Amedica Corp. has laid off 25 employees, representing approximately 28% of its workforce.
The move was part of a “comprehensive business review” that also includes deep cuts to corporate overhead and operational costs.
The Salt Lake City–based firm—struggling to recover after a disappointing IPO in 2014—will also leverage a partnership with multinational ceramics and electronics firm Kyocera, which it hopes will lower manufacturing costs by 25%. In all, it hopes the strategy will save between $6 and $8 million in annualized profit starting in the first quarter of 2015. Amedica officials hope to reach an operating cash flow break-even in the middle of 2016.
The stock fell more than 2% following the announcement of the restructuring news.
Things have been pretty bad for Amedica since its IPO in early 2014. Its stock has fallen from a height of $7.85 per share in February of that year to $0.92 today—an 88% decline. The firm has earned the dubious distinction of being the one of the worst IPOs of 2014. (Check out our roundup of the worst-performing medtech firms of 2014.)
On a more upbeat note, the company recently announced the results of its CASCADE study, which pitted its silicon nitride orthopedic implants against autograft bone. That study is said to be the first to find a synthetic material could be integrated into a patient’s body as well as an implant using a patient’s own bone. Early studies showed that silicon nitride had antibacterial properties and supported bone growth onto the material.
In 2012, the company was excitedly extolling the virtues of its silicon nitride material, which is strong and is said to have better imaging characteristics than either PEEK or titanium, both of which are widely used in orthopedics.
In a press release, the company states it hopes its sales of silicon nitride devices will increase 30 to 40% over its 2014 sales, which would give it annual revenue of approximately $23 to $24 billion. Its full-year revenue for 2014 was estimated in December to be in the range of $22 million to $24 million.
In September, the company hired a new CEO, Sonny Bal, MD, who replaced the outgoing CEO Eric Olson.
