NEW YORK – Bionano Genomics disclosed on Monday that it has carried out a new reorganization round, including a reduction in workforce, starting last week.
In connection with the restructuring, the company once again lowered its 2024 revenue guidance from a previous range of $36 million to $40 million to between $32 million and $36 million, primarily reflecting an expected decrease in optical genome mapping instrument placements.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the San Diego-based optical genome mapping company said it expects to lay off approximately 84 employees, or roughly 45 percent of its full-time employees as of Sept. 3. The layoffs, which are expected to be mostly completed by Oct. 1, will reduce the company's annual operating expenses by $25 million to $30 million beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024, Bionano said.
The company also estimates the total reorganization costs will be approximately $500,000 to $1 million, including severance payments in connection with the plan.
As part of the reduction, Bionano CFO Gülsen Kama, who started working with the company in August last year, will also no longer be employed by the firm, effective Sept. 18, 2024. After Kama's departure, Bionano President and CEO Erik Holmlin will serve as the company's principal financial officer while Mark Adamchak, Bionano's VP of accounting and finance, will serve as the principal accounting officer.
With the restructuring, Bionano said it will refocus the company's efforts on the current installed base of the OGM systems to ensure customers can “maximize their utilization” with their existing platforms and emphasize less on new placements of OGM instruments.
This is the fourth round of reorganizations for Bionano since the beginning of 2023, having previously laid off more than 100 employees in March of this year after headcount reductions in May and October 2023.
In light of the most recent restructuring, investment bank BTIG has downgraded Bionano's stock from a Buy rating to Neutral on Tuesday. In a note to investors, BTIG analyst Mark Massaro wrote that the decision to downgrade Bionano shares was "principally driven by the ongoing challenging capital markets environment," particularly for smaller companies.
In Tuesday afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, Bionaono shares were down almost 3 percent at $0.43.