We have some familiarity with the company. We wouldn't say we are experts, but could we spend a little time talking about your background?

To me, it turned into a highly competitive dynamic because the company had hundreds of thousands of customers, but around 25 of them made up probably 60% or more of the company's business. These relationships were very competitive, especially with companies like Thermo and some smaller distributors like Thomas. The contracts would come up for renewal periodically, and both Avantor and Thermo Fisher had a strong track record of maintaining these large relationships. It was rare for these accounts to switch.

We have some familiarity with the company. We wouldn't say we are experts, but could we spend a little time talking about your background?

Looking back over the history, I didn't see much change until around mid-2022 to the end of 2022. To retain some accounts, we went beyond the usual inducements like price modifications or free products. It even came down to making upfront cash payments to customers.

Taken on by Novo.

We made a large upfront payment, which I don't think was ever disclosed. This marked the beginning of the industry's awareness that this was in play. From there, discussions and negotiations became quite aggressive. Pharma companies were motivated, realizing they had overstocked and were facing a challenging commercial cycle. I don't think they've fully emerged from that yet, so they were aggressive in negotiations with us. More than a handful of accounts changed hands.