seeing is encouraging. Since launch, more than 60% of ePharmacy patients who have purchased VIZZ have purchased more than one monthly pack, either as part of their initial order or through a subsequent purchase. It is important to note that the ePharmacy is our dominant sales channel and the channel where we have access to detailed patient-level data. Looking at the more mature quarterly patient cohorts within that 60% provides a promising view of repeat purchasing and refill behavior. Among patients who first purchased VIZZ in Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, our first two quarters of the launch, purchasing behavior is tracking towards an average annualized purchase rate of five monthly packs, and our Q2 cohort is showing a very similar pattern, although it is not yet mature enough for the same analysis.

Speaker 2

These are important proof points. Persistence is essential to building a durable patient base, and the behavior we are seeing reinforces our confidence that patients who experience the benefit of VIZZ are choosing to continue using it. It also reinforces the commercial objective in front of us. We need to continue bringing more new patients into the category and making it easier for them to move from awareness to evaluation to treatment, and ultimately to continued use. That focus has shaped our work since the last call. We have concentrated on broadening consumer awareness, making VIZZ easier to introduce during routine patient conversations, ensuring patients are well-educated, and simplifying the path from initial interest to treatment. Our most recent initiatives were designed around those priorities. Telehealth gives consumers a convenient path to evaluation by an independent, licensed eye care professional and, if appropriate, a prescription with home delivery.

Speaker 2

Expanding our existing campaign to national TV allows us to reach a broader group of consumers with a clear message about an alternative to reading glasses. Together, these initiatives create a more direct connection between consumer interest, clinical evaluation, and access to treatment. While the July data are undoubtedly encouraging, our focus now is on translating these signals into sustained growth. Our investments to date have helped establish VIZZ, build broad awareness among ECPs, expand consumer demand generation, and put more convenient access pathways in place. We will use Q3 to further understand which activities are producing the greatest impacts and where we can make the patient journey even simpler. As we assess the performance of our commercial initiatives, use those learnings to inform both the mix and the level of investment for the next phase of the launch.

Speaker 2

Going forward, we will be even more disciplined in how we allocate capital, concentrating resources on the activities we believe have the greatest potential to drive durable patient growth and aligning our overall commercial investment with the scale and needs of the business. In parallel, we will continue to make progress expanding this globally. Our partnerships now span more than 20 countries across Greater China, Southeast Asia, Canada, the Middle East, and Oceania. During the quarter, we entered into our fifth international commercial partnership covering Australia and New Zealand. We also have nine regulatory submissions under review, with additional submissions expected by year-end. Together, these efforts are establishing the foundation for this as a global brand. In conclusion, as we enter the second half of the year, we have a clear picture of how this opportunity can build.

Speaker 2

Patient persistence reflected in both multi-pack purchasing and the refill patterns emerging in our more mature cohorts provides meaningful evidence that patients who experience VIZZ see lasting value and choose to continue using it. July provided an encouraging early indication that our actions to broaden consumer awareness and simplify access are beginning to translate into stronger new patient activity. We clearly understand our path forward. Build on these signals, stay focused on execution, and invest with discipline behind the activities that drive durable growth. We remain confident in the value VIZZ delivers and in the significant unmet need it addresses. Our job now is to translate that value into sustained patient growth with urgency and discipline. With that, I'll hand it over to Shawn, who will provide more detail on our commercial execution.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Ace. Good afternoon, everyone. Building on Ace's comments, I'd like to spend a few minutes on our commercial strategy and the actions we're taking to support the next phase of launch. First, I want to reinforce what we believe is one of the most important indicators we've seen since launch, our early refill trends. While we're still in the early stages of commercialization, the persistence we're observing gives us a product foundation to build upon as we continue to focus on driving new patient starts. With that foundation in place, our focus is squarely on expanding awareness and ease of access for new patient starts. In July, we began our national TV advertising campaign to broaden patient awareness, and we partnered with our e-pharmacy provider to launch a telehealth prescribing option to ease patient access.

Speaker 3

As we evaluated the patient journey to access VIZZ, it became increasingly clear that the journey was more involved than most consumer products. A patient may first see an advertisement, decide to learn more, schedule an appointment, be evaluated by an Eye Care Professional, receive a sample, and then ultimately decide whether to begin prescription therapy. At each step along that journey, there's an opportunity for patients to delay or discontinue the process. Our objective has been to simplify that experience wherever possible while maintaining an appropriate standard of clinical care. That is why I believe our telehealth initiative is an important strategic addition to our commercial model. The telehealth channel provides interested consumers a convenient pathway to be evaluated by an independent, licensed Eye Care Professional at the moment of product interest. Let's take a moment to map out the patient journey to VIZZ through the telehealth channel.

Speaker 3

For example, a patient is watching TV and sees a commercial promoting VIZZ and then visits vizz.com to learn more. After exploring the site, they see real patient videos and now have decided they want to try VIZZ and click on the Order VIZZ Now button. This brings them to our telehealth partner's website where they start the telehealth process. As I walk you through the telehealth process, there are two key components. One, the medical screener for telehealth eligibility, which was developed by ECPs. And two, the subsequent telehealth evaluation, also performed by independent ECPs. So continuing that journey, once on the telehealth site, the patient fills out a survey on their current vision symptoms and medical history, which will confirm their potential eligibility for VIZZ through telehealth. This eligibility must be met to proceed with the telehealth assessment.

Speaker 3

In the case they are eligible to proceed, they are then evaluated by independent licensed eye care professionals to determine whether VIZZ is an appropriate treatment option. If approved, their prescription is sent to the e-pharmacy partner, and VIZZ is shipped directly to the patient's home. We launched this initiative concurrently with our national television campaign, which is intended to expand consumer awareness and ultimately drive adoption of this. Together, these initiatives are designed to create a more seamless path from consumer awareness to treatment initiation. While still early, we have been encouraged by the initial level of consumer engagement, which we believe is reflected in the increase in new patient starts we observed during July. At the same time, our understanding of the eye care professional channel continues to evolve.

Speaker 3

As we shared on our previous call, aided awareness of VIZZ among eye care professionals remains in the high 90% range, while unaided awareness exceeds 80%. Those metrics tell us that VIZZ is well-recognized within the eye care community as a treatment option for presbyopia, and we believe we have successfully achieved our primary awareness objectives with ECPs. However, ECP awareness alone has not consistently translated into recurring prescribing behavior. While over 13,000 physicians have prescribed VIZZ and over 75% of them have prescribed multiple times, we see the VIZZ discussion as often being consumer-initiated. As a result, we have increasingly focused our commercial investment on stimulating consumer demand with the expectation that informed patients requesting VIZZ by name will serve as an important catalyst for future continued prescription growth. Overall, we are encouraged by our recent progress.

Speaker 3

The combination of positive early patient persistence, expanded access through telehealth, and growing consumer awareness provides a foundation for the next phase of VIZZ's commercial growth. With that, I'll turn the call over to Dan to review our financial results.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Shawn. As both Abe and Shawn have discussed, we have kicked off the second half of 2026 with the July launch of telehealth and our nationwide TV advertising campaign. These strategic initiatives were purposely designed to drive broad consumer awareness and address the key hurdles to product access by providing consumers with a safe and convenient way to be evaluated by an independent licensed eye care professional online and directly integrated into our e-pharmacy fulfillment for home delivery. As has been mentioned, we are encouraged by the change in our recent script trends, suggesting an over 45% increase in July scripts compared to June. Reflecting on Q2, we recorded total revenues of $5.5 million, including over $1.7 million in product revenue on approximately 27,000 monthly packs sold, a 9% increase over Q1 and $3.8 million in license revenue from our ex-U.S. global partnership agreements.

Speaker 1

Q2 license revenue included the first regulatory milestone payment under our license agreement with Théa upon submission of its new drug submission to Health Canada, in addition to the first sublicense milestone payment in conjunction with the asset purchase agreement between Everest Medicines and Corxel for the rights to VIZZ in Greater China. 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 second quarter product revenue totaled $0.3 million, and we continue to anticipate VIZZ to trend to an approximately 90% direct product gross margin over time. Total SG&A expenses decreased to $39.4 million in the second quarter, or approximately $34.9 million adjusted to exclude non-cash stock-based compensation. On an adjusted basis, this was a 14% quarter-over-quarter decline from Q1, which was in line with our expectations given our Q1 DTC launch investment.

Speaker 1

Consistent with prior quarters, approximately 80% of our SG&A was driven by sales and marketing, with the remaining representing general and administrative expenses. Total research and development expenses remained zero in the second quarter of 2026, consistent with recent prior quarters. Our Q2 net loss per share, both basic and diluted, was $1.02 per share in the quarter on a net loss of $31.9 million, and we ended the second quarter with approximately $220 million in cash equivalents, and marketable securities. Looking ahead, we will be deliberate in our capital allocation, directing our investments towards the initiatives with the greatest potential to drive new patient adoption. We believe this disciplined approach positions us to build a durable, consumer-driven franchise while maintaining a strong financial foundation.

Speaker 1

Before I hand the call back over to Abe, I wanted to take a moment to provide an update on our global licensing and commercialization efforts. As we have discussed on previous calls, we see VIZZ as a global product, and with a worldwide population of over 1.8 billion adults with presbyopia, we view the opportunity to expand our commercial footprint as an important and promising one. In Q2, we signed a commercialization agreement with Arrotex Pharmaceuticals, a leading Australian pharmaceutical company and Australia's largest supplier of medicines by prescription volume. This is our fifth ex-U.S. commercialization partnership for VIZZ, which now, including Oceania, spans Greater China, Southeast Asia, Canada, and the Middle East region. We currently have nine regulatory submissions under review, and we anticipate multiple additional submissions and potential ex-U.S. regulatory approvals by the end of this year.

Speaker 1

We remain focused on further expanding our global network in additional strategic geographies, and we look forward to reporting additional progress in the months and the quarters ahead. With that, I'll turn the call back over.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Dan. To close, I am proud of the LENZ team and the work behind the progress we discussed today. We now have meaningful evidence that patients who experience VIZZ see value and choose to continue using it. We have also begun to see encouraging new patient activity as we broaden awareness and simplify access. Our priorities for the second half are clear. We will build on these signals, stay focused on sustained patient growth, and align our investments with the initiatives producing the strongest results, remain confident in the opportunity with VIZZ, and committed to pursuing it with urgency and discipline. With that, I would like to open the call for questions.

Operator

We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask the question, you will need to press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star one again.

Operator

We will pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Stacey Koo with TD Cowen. Your line is open.

Speaker 4

Hey, good afternoon, guys, and thanks so much for taking our questions. We have a couple. First is on the refill dynamics. We are appreciative of you giving us this level of detail, but maybe put it in the context of other presbyopia eye drop products. What strategies is the team employing to keep these patients? That is the first. Then second, as we think about the telehealth launch, maybe speak to the level of comfort around VIZZ's safety profile. That is the second. Then last, I know it is still early days, but when would you expect to see nationwide TV advertising drive prescription growth? As a reminder, just help us understand where you are prioritizing investment when it comes to commercial strategies that are working. Thanks so much.

Speaker 3

Great. Thank you, Stacy. This is Shawn Olsson. First on the refill dynamics, as well as the strategies we are taking to make sure that we continue to see those strong refill dynamics. When you think of the refill dynamics, what we focused on is our e-pharmacy channel, because that is where we can see that patient-level data. We also look at the cohorts that are the most mature. That would be people that bought for the first time in Q4 of 2025 and Q1 in 2026. What is great to see is, of those cohorts, 60% of those e-pharmacy patients have purchased more than one monthly pack. That includes patients who purchased multiple packs on their initial order, as well as patients who return for subsequent purchases.

Speaker 3

The other thing that is important to understand is we focus on the e-pharmacy channel not only because we can see the data at the patient level, but it is also our dominant sales channel as well. What is great when we are looking at this data is if we look at that Q4 cohort, we are seeing on average, they have now already purchased slightly more than five packs, and they have not come up on a year yet. That Q1 cohort is trending to five as well. The Q2 cohort, not yet mature enough, but we are still seeing that similar early pattern, which is great. When we think of our product, this was really important because it means we have a presbyopia product out there that works and people want to continue to refill.

Speaker 3

Obviously, some of their early launches in this space, they are able to get early uptake, but that refill was not there. This, we feel, really speaks to the durability of our product. In terms of the strategy that we are employing to make sure that we continue to see high refill rates, I think the number one thing you really need is an eye drop that works. We are excited that we have an eye drop that works for 10 hours. In addition to that, the e-pharmacy channel allows that option to buy three months at a time at a discounted rate. As we have launched this telehealth channel, that also enables the opportunity to buy three months at a time, enter into an auto-renew cycle, and get that long duration at a discounted rate. That is what is going on with the refill dynamics.

Speaker 3

In terms of telehealth and the comfort with safety, what is great about the telehealth channel is that we have great safeguards around that channel in general. The telehealth patients are screened for appropriateness by fully licensed eye care physicians. They have to have no history of retinal complications and be an appropriate candidate for VIZZ, and have a recent retinal exam within the past 24 months. After that, still an independent eye care physician evaluates that patient history and suitability prior to prescribing VIZZ, or if they feel it is necessary, they will actually recommend a visit to a doctor in person if they do not qualify for telehealth. In terms of the TV channel, our TV campaign, that went live July 6. We are already seeing lifts from that national TV campaign, which is great to see. We will expect to continue that on because of that lift we have seen.

Speaker 3

We've seen it in the access to the telehealth channel because that is what announced telehealth, but we also see the lift in the other channels as well.

Speaker 2

There's two other minor questions or questions in there, Stacy, I have to answer those. How do we compare against other presbyopia drops? Frankly, we don't appear to see a lot of traction with the current ones on market. You compare us to VUITY. Interestingly, we're now actually selling more on a weekly or monthly basis than VUITY. Importantly, if you compare the VUITY refill rate at that peak, it was about 10%-12%. We're tracking at that 42% of those people that refill that become users of this that we've always spoke about. So we're very pleased to see that. The last question, how do we expect to adapt? Like I mentioned in my remarks, the commercial investments that we've made so far have been appropriate.

Speaker 2

They really helped establish this, build broad brand awareness among ECPs, truly expanded the consumer demand generation, and with the telehealth, we now have numerous access pathways in place. What we're doing now as we move through Q3, really assessing the performance of each of those initiatives, generating the data that will allow us to continue to adapt both the mix as well as the level of investment that we feel we need for this next phase in the launch. Obviously concentrating resources where we believe we have the greatest potential to drive durable growth. All of that is based on, obviously, the confidence we have in the value and the opportunity of this, while also remaining very disciplined in how we allocate capital as a company.

Speaker 4

Incredibly helpful. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Yigal Nochomovitz with Citi. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hey, guys. Great. Thank you for taking the questions. I also have a few here. First off, could you just remind us, you said e-pharmacy is the majority of the revenue base, but if you could quantify or just give a little more direction on that comment. With regard to the retail, obviously you have the visibility in the e-pharmacy, but in retail, I guess, are you saying that you just don't have the data, therefore you can't track the refill dynamics and the persistence? Or is there a different conclusion as far as the persistence in the retail side of the business? If you could just comment a little bit on the disciplined spend. Where are you going to invest more or where are you going to decelerate versus accelerate? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Yigal, thank you for the question. Yeah. The e-pharmacy is the predominant avenue of where most of our scripts go through. Ultimately, we see a little over 60% of our scripts are going through that e-pharmacy channel. Again, we have the most access to that data, so we do a lot of our analytics off of it. In terms of the retail channel, I think as many investors have seen, the retail take-up of VIZZ, whether it be through Symphony Health or IQVIA, has been fairly poor and limited. Unfortunately, because of that, we can't do a good assessment off of that data set.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Shawn. To your question as where we will adjust. Going back to what I just mentioned earlier as well, it really will be driven by the data that we will generate in Q3, and that will inform what this next phase. I think it's fair to say that the principle is clear. We will align our commercial investments with demonstrated performance, what's truly driving scripts, and the scale and needs of the business will be appropriate for what we're building. We'll keep you all informed, as appropriate, once we've made any more final decisions.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thanks, guys. I just had one quick follow-up, which is more of just a technical thing. The revenue was $1.7 million in this quarter as well as last quarter, but you had 2,000 more packs. So it was a 9% increase Q over Q. Can you just clarify the dynamics there regarding the volumes and price equation? Thanks.

Speaker 1

Sure. Yeah. Thanks, Yigal. This is Dan. The 9% is a volume-based metric on units that shipped. Gross net, in general, was the same. Also, what was in Q2 would've been included and will continue to include periodically revenues ex-U.S. So I think overall, you'll find that the revenue per unit is similar. There will be some fluctuation quarter to quarter. But the 9% is on an absolute volume basis of units that shipped in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Marc Goodman with Leerink Partners. Your line is open.

Speaker 6

Yeah. Hi, everyone. This is Alyssa on for Marc. Thank you for taking our questions. I have two. Regarding the telehealth platform, can you comment on what proportion of online form submissions ultimately results in a scheduled visit with a provider versus an asynchronous prescription? How long does that screening questionnaire take to just submit? Secondly, can you comment on the patient mix and if it's evolved since the launch of the nationwide DTC campaign? Thank you.

Speaker 3

Hi, Alyssa. This is Shawn again. Thanks for your question. Yeah. With the telehealth platform, what is great is we want to see volumes going through it, that's number one, but we also want to see that it is screening out patients, both through the screening process, but also that after the patient does make the telehealth, some people are then actually informed they need to go to a doctor and don't proceed with the telehealth because that's a functioning system. We are seeing that some patients are being screened out in both the screener as well as during the telehealth visit. We haven't broken out those numbers publicly, but it is good to see that. In terms of filling out the survey, it really only takes a few minutes to fill out the survey. It's not an overcomplicated process.

Speaker 3

Again, that was developed by ECPs to make sure it had the right screening criteria. In terms of the mix, pre and post TV, really not a big change there in terms of mix. Overall, in general, it's about 60% women and 40% men purchasing the products. Also, again, we're seeing a slightly higher interest in that 45 to 55 age group, and it kind of steps down over 65. So no big change in mix of the patient profile.

Speaker 6

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Lachlan Hanbury-Brown with William Blair. Your line is open.

Speaker 7

Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. Maybe just one on the telehealth to start. Can you just talk about the early adoption there? You talked about the good script trends we are seeing in July being up about 45%. Is that primarily being driven by incremental scripts going through telehealth, or is that maybe only part of it and some of it is being driven by maybe the DTC or TV campaign driving people into the doctor? The second question on the stat on average refills of 5-packs per year, just wanted to confirm, is that just among the 60% that do refill? Related, could you maybe break out the number that fill a 3-pack to start with versus who place the second order?

Speaker 2

Hey, Lachlan. Happy to take the first question. Just to make sure that we got the question right. I think your question was, is the growth that we saw month-over-month, June to July, driven by telehealth as it maybe impacting the other channels? The good thing here is that we see that actually, the combination with the TV, the national TV campaign, drove all channels up. Telehealth definitely has a significant part of the increase, but it did not come at the expense of the other channels. We see good and encouraging growth in the other channels as well. All channels up in July versus June.

Speaker 3

Yep. In terms of your question on the 5-packs per year. The 5-packs per year, yes. That is for the 60% of patients in e-pharmacy that have purchased multiple times or multiple monthly packs. That is how it is calculated. That leaves the other 40% at that single purchase. You can back into the full math off of that. In terms of those that buy one-pack or 3-packs for their first pack, again, we tend to see people move along that path. We have seen people start with a one-pack and then move to a 3-pack. We have not broken out that first start of one-pack versus 3-pack.

Speaker 7

Got it. Thanks.

Operator

Okay, and that concludes our question and answer session as I am showing no further questions. Thank you for your participation, and we will now conclude today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

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