Lexicon Pharmaceuticals announced a new restructuring plan Thursday, which includes a 22 percent reduction in its workforce. The 102 positions cut will be primarily in basic research, early-stage discovery and support positions, the company's statement said. Lexicon expects the layoffs to reduce its expenses by $8 million this year, and $11 million annually thereafter. This is the company's second layoff announcement in less than a year. In May of 2008, the Texas-based company cut jobs in Texas and New Jersey. Lexicon said it had $177.3 million in cash and investments on hand as of September 30, 2008.
According to the company's statement, resources will now be focused on drug discovery efforts in the company's core therapeutics areas, including immunology, metabolism/cardiology and ophthalmology. Lexicon has several drug candidates in the pipeline. its candidate for irritable bowel syndrome, LX1031, and another for carcinoid syndrome, LX1032, are both in Phase II development. And in Phase I trials, the company has LX2931 for rheumatoid arthritis and LX4211 for diabetes. A drug candidate for glaucoma, LX7101, is also in the preclinical research stage.
"We are grateful for the significant contributions and the dedication of the employees affected by this consolidation,'' said Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer. "However, these challenging economic times require us to further focus our financial and human resources on key drug discovery and development programs we can efficiently advance through clinical development towards commercialization.''
- check out the press release