Good afternoon, and thank you for joining the ReShape Lifesciences Year-end 2023 Conference Call. I would like to turn the call over to Michael Miller from Rx Communications.

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining the year-end 2023 ReShape Lifesciences Earnings Call. I'm pleased to be joined today by Paul Hickey, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tom Stankovich, Chief Financial Officer. Paul will provide an overview and update on the company's activities, which will include a discussion with Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding, a member of ReShape's Scientific Advisory Board. Then Tom will review the financial results for the period. We'll then turn the call back over to Paul for some closing remarks, after which we will open the call to a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, this conference call as well as ReShape Lifesciences' SEC filings and website including the information -- Investor Information section of the website, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. These and additional risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those factors identified as Risk Factors in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K. As an additional reminder, ReShape stock is listed on NASDAQ, trading under the symbol RSLS. I'll now turn the call over to Paul Hickey, President and CEO of ReShape Lifesciences. Paul?

Thank you, Mike, and thanks to all of you for joining us this afternoon for our year-end 2023 earnings call. After I provide an overview and update on ReShape's activities, we will be joined by a member of our Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding, Professor of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director of the NYU Langone Weight Management Program and Chief of the Division of Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Ren-Fielding spoke on our second quarter 2023 conference call. She recently performed one of the first surgeries utilizing the next-generation Lap-Band 2.0 FLEX, and has been kind enough to join us once again to discuss her experience realizing this new version of the Lap-Band. Now let me begin. ReShape remains dedicated to achieving profitability by executing our growth strategies and maintaining our emphasis on creating shareholder value by focusing on our 3 growth pillars. Our story for 2023 is not unlike other businesses that have seen the impact of GLP-1 agonist prescription drugs, but we stand apart with those businesses that have responded quickly, made bold adjustments to the strategies and stabilized their businesses. The most important takeaway from this call is for our investors to understand that we remain dedicated to our first pillar of growth, which remains paramount for ReShape to achieve profitability and maintain our emphasis on creating shareholder value. Our steadfast focus on cost reductions while continuing to invest in growth drivers is intended to secure the long-term sustainability of the company. While GLP-1 prescriptions are now understood to be a long-term growth catalyst for the bariatric market, their short-term impact made it necessary to make additional strategic cost reductions, including a further reduction in staff leading to a projected 55.4% decrease in operating expenses for 2024 compared to last year. Tom and I will…

Thanks, Paul. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. As mentioned earlier, I'm a Professor of Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Director of the NYU Langone Weight Management Program and the Chief of the Division of Bariatric Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. I was recruited to create the Bariatric Surgery division in 2000 and was the first bariatric surgeon at NYU fresh out of training. With the following year in 2001, when the Lap-Band was FDA approved, that I became one of the first surgeons in the state to be trained on how to implant and manage the device. Within 2 months of the approval, I became one of the busiest and most prominent surgeons performing Lap-Band surgery. In the first 10 years, I implanted approximately 5,000 Lap-Bands. I became a consultant for BioEnterics and sat on their Clinical Advisory Board. I trained other surgeons on Lap-Band surgery as a proctor and by running workshops. I also lectured on Lap-Band surgery at other academic institutions, at other training workshops and at national and international conferences. I've published over 45 scientific research articles involving Lap-Band surgery outcomes to improve quality of care and decrease complications. I continued my consulting roles with the subsequent companies that own Lap-Band. First with Inamed, then Allergan and now at ReShape. Over the past 23 years, I have expanded NYU's Bariatric Surgery division, which now consists of 6 bariatric surgeons, 5 nurse practitioners, 3 registered dietitians, 2 psychologists and 1 social worker. We performed approximately 1,000 bariatric operations per year, including sleep gastrectomy, gastric bypass and Lap-Band surgery. However, about 30% of our operations are revisions or corrective operations to treat weight regain or complication. It is worth mentioning that the utilization of GLP-1 is having a tremendously positive impact in…

Thank you, Chris. As a leader in the field, we appreciate your opinions and first-hand experiences. We remain confident that with our Lap-Band 2.0 FLEX and legacy Lap-Band, we are uniquely positioned with the least invasive, safest and most durable weight loss option for these patients that have historically had an aversion to medically-managed weight loss and surgery. Given the growing body of evidence pointing to the fact that weight loss due to GLP-1 usage has limitations related to comorbidities and accessibility, we believe that the marketing opportunity for the Lap-Band 2.0 FLEX and Lap-Band will increase over time. From a continuum care perspective, these patients are likely potential candidates for bariatric surgery as the next viable weight loss treatment. Before I turn the call over to Tom, I want to remind everyone that we have worked diligently to strengthen our IP position, most recently evidenced by the notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent Office for an additional patent covering an intrinsic balloon system. As always, we will continue to build a defensive moat around our product portfolio and commercialization efforts and take offensive actions when it is appropriate. I look forward to providing updates to you all in this important area in future updates. I would now like to turn the call over to Tom Stankovich to provide a recap of our financial performance. Tom?

Thanks, Paul. And once again, thank you all for joining our webcast this afternoon. As Paul mentioned earlier, in November and in response to continued pressure on the company's revenue caused by the adoption of GLP-1s, we are reorganizing the company and have identified cost reductions of approximately $8 million or more than 50% for 2024 alone. Specifically, a Reduction in Force of approximately $1.5 million, which began in November and December, and $900,000 of reductions in incentive compensation and other payroll-related amounts have been implemented across all expense categories. Other core operating costs in total have been reduced, which includes reduction in selling and marketing costs of $2.4 million without affecting our continued marketing spend optimization; costs related to the pause of our ReShapeCare program totaling $800,000; expenses related to G&A totaling $1.3 million, which are primarily in professional and consulting fees and insurance costs; and R&D expenses totaling $900,000, which primarily include reduced patent fees and consulting costs. Taken together with actions thus far, we have made significant progress reducing our core operating expenses, cutting approximately $24 million or 75% between 2022 and 2024. A full discussion of our actual financials is available in today's press release and 10-K. So I will just take a moment to review key financial metrics for the year ended December 31, 2023. Our revenue totaled $8.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, which represents a contraction of $2.6 million compared to the same period in 2022. The primary reason for this decrease is due to the introduction of GLP-1 prescriptions within the U.S. This is also evidenced by a decrease of Lap-Band unit sales of approximately 27%. We continue to focus on our new marketing strategies through targeted and AI-supported digital media campaigns near bariatric surgical centers around the U.S.…

Thanks, Tom. Before we open the call for Q&A, it's important to reiterate, as both Tom and I have detailed, that we have and will continue to adjust our operating expenses across all categories so we can invest in our growth initiatives including the full launch of our Lap-Band 2.0 FLEX. The swift and bold steps we have taken to restructure the company will help to ensure sustainability and scalability. We continue to prioritize investments, including marketing automation to support scalable acquisition, segmented customer-centric messaging via an updated website for improved patient engagement, and a frictionless booking system with qualified providers while further reducing lead generation costs. Taken together, we expect to increase Lap-Band procedures and ultimately, revenue. We will continue to develop and offer a portfolio that is differentiated from the competition with transformative technologies that consist of a selection of patient-friendly, non-anatomy-changing lifestyle-enhancing products that provide alternatives to more invasive bariatric surgeries to help patients achieve healthy durable weight loss. At the same time, we will continue to work with our world-class Scientific Advisory Board to continue to execute our plan for success in the global market that is changing in historic fashion to normalize safe and effective treatments for obesity. This concludes our prepared remarks. So now I would like to open the call for your questions. Operator?

[Operator Instructions] This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Paul Hickey for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

Thank you. I hope that you appreciate our steadfast commitment to enhancing the efficiency of our company through the revamping of the organization, to continue our quest for shareholder value as a sustainable, scalable company. We will continue to work diligently to build on our commitment to provide evidence-based personalized devices. A special thanks to Dr. Ren-Fielding for participating in today's call. As always, I want to thank our employees, Board members, customers, consultant advisers, suppliers, existing and new shareholders for their continued support of ReShape as we progress on our mission to become the premier physician-led weight loss company. I look forward to continuing to engage with our stakeholders, health care partners and shareholders.

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