Bionano Genomics lays off 45% employees

The San Diego-based biotechnology firm Bionano Genomics has recently laid off almost half of its employees as a part of a restructuring plan that will help the company decrease its expenditures and become more efficient.

The company said that 84 employees, or about 45% of its full-time workforce, would be laid off.

The decision has been made in the context of "cost cutting" measures and increased concentration on the use of the OGM systems that the company already has, rather than the constant search for new placements for those systems.

Bionano’s decision, which was made public yesterday, comes after a series of measures aimed at cutting costs were implemented in the past year. The company added that the restructuring plan will lead to annual cost cuts of between $25m and $30m beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.

These latest layoffs are in addition to previous measures that have been taken to cut costs in May, October 2023, and March 2024.

The restructuring plan will be based on the company’s installed base of OGM systems and will be more customer centric in terms of how the customer is getting the maximum out of the OGM systems that are installed in their cars.

Thus, the company can strengthen its position in the market focusing on customer utilization, and providing its stakeholders with long term benefits.

In a statement, Bionano said that the downsizing was done to reflect the company’s current strategic focus.

The company is also likely to record restructuring costs of between $500,000 and $1,000,000 in the process.

Although the layoffs are severe, Bionano considers it as an appropriate action that would help in the long-term sustainability of the business.

The biotech industry has come under immense pressure from economic factors and this has made it challenging for firms such as Bionano to make key choices on how to survive in a competitive market.

The layoffs are a significant turning point for Bionano Genomics as it looks to right its ship and find a way to become profitable.