NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – PDI has cut four percent of its workforce, including employees from its soon-to-be-divested commercial services business and its core diagnostics segment, in a move the firm expects to trim $1.9 million from its yearly operating costs.
Last month, PDI announced that it signed a deal to sell its commercial services business, which provides biomedical commercialization and marketing services, to Publicis Group for up to about $48 million. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the month, stemmed from PDI's decision to focus on its molecular diagnostics operations.
PDI also said that it would assume the name of its molecular diagnostics subsidiary, Interpace Diagnostics, and change its Nasdaq trading symbol to IDXG when the deal is finalized.
In anticipation of the sale and in an effort to streamline its cost structure, PDI has cut 36 employees, representing two percent of its commercial services staff and 21 percent of Interpace Diagnostics, effective today, the company disclosed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
PDI said that the layoffs will save about $400,000 this month until the close of the Publicis deal, and $1.9 million annually for its ongoing Interpace segment.
In connection with the reduction in workforce, PDI said that it expects to incur a restructuring charge of about $1 million during the fiscal year ended Dec. 31. About 82 percent of this charge is directly attributable to the commercial services segment and would have been incurred as part of the sale, but is being recognized earlier to attain additional cost savings, the firm noted in the SEC filing.