LENZ Therapeutics’ latest earnings call painted a picture of an early but measurable commercial rollout for its presbyopia eye drop, with tangible patient response, an aggressive sampling strategy, and a spending plan built around sales and awareness. The company reported initial sales and refill signals, outlined a sampling-first distribution model, described an expanding field force and DTC push, and mapped a path for international regulatory filings and ongoing investment.
Executives said the launch has moved quickly into real-world use, with the company reporting the sale of more than 45,000 monthly packs and prescriptions from over 10,000 eye care professionals. Management also cited roughly 20,000 paid monthly prescriptions driving about $1.6 million in fourth-quarter product revenue, and noted that many patients report near-vision benefit in about 30 minutes.
President and CEO Evert Schimmelpennink framed the rollout around three pillars: outcomes that mirror clinical data, early refill behavior, and category formation. He described the program as “product clearly works,” and said the company is “clearly building a new treatment category,” signaling confidence that early indicators reflect durable demand rather than a one-time spike.
A cornerstone of the strategy is a sampling-first approach that management says lets patients try therapy before buying, with estimates that more than 90% of new patients start with a sample. Executives called the effect “natural self-selection,” arguing that people who perceive benefit are more likely to convert to paid prescriptions, a contrast they drew to launches where trials were not as widely available upfront.
That sampling strategy has operational limits, and the field team cannot fully trace every sample from office to patient. Management described a mix of behaviors among prescribers—some hand a sample and a script together, some sample first and script later, and some prescribe without sampling—and said the company is working to standardize best practices across the prescriber base.
Commercial execution has picked up pace, with the field force expanding from 88 to 117 representatives to broaden coverage and drive uptake. The company reports more than 14,000 locations enrolled in its “Find a Doc” program, and said roughly 55% of prescribing doctors have written the product multiple times, with prescribing split roughly 80% optometry and 20% ophthalmology.
Executives acknowledged two messaging challenges in the field: helping ECPs weave the new therapy into routine exams and shifting perceptions that drops are only for very early presbyopes. The company is coaching clinicians to incorporate a brief “10-second” discussion and highlighting data showing benefits for moderate and advanced presbyopia in order to expand the eligible patient pool.
On the consumer front, LENZ launched a direct-to-consumer campaign featuring Sarah Jessica Parker in mid-January and reported web traffic roughly five times baseline during the campaign’s early months. Management emphasized that DTC lifts awareness quickly but typically requires multiple touchpoints before converting into prescriptions, and they expect a more noticeable Rx impact in the second half of the year.
Financially, the company ended the period with about $292.3 million in cash and no debt, and roughly 31.3 million shares outstanding. Fourth-quarter operating expenses ran near $40 million, which included non-cash stock-based compensation, and the quarter produced a net loss of $35.9 million alongside approximately $32 million in net cash burn.
Revenue recognition follows two distribution channels: an ePharmacy route where sales are recognized on delivery and a traditional wholesale-to-pharmacy channel where revenue is recognized on shipment to wholesalers. CFO Dan Chevallard said those channels supported the reported $1.6 million in launch-quarter product revenue and the platform of more than 20,000 monthly paid prescriptions.
Cost of goods sold was modest in the quarter at about $400,000, driven partly by non-recurring manufacturing costs, and management said they expect to trend toward approximately 90% direct product gross margin. They also reported an observed blended gross-to-net ratio near 90%, with net cash per monthly package roughly $60 after distribution-related adjustments.
Looking at spend, LENZ expects to allocate roughly 75% to 80% of operating expenses toward sales and marketing to drive adoption, keep general and administrative costs relatively stable, and treat research and development as a de minimis line after completion of late-stage trials. That prioritization underscores a launch-focused budget aimed at building prescriber and consumer demand.
Outside the U.S., the company is advancing multiple regulatory submissions and commercialization partnerships, noting an NDA review underway in China and filings submitted across Southeast Asia, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore. Management said an EMA centralized submission was filed in early March, a U.K. submission will follow, and partners are pursuing Health Canada and Middle East pathways, with several ex-U.S. submissions complete and more planned through the year.
Investors and clinicians will likely watch refill behavior, multi-month prescription uptake, DTC-to-Rx translation, and the pace of international approvals as the next set of meaningful signals. Management emphasized an emphasis on field execution and consumer awareness as levers to expand the prescribing footprint and convert early interest into sustained use.
