Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage vaccine innovation company headquartered in San Carlos, California. Founded in 2013 (originally as SutroVax, Inc., rebranded in May 2020), Vaxcyte leverages its proprietary cell-free protein synthesis platform to rapidly engineer and manufacture high-fidelity vaccines. The company's primary focus is on preventing invasive pneumococcal ...Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage vaccine innovation company headquartered in San Carlos, California. Founded in 2013 (originally as SutroVax, Inc., rebranded in May 2020), Vaxcyte leverages its proprietary cell-free protein synthesis platform to rapidly engineer and manufacture high-fidelity vaccines. The company's primary focus is on preventing invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia, with its lead candidate VAX-24, a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, currently in Phase 1/2 clinical trials. VAX-24 aims to provide broader serotype coverage than existing vaccines, potentially addressing antibiotic-resistant strains. Beyond VAX-24, Vaxcyte is advancing VAX-XP for emerging bacterial strains and antimicrobial resistance, VAX-A1 for Group A Streptococcus, and VAX-PG for periodontitis. The company's technology enables precise conjugation and optimization, which may lead to improved immunogenicity and manufacturability. As of the latest data, Vaxcyte has 507 full-time employees and a market capitalization of approximately $8.4 billion. Financially, the company is pre-revenue, with significant R&D investments and negative operating cash flows, typical for clinical-stage biotechs. Key executives include CEO and co-founder Grant Pickering, who has extensive experience in vaccine development. Vaxcyte went public in June 2020 and continues to expand its pipeline and manufacturing capabilities. Its mission is to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases through next-generation vaccines.
Operator: Good afternoon. My name is Chloe, and I will be your conference operator for the Vaxcyte Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Andrew Guggenhime, President and Chief Financial Officer of Vaxcyte. Please go ahead, sir.
Andrew Guggenhime: Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us today as we review our 2025 results and provide a business update. I am joined by our Chief Executive Officer, Grant Pickering; and our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Jim Wassil. Earlier today, we issued a news release announcing our results. Copies of this and our other news releases, latest corporate presentation and SEC filings can be found in the Investors and Media section of our website. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during this call, we'll be making certain forward-looking statements about Vaxcyte, which are subject to various risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those referred to in any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with these statements, please see our press release issued today as well as our most recent filings with the SEC, including the risk factors set forth in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and any subsequent reports filed with the SEC. With that, I'll turn the call over to Grant Pickering. Grant?
Grant Pickering: Thanks, Andrew. As we close out 2025 and look forward to multiple clinical readouts beginning later this year, I'm proud of the progress we made across the company, particularly within our pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or PCV franchise. Despite decades of vaccination efforts, pneumococcal disease continues to drive substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly among young children and older adults. While current vaccines have made a meaningful impact, gaps in serotype coverage persist and the public health need for broader spectrum protection remains clear. Consistent with that need, we are seeing accelerating growth in the adult PCV market, driven by expanded age group recommendations in the United States and increasing international adoption of adult PCV vaccination. Continued momentum in the PCV class has reinforced the size of the opportunity and demand for a PCV that increases disease coverage by protecting against both historically and currently circulating serotypes while maintaining robust immune responses. Taken together, this underscores our opportunity to improve public health as we prepare to enter an increasingly attractive commercial market. The unprecedented results from our Phase II study in adults demonstrated that VAX-31 may offer substantial improvement over existing products and achieve our objective to significantly expand disease coverage while maintaining high immunogenicity …