Misonix, Inc
(NASDAQ:MSON)
CEO: Stavros Vizirgianakis
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INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS:
WSA: Good day from Wall Street, this is Juan Costello, Senior Analyst with the Wall Street Analyzer. Joining us today is Stavros Vizirgianakis, the CEO for Misonix Incorporated. The company trades on NASDAQ, ticker symbol is MSON. Thanks for joining us today there, Stavros.
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Thank you for having me, Juan.
WSA: So, starting off, please give us a history and overview of the company?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: With pleasure. Misonix was established as a general ultrasonic company with interest in a variety of fields, from air filtration products to medical devices. The company went public and listed on NASDAQ about 25 years ago, and is now fully focused on the development, manufacture, and sale of therapeutic ultrasonic medical devices. We are based out in Long Island, New York, and we employ around a 100 people. We have a market cap of around a $100 million, and sales last year to the end of June were around the $23 million dollar mark.
WSA: Great. So, bring us up the speed there on some of your recent news, including your Q3 results?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Great. We recently reported Q3 results, which showed a spectacular sales growth of over 32% year-over-year for the quarter, and revenue of over $7 million, which was also our highest revenue as a dedicated medical device company. Domestic sales have shown strong growth all year, and we also started seeing good growth on the international front as a result of our new partnership with Weigao Orthopedic in China.
WSA: What are some of the key trends that you’re seeing right now in this sector and how are you continuing to position the company to capitalize?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Well, first of all, we’re very fortunate that we serve large markets such as wound, spine, and neuro. Our SonicOne wound products are fast becoming a standard of care in terms of surgical wound debridement in the operating room. And our BoneScalpel range continues to make complex spine surgery easy and safer. We’re also seeing that in this environment hospitals become more pressured to better manage costs and improve overall patient satisfaction. There is a greater need for technology, which enhances patient outcomes and also reduces overall cost of the system. That means we’re well-positioned with our innovative offerings.
WSA: And what are some of the factors that you feel make Misonix unique from some of the other players in the sector?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: I think what’s unique about Misonix is that we are really the only pure-play therapeutic ultrasound medical device company which is focused on a variety of surgical specialties, and we’re also one of the most experienced in our field.
WSA: And can you give us a little bit more detail regarding the Weigao partnership.
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Well, in China Weigao has over a billion dollars in sales. So I think that they have a very significant reach in the Chinese market with their direct sales force. We have a partner that’s not only aligned with us, but also has the manpower and resources to adequately service the markets.
WSA: And what are the key goals and milestones that you’re hoping to accomplish over the course of the next 12 months?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: I think the main goal that we have is to transition more of our revenue to consumables, and we’re hoping to derive 80% of our revenue from selling consumables. This is repeat revenue business for the company that makes our revenue base a lot more stable and more predictable. We’re also focusing additional resources to further drive domestic business, which has done extremely well in this past year. We feel that some of the biggest opportunities that we have today are actually in our backyard. We’re also focused on getting the company to grow in a sustainable predictable manner over the coming years with these initiatives.
WSA: Sure. And perhaps you can walk us through your background and experience, Stavros, and go over some of the key management there?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Sure. I’ve been fortunate enough to work for some great medical device companies. I started my career with U.S. Surgical, which later became Tyco Healthcare and Covidien. Some years after I founded a medical device distribution company in South Africa, which ultimately became part of one the largest listed healthcare companies on the continent called Ascendis Health. I also had the benefit of selling Misonix products in the South African and Australian markets, so I can tell you firsthand that the products do work and that they’re improving patient outcomes. I personally invested a substantial amount of money a couple of years back in the stock and also became a Director, and through that appointment helped drive some of the change within the company. In terms of the management, we really have a great team of seasoned passionate professionals that are committed to building a great company, and at the end of the day creating substantial value for our shareholders.
WSA: So, as far as investors and the financial community, what are some of your key drivers there that you wish perhaps they better understood about you guys?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: I think one of the problems that we have like most micro caps is that we’re not well-known and the investment community hasn’t really had much of an opportunity to understand our business and our strategy. So, I think what I would like investors to understand is that we’re a unique company in our space. We also have a significant opportunity to grow revenues as long as we remain focused and execute on our strategy over the next few years. I think people need to take a longer-term view on things because what we are doing in our field of therapeutic ultrasound is establishing the next standard of care. This doesn’t happen over a couple of quarters. It sometimes takes years to play out, but we believe that over time, we have the ability to establish significant markets for our products.
WSA: So, I guess overall it boils down to the patient and standard of care, what are some of the benefits to your product to patient and the end-user?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Well, I think if you look at a product like BoneScalpel, it really does offer the surgeon a more precise way of cutting the bone that current technology just doesn’t offer today with final surgery becoming less invasive. I think we continue to build a suite of tools that will facilitate minimal invasive surgery, and at the end of the day, better outcomes for the patient because the surgeon has more control in his hands. There is certainly less blood loss and we’re also speeding up the overall procedural time.
So, in terms of BoneScalpel, we believe that it’s changing spinal surgery. If we look at technology like our SonicOne in terms of wound debridement, when we look at treating complex wounds, one of the first steps to having success in the wound arena is to actually prepare the wound bed. We believe that with our SonicOne technology that we are able to prepare the wound bed better than any other technology out there. We are proving that we are able to reduce the biofilm through the use of our technology. We also believe that we give the graft a better chance of uptake because the wound bed has been properly prepared.
WSA: Certainly. So, once again, joining us today is Stavros Vizirgianakis, the CEO for Misonix Incorporated. The company trades on NASDAQ, ticker symbol is MSON, as mentioned, currently about a $100 market cap and trading at $10.60 a share. Before we conclude here, Stavros, to recap some of your key points, why do you believe investors should consider the company as a good investment opportunity today?
Stavros Vizirgianakis: That’s a good one, Juan. First of all, I never really advise people on what to invest in, but I do tell them when it comes to Misonix that they should take a little bit of time to, learn more about us, understand our business and give us a bit of time to build value for the shareholders. I believe that with my interest 100% aligned to those of our shareholders that we have a got a good story that will play out over time. If we look at it, we’ve got great core technology. I think we’ve shown the market that we have the ability to innovate and provide some really unique solutions in this environment. We believe that the solutions that we’re going to be providing have the ability to become the standard of care, and I really do believe that the company has an exciting future ahead.
WSA: Well, we certainly look forward to continue to track the company’s growth and report on your upcoming progress, and we like to thank you for taking the time to join us today, Stavros, and update our investor audience on Misonix. It was great having you on.
Stavros Vizirgianakis: Thank you very much, and thank you for the opportunity.
