Dyadic International, Inc. (DYAI) Earnings Call Transcript

Good evening. Welcome to Dyadic International's Q2 2026 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded today, August 12, 2026. I would now like to turn the call over to Ms. Ping Rawson, Dyadic's Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good evening and welcome everyone to Dyadic's second quarter 2026 conference call. I hope you have had the opportunity to review Dyadic's press releases announcing financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. You may access our release and Form 10-Q under the investor section of the company's website at dyadic.com. On today's call, our President and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Joe Hazelton will review our Q2 2026 business and corporate highlights and provide commentary on the strategic direction of the business. Our CEO, Mark Emalfarb, will provide an update on our biopharmaceutical programs, and I will follow with a review of our financial results in more detail, after which we will hold a brief question and answer session. At this time, I would like to inform you that certain commentary made in this conference call may be considered forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause Dyadic's actual results, performance, scientific or otherwise, or achievements to be materially different from those experienced or implied by these forward-looking statements. Dyadic expressly disclaims any duty to provide updates to its forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. Participants are directed to the risk factors set forth in Dyadic's report filed with the SEC. It is now my pleasure to pass the call to our President and COO, Joe Hazelton. Joe?

Thanks, Ping, and thank you everyone for joining us today. Last quarter, we talked about Dyadic moving from a platform development story toward a commercially driven business. In Q2, that transition became more tangible. We're shipping products, supporting customer evaluations, generating initial sales, and expanding distribution. We're also improving manufacturing economics and using that commercial activity to create broader opportunities for partnerships and licensing. At the same time, we are expanding and accelerating both our internal product pipeline and third-party product development opportunities. That distinction is important. In our markets, commercialization is rarely a single event. It typically progresses from technical validation to sampling, customer qualification, initial purchasing, and if the product performs and economics work, to repeat potentially larger-volume orders. During Q2 and after quarter end, we saw a growing number of Dyadic's products move further along that continuum. A good example of improving manufacturing economics to accelerate the potential for commercial launch is our animal-free recombinant human transferrin program. During the quarter, our initial pilot-scale run increased productivity by approximately 80%. Based on our current preliminary biomanufacturing assumptions, that improvement is expected to reduce costs by approximately 40%. We've now sampled the product into research and cell culture applications in addition to the recombinant bovine transferrin progress into cultivated meat that we've discussed previously. That matters for several reasons. Lower manufacturing cost improves our commercial flexibility while supporting attractive product economics and maintaining a strong quality profile. Higher productivity improves the scalability and supply profile customers evaluate before qualifying a critical media component. And importantly, these improvements provide another data point in which we can demonstrate to prospective partners evaluating whether our protein production platforms can manufacture proteins in greater quantities, more efficiently and economically. This is the commercial model we're building. We improved the strain and process, used those improvements to support product sales and customer qualification, and then used the resulting performance data to strengthen the case for larger strategic collaborations, licensing arrangements, or technology access opportunities. The value of an 80% productivity improvement is not limited to transferrin itself. It also helps validate the broader platforms. We are seeing similar progress across our life science portfolio. During Q2, we began product shipments to IBT Bioservices under our OEM distribution agreement, and completed additional shipments after quarter end for research, diagnostic and cell culture applications. We also generated initial pilot sales of recombinant transferrin and growth factors for cultivated meat applications. These sales remain early, but they potentially put Dyadic-produced proteins into customer workflows where performance, consistency, supply and economics can be evaluated under real operating conditions. Our distribution strategy is intentionally capital-efficient. Rather than build a large direct commercial organization for every market, we're combining selective direct sales with distributors and OEM partners that already have customer relationships, application expertise, and global reach. That gives us multiple ways to reach the market while keeping our fixed commercial infrastructure relatively lean and selectively launching our own products. Proliant has begun commercialization of Albufree Dx recombinant human albumin for life science and diagnostic applications and has announced plans to broaden the portfolio with Albufree Tx for cell culture and Albufree CGT for cell and gene therapy applications. Successful commercialization under our arrangement could provide Dyadic with potential future royalty participation, while an established partner leads market development and customer adoption. We're also seeing commercial validation in food and nutrition through Enzymes. Their non-animal bovine chymosin produced using Dyadic technology is now generating commercial sales. This represents a partner taking a product developed with our platform through development and into the market where it is being sold commercially. A second product is also in development, creating the potential for an additional milestone and future royalty economics. With Fermbox Bio, commercialization has expanded around recombinant DNase 1 and recombinant human and bovine transferrin. Taken together, these relationships demonstrate the different stages of the commercial cycle, from product development and distribution to initial purchasing and actual commercial sales. And they create multiple potential revenue pathways for Dyadic through direct sales, partner sales, milestones, royalties, development funding, and licensing. We also initiated scale-up activities with BRIG Bio for recombinant bovine alpha-lactalbumin under a fully funded development agreement. Additional product testing is underway to evaluate comparability to animal-produced proteins. This is another example of how we're advancing products toward broader commercial applications while working with partners to support development and scale-up. Importantly, the strain being developed for this program is not limited to a single end market. We're also using it to produce research-grade material for reagent and cell culture applications. That cross-category strategy gives us additional commercial options earlier in the development cycle. A protein ultimately intended for a larger nutrition market may also be introduced into research, reagent or cell culture channels where volumes, qualification requirements and commercialization time lines differ. This can provide earlier market validation and early revenue opportunities while the broader food and nutrition program advances. It also allows us to leverage the same development work across multiple markets. When we create a high-performing strain, optimize the process, and develop the analytical package, we look for opportunities to deploy those capabilities through direct sales, distribution, funded development, licensing, or broader collaborations. After quarter end, we also expanded our precision fermented dairy protein portfolio through an additional development and commercialization agreement. We're following the same playbook in bioindustrial, where we're building a portfolio around scalable enzyme production. In July, we announced a new proprietary industrial cellulase product, specifically engineered for advanced fiber modification applications. The program builds on the commercialization of EN3ZYME and is designed for applications that can include pulp biorefining, microcrystalline cellulose, and nanocellulose production with the potential to improve fiber strength and retention, reduce processing energy requirements, and increase usable fiber output and overall process efficiency. In addition to the commercial launch of enzymes non-animal chymosin and Fermbox Bio EN3ZYME, this new cellulase program further demonstrates the potential of Dapibus as a repeatable product development and manufacturing platform across multiple enzyme classes and end markets. Rather than relying on different production organisms for different products, Dapibus is built around the common microbial production strains and shared development infrastructure, which can help streamline strain development, process optimization, scale-up and manufacturing as additional products move through the pipeline. As our programs advance through optimization, pilot scale production, and customer evaluation, we expect to evaluate multiple commercialization paths, including direct product sales, strategic collaborations, contract manufacturing, and technology licensing. When you look across life sciences, food and nutrition, and bio-industrial, the model is becoming increasingly consistent. We now have products moving through qualification and distribution, products generating initial sales, and partner-developed products already being sold commercially. At the same time, we're improving manufacturing productivity and costs, and expanding the number of applications and markets our proteins and enzymes potentially can address. We use that commercial and technical validation to strengthen both the economics of individual products and the strategic value of the underlying platforms. That's why we view the commercial traction and strategic business development as complementary. We believe that the combination improves our ability to build recurring product revenue while also increasing the potential value of licensing and broader strategic collaborations. Importantly, the benefits are not limited to one platform or market. We're increasingly able to leverage learnings and technology advances across C1 and Dapibus, including our proprietary combinatorial libraries and the rapid plasmid-to-protein development capabilities advanced through the fully funded biopharmaceutical program. That work has demonstrated the ability in certain programs to move from plasmid-to-purified-protein in approximately 15 days. We believe applying these capabilities across our shared technology foundation can help improve development speed, expression yields, manufacturing economics, and time to commercialization across life sciences, food and nutrition, bioindustrial, and biopharmaceutical opportunities. With that, I will now turn the call over to Mark to discuss our biopharmaceutical programs, including how the data and capabilities being generated there can further strengthen C1 and potentially create additional strategic value across Dyadic. Mark?

Thank you, Joe. Joe described how commercial products are helping validate our platforms across life sciences, food and nutrition, and bioindustrial markets. Our biopharmaceutical programs are doing something similar at the more regulated end of the protein spectrum. The programs are generating data related to the production of monoclonal antibodies, vaccine antigens, and other therapeutic proteins that we believe can strengthen the broader value proposition of C1 as a manufacturing platform. Our strategy in biopharma remains partner-funded and capital-efficient. We're not trying to build a fully integrated pharmaceutical company or independently fund large clinical programs. Instead we were working with organizations such as the Gates Foundation, CEPI Foundation, the Biotecnopolo di Siena or FBS, the EU Vaccine Hub, Scripps Research, NIAID supports collaborations, the Israel Institute for Biological Research, and several others that can help evaluate C1 against demanding technical benchmarks. Our Gates Foundation-supported collaboration is funded under an approximately $3.9 million grant program focused on developing potentially lower-cost monoclonal antibodies targeting respiratory syncytial virus and malaria. C1-produced antibodies have demonstrated high productivity and functional characteristics comparable to established mammalian cell reference materials. Funding is in place to continue this work, and we are working toward providing C1-produced material to support initiation of preclinical studies with one or both antibodies. Each step toward more advanced evaluation provides additional evidence around C1's ability to manufacture complex biologics with the productivity, quality, and functionality in comparison to legacy platforms that biopharmaceutical developers evaluate when considering the adoption of an innovative production platform such as C1. We're also continuing our CEPI-supported collaboration through FBS, under which Dyadic is eligible to receive up to approximately $2.4 million to support recombinant vaccine development and scale-up activities. A key capability demonstrated through this work is speed. C1 has shown the ability to progress from plasmid to purified protein antigen in approximately 15 days. We subsequently applied this rapid workflow to two Scripps-designed Bundibugyo ebolavirus antigens, providing a real-world demonstration of the C1 platform's ability to approximately 15-day plasmid to purified-protein capability. Both antigens have been delivered to Scripps Research and FBS and are now undergoing further characterization with the potential to support future preclinical evaluation. What is particularly important about that result is what the workflow demonstrates. Rapid strain development, efficient creation of the target protein, streamlined process execution, and delivery of purified material in a highly compressed time line. Speed can be especially important in pandemic preparedness. But these same capabilities can also create value more broadly for development time lines, Manufacturing simplicity, scalability, and cost of goods, influence product development and commercialization decisions. This is where our biopharma work connects back to the broader business Joe discussed. Working on technically demanding antibodies and vaccine antigens expands our know-how in strain engineering, expression, secretion, purification, and scale-up. Every protein is different, but the capabilities and technical learnings generated through these programs can and are potentially informing development work across our broader portfolio. Beyond Gates and CEPI, we are advancing the NIAID-supported preclinical evaluation of C1-produced malaria antigens, continuing monoclonal antibody development with the Israel Institute for Biological Research, and pursuing additional potential antibody programs through the European Vaccines Hub and FBS ecosystem, as well as the opportunities with prospective first-time C1 collaborators. Collectively, these programs are broadening the external data set around C1 across many different protein classes and applications. We believe a growing body of evidence continues to support additional funded development programs and create opportunities for potential platform licensing, technology access, milestone royalties, manufacturing relationships, and broader strategic collaborations. Taken together with the commercial progress Joe described, we believe Dyadic is building a more balanced business, nearer-term product revenue opportunities across our commercial segments, supported by externally funded biopharmaceutical programs that can generate technical validation and potentially create longer-term licensing and strategic value. With that, I will turn the call back to Ping for the financial review.

Thank you, Mark. I will now go over our key financial results for the second quarter of 2026 in more detail. You can find additional information in our earnings press release and Form 10-Q, which we filed earlier today. Total revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2026 was approximately $961,000, essentially flat compared to approximately $967,000 for the second quarter of 2025. Revenue for the quarter included approximately $124,000 of research and development revenue and $837,000 of grant revenue, primarily associated with our ongoing externally funded programs. For the first six months of 2026, total revenue increased approximately 52% to $2.1 million compared to approximately $1.4 million for the same period in 2025. Total cost of revenue for the quarter was approximately $984,000, an increase of 60% compared to approximately $614,000 for the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily related to higher activity levels associated with our grant-funded programs. Internal research and development expenses decreased 47% year over year to approximately $333,000 compared to approximately $629,000 in the second quarter of 2025. The decrease reflects our continuous focus on advancing programs through externally funded collaborations and maintaining disciplined internal R&D spending. For the six months, internal research and development expenses were approximately $809,000, down 28% from approximately $1.1 million a year ago. G&A expenses increased by $253,000 or 18% year over year to approximately $1.7 million compared to approximately $1.4 million in the second quarter of 2025. The increase was primarily driven by higher rebranding and business development expenses of $323,000 and the higher legal and accounting expenses of $116,000, partially offset by lower share-based compensation expenses of $196,000 and the lower incentive compensation of $32,000. For the six months, G&A expenses were approximately $3.4 million and an increase of 14% year over year. Loss from operations for the quarter was approximately $2.1 million compared to approximately $1.7 million in the prior year period. Net loss for the quarter was approximately $2.1 million or $0.06 per share, compared to approximately $1.8 million or $0.06 per share for the second quarter of 2025. For the six months ended June 30, 2026, net loss was approximately $4.1 million or $0.11 per share compared to approximately $3.8 million or $0.13 per share for the first six months of 2025. Turning to our balance sheet and liquidity, we ended the second quarter with approximately $4.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and investment-grade securities including accrued interest. As disclosed in our Form 10-Q, based on our current liquidity position and the accounting requirements for evaluating liquidity over the 12 months following the issuance of our financial statements, we concluded that there's substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern under the applicable accounting standard ASC 205-3. I want to briefly put that disclosure into context and be clear about what that means and what it does not mean. Going concern is a required accounting assessment based on whether our current resources, together with financing and other actions that are considered probable, are sufficient to fund our obligations over the required assessment period. This is a required accounting determination regarding the 12-month look-forward period from the financial statement issuance date. It does not mean that the company is ceasing operations, and it does not reflect any default under our convertible notes or any other obligations of the company. We were in compliance with all our covenants under our convertible notes, and those notes do not mature until December 31, 2027. Rather, the conclusion reflects our need to obtain additional capital as we continue executing our commercialization and development strategy. We are actively evaluating a range of financing alternatives and other opportunities to strengthen our balance sheet. Importantly, those opportunities are not limited to traditional equity financing. We are also pursuing potential non-dilutive and strategic sources of capital, including new and expanded licensing arrangements, upfront and milestone payments, royalties, funded development programs, products and technology partnerships, and other strategic transactions that could provide capital while also accelerating commercialization and a broader adoption of our technologies. At the same time, we remain focused on disciplined cash management, expanding commercial revenues, and maximizing the use of third-party funding and strategic collaborations to support development activities. Our objective is to increasingly fund product development through a combination of commercial revenues, partner-funded programs, and other non-dilutive sources, thereby reducing the amount of capital Dyadic must deploy internally as the business expands. As Joe and Mark discussed, we are beginning to see increasing commercial activity across our life sciences, food and nutrition, and bioindustrial programs, alongside the continued external funding and validation of our biopharmaceutical programs. While these activities remain at a relatively early stage, we believe they are creating a growing number of opportunities to generate recurring product revenues, licensing income, royalties, milestones, and other partnership revenues. Our broader objective is not simply to increase revenue, but to build a business model in which a growing portion of product development and commercialization can be supported by customers, licensees, strategic partners, and external funding sources. If successful, we believe this approach can help extend our financial resources, reduce our reliance on dilutive capital, and allow us to continue advancing a broader portfolio of commercial and strategic opportunities while carefully managing operating expenses and capital requirements. With that, I will now ask the operator to begin our Q&A session. Each caller will be allowed one question and one follow-up question to provide all callers with an opportunity to participate. If time permits, the operator will allow additional questions from those who have already spoken. I will now ask the operator to begin our Q&A session, after which Joe Hazelton will provide closing remarks. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] And the first question comes from the line of Matt Hewitt with Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

Maybe first up, I think both in your Q as well as in your prepared remarks, you noted fairly significant ordering activity post-closing the Q2 books. I'm just curious, should we anticipate that we're going to see product revenues here in the third quarter? And if so, what does that ramp kind of look like? Or do you anticipate it'll be lumpy here over the first few quarters?

Matt, it's a great question. Yes, lumpy would probably be the best way to describe it. What we did in the second quarter, we started to fill the channels. We obviously shipped products to our first global distributor, IBT. We also have direct product sales or initial pilot sales going into cultured meat and a couple into the research segment as well. But it's too early until we have some recurring orders to really figure out what that ramp is going to look like. Obviously, we're having discussions every day. So again, we're always trying to push the ramp as quickly as possible, but I think it's just right now it's a little too early. But the good news is we also have our partners in the market like ProLiant, who's not only launched AlbuFree DX, but now they're looking to launch two additional products into the market. We have Enzymes and Fermbox as well. So our hope is obviously between our product sales as well as our partners that we'll continue to build that ramp as quickly as possible.

You have a lot of irons in the fire, several different products that you're working on, different partnerships that you've inked and others that are coming. How are you prioritizing all of those? Or is it just basically moving down the list and knocking them all off at the same time?