• How to Make GNSL Profitable: The company had $7.2 million in the bank as of March 31 and was losing $1.5 million per quarter. HBIO said the unit will be immediately profitable after a $1.5 million restructuring charge, but wants to bring it to 20 percent profitability “within a couple of years.”.
• Who Stays, Who Goes: GNSL will cut 30 percent of its staff, after 25 percent staff cuts that began last September. Likely to leave: mid- to upper management at GNSL. Likely to stay: sales team. Staying: CEO Jeff Williams; Tom Tisone, founder of Cartesian Technologies; Dave Bayat, Manager of Genomic Solutions’ UK plant.
• Trimming GNSL’s Genomics Product Lineup: Proteomics and HTS instruments likely to be emphasized, future uncertain for GeneTAC HybStation, G3 Library Management System, LS IV, and UC4 arraying instruments. License to produce GeneMap microarrays must be renegotiated with Affymetrix.
• Coordinating Sales and Distribution Networks: Genomic Solutions has 40 to 45 people in sales, marketing, and field services worldwide, including 25 sales people. Harvard Bioscience has four, including two in Europe and two in the US.
• The Future of the GNSL-PerkinElmer relationship: Likely to stay in place if PerkinElmer continues to show improvement in sales.
• Schleicher & Schuell’s stake in GNSL. The company owned 29 percent of Cartesian Technologies and now owns 6.25 percent stake in GNSL. But with GNSL being acquired by a Schleicher & Schuell competitor on the supply end, what will S&S do?