An archived of the webcast can be found here. The first 15-20 minutes was a presentation of the same slides as shown in the Q4 Earnings Call. Not much in the way of new info.
Just a few new insights during the Q&A portion:
Reimbursements - Every charge for NOP (technology, surgery, clinical support, transportations is covered under the existing reimbursement mechanisms for organ transplant.
In Waleed’s words:
Organ transplant is the most cost-effective treatment for these very expensive end-of-life or end-stage-organ-failure conditions. Payers are incentivised and are incentivising transplant programs to do more organ transplants.
There is not much difference between CMS and Commercial Payers when it comes to reimbursement. One interesting note was that CMS was covering OCS reimbursement even during clinical trials before FDA approval!
Near-term goals
Waleed stated a mid-term goal of 10K+ transplants in 5 years (similar to the 7-12K transplants mentioned in last week’s fireside chat).
Waleed emphasised that the 10K goal will not just be displacing cold-storage. It will be a mix of existing and new transplants. It seems he is looking for a lot of growth in unutilised organs.
NOP Growth
The most important tidbit I gleaned from this call: NOP growth will look like this:
- 12-16 planes leased
- 25 surgeons per organ on the payroll
- 12-18 months to be fully operational