NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – BG Medicine said in a document filed yesterday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it has laid off 12 of its 22 employees, or roughly 55 percent of its workforce.
The company said it took this step "in order to reduce its operating expenses and extend its cash runway in anticipation of the commercial launch of automated versions of [its] galectin-3 test," which it plans to launch in the US in 2015.
The restructuring eliminated BG's sales and marketing team as well as certain positions in other areas. The company plans to complete the layoffs in the third quarter of 2014, during which time it expects to record one-time charges for severance payments and benefits continuation totaling approximately $300,000.
BG said it expects to save around $1.9 million per year from the layoffs.
The company also said that on Sept. 5 it received notice from Nasdaq that it fails to meet a requirement to remain listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company is not in compliance with the requirement that its common stock maintain a minimum closing price bid of $1.00 per share.
BG has 180 days to regain compliance, which will be achieved if the closing bid price of its stock is at or above $1.00 for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days at any time during the 180-day period.