NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (GenomeWeb News) - Transgenomic's board of directors has voted to "either sell or liquidate" its nucleic acids operating segment, the company said in an SEC filing yesterday.
The move would follow a reorganization of the nucleic acids business early this year that resulted in the layoff of around 60 employees.
Transgenomic's board voted to divest the business on Dec. 22, "after an evaluation of, among other things, short and long-term sales projections for products sold by the nucleic acids operating segment, including estimates of 2006 sales to the operating segment's largest customer."
The company said that it may close its nucleic acids facility in Glasgow, Scotland, in the first quarter of 2006, which would result in costs of around $1 million primarily related to severance payments.
In addition, Transgenomic will record a non-cash impairment charge of between $7 million and $10 million for the nucleic acids operating segment in the fourth quarter of 2005.
The company also decided to terminate its employee stock purchase plan, "based on a determination that the anticipated benefits from the plan were not sufficient to justify the ongoing administrative burden and cost of the plan."