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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the BioLife Solutions Q1 2026 Shareholder and Analyst Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Troy Wichterman, Chief Financial Officer of BioLife Solutions.

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining the BioLife Solutions 2026 first quarter earnings conference call. On the call with me today is Roderick de Greef, CEO and Chairman of the Board. We will cover business highlights and financial performance for the quarter and reiterate our 2026 financial guidance. Earlier today, we issued a press release announcing our financial results and operational highlights for the first quarter of 2026, which is available at biolifesolutions.com. As a reminder, during this call, we will make forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that can be found in our SEC filings. These statements speak only as of the date given, and we undertake no obligation to update them. We will also speak to non-GAAP or adjusted results.

Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP or adjusted financial metrics are included in the press release we issued this afternoon. I'd like to turn the call over to Roderick de Greef, Chairman and CEO of BioLife.

Thanks, Troy. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for BioLife's first quarter 2026 conference call. We're off to a solid start to 2026, with first quarter revenue growth of 25% and adjusted EBITDA up approximately 15% versus the prior year. Performance in the quarter was driven by continued strength across our broader product portfolio, led by our biopreservation media or BPM franchise. We entered 2026 with a simplified business and heightened focus on high margin recurring revenue, and our results this quarter demonstrate the operating leverage in our model as a result. At the same time, we're seeing continued momentum across the CGT landscape, driven by expansion into larger indications, encouraging data readouts, strategic M&A, and an improving funding environment, all of which we believe will support long-term growth across our end markets and underpin sustained value creation for BioLife shareholders.

Turning to the quarter's results, total revenue reached $27.5 million, increasing 25% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA of $6.2 million or 22% of revenue, up roughly 15% from the prior year. BPM remained the primary driver of revenue growth, with our other cell processing tools also contributing to overall growth. BPM represents over 85% of total revenue. BPM continues to benefit from broad adoption across both commercial therapies and clinical pipelines, where we maintain a dominant market share. Our top 20 BPM customers represented approximately 80% of BPM revenue. Demand forecasts from these accounts provide good visibility into our business. Channel mix remained consistent with over 60% of BPM revenue generated through direct sales with the balance through third-party distributors.

Roughly half of BPM revenue was generated from customers with approved commercial therapies, and this remains a key driver of growth and durability in our model. We highlight these metrics because they reflect the ongoing shift in our business toward later-stage programs and commercial products, which are more stable, less sensitive to funding dynamics, and growing faster than the broader CGT market. Several of the therapies we support are already at or tracking toward blockbuster status, with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. As these therapies scale and expand into new geographies and additional potentially larger indications, we believe BioLife is well-positioned to benefit from higher patient volumes and the recurring nature of these revenue streams. Gross margin and adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue declined year-over-year due to the previously discussed bag yield dynamics.

This remains a key operational priority, and we are making steady progress in close collaboration with our key customers to address it and are confident that this is temporary in nature. Stepping back, our market position continues to strengthen. At the end of the quarter, our BPM products were embedded in 17 approved therapies, with visibility into an additional nine unique approvals, expanded indications, and geographic expansions over the next 12 months. Across the broader pipeline, we estimate our solutions are utilized in more than 250 commercially sponsored CGT clinical trials in the U.S. exceeding a 70% market share with an even higher share in later-stage phase III programs. Independent third-party analysis of U.S. commercially sponsored trials where a biopreservation media is not used, no other commercial alternatives were identified, suggesting that these trials are relying on internal homebrew formulations.

Given our leading share among late-stage programs, we expect this pipeline will convert into future commercial revenue as therapies advance through the approval process, reinforcing our position as a critical [Inaudible] component of the cell therapy workflow. Building on this foundation, our team is focused on expanding BioLife's role within the CGT workflow beyond biopreservation media. Our CellSeal vials and hPL product lines are already utilized in four approved therapies and over 35 clinical programs, and that number continues to grow. This expanding footprint is supporting our cross-selling efforts with existing BPM-only customers evaluating additional components of our portfolio. Given the size of these organizations and the rigor of their validation processes, adoption cycles tend to be longer, reflecting a higher bar for change while reinforcing the stickiness of these relationships.

That said, we're seeing encouraging early traction, and each additional BioLife product that's integrated into a therapy has the potential to increase our revenue per dose by two to three times relative to BPM alone. While still early, this represents a meaningful opportunity to enhance both growth and the overall financial profile of the business. From a capital allocation standpoint, we remain focused on the highest return opportunities to support long-term growth, both organically and through disciplined strategic initiatives. Alongside our cross-selling efforts, we are regularly evaluating adjacent areas that build on our core scientific and commercial strengths. This includes selective acquisitions, minority investments, and strategic partnerships that broaden our platform and increase our participation across the CGT ecosystem. This is enabled by our balance sheet, which gives us the flexibility to pursue attractive opportunities with discipline while maintaining a high bar for financial profile and strategic fit.

Turning to our 2026 outlook, we are affirming the guidance we introduced on our last call. We expect revenue of $112.5 million-$115 million for the year, representing growth of 17%-20%. As in prior years, our guidance reflects the visibility we have today based on demand forecasts from our key customers. We also expect continued operating and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion and anticipate generating full-year GAAP net income for the first time in many years. Before handing it over, I'll briefly highlight a few favorable developments we're seeing across the cell therapy landscape. The field is diversifying beyond traditional oncology applications, with increasing activity in large autoimmune indications.

We're also seeing encouraging data emerging in allogeneic cell therapies that have the potential to unlock multi-billion-dollar market opportunities, as well as renewed interest in established autologous approaches such as CAR T and TILs, expanding the market from its base in liquid tumors into solid tumor indications. At the same time, we're seeing meaningful strategic activity, including the recent nearly $8 billion acquisition of our Arcellx by Gilead, as well as continued investment in next-generation manufacturing capacity and automation to support scale. As these therapies evolve and care settings shift, whether into outpatient and community settings or toward off-the-shelf approaches, this is expected to support sustained demand for robust, high quality and trusted cell processing tools, biopreservation media, and packaging solutions, areas where BioLife is well-positioned. Taken together, these dynamics reinforce our confidence in the long-term trajectory of the field and the attractiveness of the CGT market.

BioLife has exposure across these areas and is uniquely positioned to benefit as these trends translate into durable demand. With that, I'll hand the call over to Troy to provide an overview of our first quarter financial results. Troy?

Thank you, Rod. We reported Q1 revenue of $27.5 million, representing an increase of 25% year-over-year. The year-over-year increase was primarily related to increased sales of our biopreservation media products, driven by strong demand from customers with commercially approved therapies, as well as strong revenue growth from the balance of our product portfolio. GAAP gross margin for Q1 2026 was 64% compared with 67% in Q1 2025. Adjusted gross margin for the first quarter was 64% compared with 68% in the prior year. The decrease in adjusted gross margin percentage compared with the prior year can primarily be attributed to a product mix shift towards bags, which carry lower gross margins than bottles, as well as our previously discussed impact from manufacturing yields.

We view the yield impact as transitory and a key operational priority throughout 2026, and as it is resolved, we expect a corresponding expansion in gross margin. GAAP operating expenses for Q1 2026 were $17.5 million versus $15.3 million in Q1 2025. The increase compared to the prior year can be attributed to a $1.2 million increase in R&D, primarily related to our Panthera acquisition in April 2025 and the opening of our Center of Excellence. In addition, we had a $0.9 million expense increase in stock-based comp acceleration related to severance, partially offset by a reduction of $0.8 million in acquisition costs.

Adjusted operating expenses for Q1 2026 totaled $16.8 million, compared with $13.8 million in the prior year. GAAP operating income for Q1 2026 was $27,000 versus an operating loss of $0.5 million in the prior year. The improvement was primarily due to increased revenue compared to the prior year and lower acquisition costs, partially offset by higher stock comp related to severance. Our adjusted operating income for the first quarter of 2026 was $1 million, compared with $1.2 million in Q1 2025. Our GAAP net income was $1.2 million, or $0.02 per share in Q1, compared to $0.3 million or $0.01 per share in the prior year. The increase in net income was primarily due to increased revenues compared to the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2026 was $6.2 million or 22% of revenue, compared with $5.4 million or 24% of revenue in the prior year. The primary driver of the change as a percentage of revenue in the current quarter was due to the impact of bag yields on our gross margin percentage as discussed earlier. Turning to our balance sheet. Our cash and marketable securities balance reported as of March 31st, 2026, was $111.5 million, compared with $120.2 million as of December 31st, 2025.

Taking into consideration our adjusted EBITDA of $6.2 million in Q1, cash usage was primarily driven by tax obligations for share withholdings vested in Q1 of $5.6 million, debt principal payments of $2.5 million, and unfavorable working capital of $6.9 million, which includes an increase in AR of $5.1 million, primarily related to timing. The entirety of our $2.5 million SVB debt balance is considered short-term. Our final payment on the SVB debt balance is due in June 2026. We will pay a $1.2 million loan maturity balloon payment due at the time of maturity. Turning to our 2026 financial guidance. We are reiterating our 2026 guidance disclosed during our fourth quarter earnings call.

Total revenue is expected to be $112.5 million-$115 million, reflecting overall growth of 17%-20%. The increase is primarily due to expected demand from our BPM customers with commercially approved therapies as well as increased demand for our other tools. We expect GAAP and adjusted gross margin for the full year to be in the mid-60s. We expect gross margins to benefit from favorable pricing, partially offset by product mix and the previously discussed impact from bag yields. We expect to achieve full-year positive GAAP net income and expansion of adjusted EBITDA margin in 2026 compared to 2025. Finally, in terms of our share count, as of April 30th, we had 48.9 million shares issued and outstanding and 50.3 million shares on a fully diluted basis.

Now I'll turn the call back to the operator to open up for questions.

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touchtone phone. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Matt Stanton from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Hey, thanks. Maybe on the topic of the bags, could you just clarify, are you saying that the bags have lower margins than bottles all else equal, and that there's also the scrap issue tied to the bag? Kind of two issues on the bag in terms of mix. Then would love to just get an update on the scrap side of the bag. I think before you talked about kind of a 90-day notice period. Maybe just help us in terms of getting that back to normal as we think about kind of the 22% adjusted EBITDA margins in 1Q and the walk up the rest of the year to kind of get to that year-over-year expansion that you reiterated again today. Thank you.

Yeah, Matt, let me take the second part of your question, and I'll have Troy deal with the first part. With respect to where we are with our customers, in order to solve this problem, we have been working with them over the last 60 days to provide them with several different alternatives to the existing bags which are causing the problems. We are at a point now where that customer notification will be going out shortly. There's a 90-day period for them to select effectively which option they'd like to utilize. We have to burn through the remaining bag inventory that we have. We're on track for the same sort of timing as we had laid out in the last phone call we had.

We would expect to be able to see some flow through of enhanced margin either Q4 or Q1 of 2027, depending on how quickly we burn through the existing bag inventory. I'll let Troy answer the rest.

Yeah. Matt, on your question on bags versus bottles on gross margin. As a percentage of revenue, bags do have a lower gross margin than bottles by quite a bit at this point in time because of that yield issue we've been talking about.

Okay. Once the yield issue is rectified, are the margins closer to the same zip code? Is that right?

Closer, correct.

Okay. Okay. Then maybe Rod, you talked about a little bit, you know, just outside of biopreservation media, you talked a little bit about cross-selling there. Would love just some more color on the new product front, obviously you have the CryoCase. You know, I think you've talked about maybe some other things coming out of the pipeline. You have Panthera here. Would love kind of an update on that. Just anything as we think about the back half of 2026 and 2027, on the, you know, new product front and other things coming out besides biopreservation media. Thank you.

Sure. You bet. With respect to the Panthera product, we're still on track for a Q4 launch of that. We've identified what the value proposition will be in addition to identifying the final molecule that we'll be going with, so that looks good. With respect to cross selling the other products, you know, that is a longer-term effort. It continues to move forward with respect to increased number of validations, et cetera. I think that at the end of the day, when I look at the revenue growth, albeit from a smaller base, those other tools are growing at a faster rate actually than the biopreservation media is. We're pleased with the momentum. Obviously, we'd like things to go faster, but, you know, there's a certain amount of inertia with respect to the validation process within these large companies.

Super. Thank you.

You bet.

The next question comes from Brendan Smith from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Great. Thanks for taking the questions, guys, and congrats on the quarter. Maybe just a quick one from us on a bit more sector level. I guess as you kind of look at, you know, state of biotech funding and kind of the broader strength you're seeing, are you potentially expecting any inflection orders over the coming months? I guess just given that we're now kind of approaching almost six months of pretty solid funding recovery there, I guess really how big of a driver is that for BioLife realistically? Is this something that could jump up in Q3 or Q4? Or just kind of your view on the funnel looking like a more gradual ramp? Just kinda trying to understand cadence for guidance ahead. Thanks.

Yeah. Thanks, Brendan. I think that as we've talked in the past, you know, the biotech funding does not really impact us. To the extent that it does, it impacts us at very early-stage customers. There's a few exceptions to that, but in general, it affects earlier stage customers that buy a very small amount of product through distributors from us, right? The overall impact is not that meaningful. The bulk of the revenue, certainly the revenue growth, is coming from well-capitalized firms. When I look at the phase III customers that we have that should be gaining approval over the next sort of 12-24 months, those are by and large also well-capitalized.

On top of that, though, to the extent there is an impact, you know, I read the other day where overall biotech financings for 2025 were about $11.1 billion. It seems to me that that issue has stabilized and now should not be a headwind at any level for us going forward.

The next question comes from Paul Knight from KeyBank. Please go ahead.

Hey, Rod. We were at the BioLife booth at INTERPHEX. The CryoCase won one of the Best in Show awards. How is that going commercially?

Yeah, we were pleased to receive the award for sure, Paul. I think it's good recognition that it truly was a sort of a unique product that we've put out. Again, you know, we have well over three dozen valuations going on, and I think that there's definite interest. Again, whenever you're dealing with something that changes in the manufacturing process, particularly of a final drug product, but even in late stage, it's a, it's a decision by committee, right? A lot of people are involved, and it takes a lot of time. But we're seeing some bright spots and are looking forward to being able to see some traction certainly toward the second half of the year, hopefully with the type of announcement of a customer that people would recognize.

Thanks. The other question, Rod, you had mentioned earlier, you know, autologous has kind of been the core of the market, where are we with, you know, generic cell therapy based on what customers are telling you?

Yeah, I think we're still a couple of years out. You know, Allogene has published some decent data. I think they did a raise, so from a financial perspective, they're in a much more solid position. I think there, although the overall BPM volumes per patient might be a little bit lower, the opportunity to address much larger patient populations is in our estimation, gonna far outweigh the reduced amount of volume per patient. Again, I think it's a good two plus years away from really having a revenue impact on BioLife.

Then lastly, you mentioned GAAP net income. Is that like targeting 4Q, Rod or Troy?

No, it's for the full year, per quarter, Paul.

Okay. Thank you. Thanks very much.

You bet.

The next question comes from Mac Etoch from Stephens. Please go ahead.

Hey, good afternoon. Maybe following up on Paul's question. You know, I think the share of home brew has been pretty stable over the last couple of years, particularly in late-stage trials. As you think about cell and gene therapy expanding into these larger indications and the FDA, you know, focusing on more standardized platforms, do you see an opportunity to kind of capture more of that share moving forward? Thank you.

Yeah, I think so. As you know, we're taking a cut of this data, math on a every six-month basis. We go back and review the results of all the clinical trial work that has been done and refresh it. The numbers are actually going up in our favor. I think that at the end of the day, it's gonna be very few folks who use a home brew, with a commercial product. You know, as we've mentioned, we're in 900 plus trials worldwide, but the ones that really matter are the 250 plus that we're in that are commercially sponsored, that are looking to achieve a commercial therapy.

I think that it's gonna be increasingly difficult to justify whether it's from a cost perspective, a manufacturing process perspective, a logistics perspective, the FDA, to use something other than the gold standard.

I appreciate it. I'll leave it there for now.

Thanks, Mac.

The next question comes from Matthew Hewitt from Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

Hello, thank you for taking the question. This is Tal Cohen for Matthew Hewitt. Is there anything specific you wanna call out on that increase in R&D expense? Thank you.

Yeah. I think it is directly related to bringing on the Center of Excellence, which provides us with the ability to do some serious scientific work. We have four or five scientists working at the center, all PhDs. We've never had that before in terms of a team of scientists that can actually do the R part in addition to the D part of R&D. We're pretty pleased with that. There's a cost associated with that, as well as the cost of increasing the accelerating projects that we have internally, including the RCC, which will ultimately be the answer to the bag issue that we have. That's a rigid container, designed to carry our product from our factory to our customers in a rigid container that can be used in a closed system.

That, you know, that's a product that we're definitely making an investment in, as well as the consumable line associated with the CT-5. That's where the money's going. It's really internal product development.

Great. Thank you. I'll leave it there.

Thank you.

The next question comes from Thomas Flaten from Lake Street Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hey, good afternoon, guys. Rod, you mentioned you prepared comments that commercial BPM customers were about half the revenue. I think on the last call you said you could get that maybe up to 55%. Any update on that outlook, or do you think 55% is still realistic, or do you think you can push it beyond that?

I think in the near term, that's about the right number. The rate of growth of that group of customers versus, say, distribution or non-commercial is so significantly different, that, you know, it's gonna be a higher number in the outer years. In this year, I think a target of 55 is pretty much where we're gonna settle out.

Got it. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

You bet.

Again, if you have a question, please press star then one. Our next question comes from Yi Chen from H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead. Hi, Yi. Is your line open?

Hi. Sorry. Can you guys hear me?

Yes.

Hey, this is Katie on for Yi. Thinking about some of the deals you announced on prior calls with Pluristyx and Qkine, with those two coming together in that announcement on May first, does that integration kind of give you any new meaningful lanes for biopreservation media demand? Are you kind of expecting any pull-through from that deal? How are you kind of thinking about that?

Are you speaking about the Qkine deal?

Yes.

Yes. I think where the pull-through with our products comes into play is combining our CellSeal product line as a primary container for Qkine cytokine line. That's where we're gonna see some incremental revenue from our products. The other way we'll generate revenue is obviously through the sale of their cytokines to our customer base.

Yeah, I guess my question is, are you expecting any synergy now that Pluristyx and Qkine have an agreement together?

Yi, the Pluristyx and Qkine agreement?

Yes. Yeah, sorry.

No, no. I think Yeah, that's specific to Qkine providing some products that are relevant to their organoid kit. That really is outside of anything to do with BioLife per se.

Okay. You don't think they'll pull through any customer base from that?

Not that will directly impact our revenue in any way. No.

Excellent. Thank you.

You bet.

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Rod de Greef for any closing remarks.

Thank you, Jason. In closing, 2026 is off to a strong start with solid top line growth. We remain focused on operational execution, including supporting our core BPM customers, expanding adoption across our broader portfolio, and managing operations efficiently across our organization. We believe our position as a leading supplier of bioproduction products, together with exposure across the attractive and growing CGT market, leaves us well positioned for durable growth and long-term value creation. Thank you for your time today, and I look forward to seeing some of you at upcoming investor conferences.

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.