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Standard BioTools to Restructure, Discontinue Certain Products as Q2 Revenues Drop 39 Percent

NEW YORK – Standard BioTools reported after the close of the market on Monday that its second quarter revenues plummeted 39 percent year over year and its net loss more than tripled as the company continues to implement a new corporate strategy initiated earlier this year. 

In January, the firm formerly known as Fluidigm announced that it would change its name and undergo a strategic review in conjunction with a $250 million capital infusion from Casdin Capital and Viking Global Investors. 

With that review complete, the company said this week that it has begun a restructuring that will significantly lower its operational expenses through an undisclosed number of layoffs and a reduction in its real estate footprint including its headquarters in South San Francisco, California. 

The firm also said it will reduce R&D and marketing spending for its microfluidics business in favor of "high-value niche markets for specialized applications" while maintaining focus on its mass cytometry business. Standard BioTools also plans to exit its laser capture microdissection and Flow Conductor sample prep businesses while de-emphasizing its COVID-19 diagnostic testing products. Finally, the company plans to pursue additional OEM opportunities similar to its relationship with Olink, whose Signature Q100 benchtop qPCR platform is manufactured by Standard BioTools. 

The company said it expects the restructuring to significantly lower operating cash burn beginning in the second half of this year, and that these actions along with its current cash position gives it a sufficient runway to fund current operations to cash flow breakeven by the end of 2024 while allowing for strategic M&A to complement its core technologies. 

For the three months ended June 30, Standard BioTools logged revenues of $18.8 million compared to $31.0 million a year ago. Its mass cytometry revenues declined 39 percent to $10.1 million, while its microfluidics base revenues dropped 29 percent to $7.3 million. Meanwhile, COVID-19 testing revenues retreated 74 percent to about $600,000 from $2.3 million a year ago. 

The company's Q2 net loss swelled to $63.5 million, or $.82 per share, from a net loss of $17.1 million, or $.23 per share, a year ago. The firm finished the quarter with $74.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and $136.9 million in short-term investments. 

"Four months after I joined the company as president and CEO, and now with a strategic review process completed, the potential to build a next-generation consolidated life science company around this portfolio of powerful technologies remains incredibly exciting," Standard BioTools President and CEO Michael Egholm said in a statement. "There is work to do to make this vision a reality, and while it will take time, we are confident we will get there." 

Egholm added that the Q2 results "are not the standard we hold ourselves to, and we can and will do better in coming quarters and years." 

Since its cash infusion from Casdin and Viking, Standard BioTools has also added several new members to its management team besides Egholm. These include Alex Kim as chief operating officer; Jeremy Davis as chief commercial officer; Mona Abou-Sayed as senior VP of SBS (Standard BioTools Business Systems); Anders Davas as SVP of global operations; Matt Ritchie as VP of global sales operations; Seiya Ohta as VP of customer and user experience; David Panzarella as VP of commercial operations for the Americas; and Kathy Harrell as VP and controller. 

The firm also appointed Martin Madaus, Frank Witney, and Eli Casdin to its board of directors. 

In late Tuesday trading on the Nasdaq, shares of Standard BioTools had fallen around 15 percent to $1.72.

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