Progenity to Close Genetic Test Services, Shifts Focus to Therapeutics

Women's health diagnostic firm, Progenity Inc PROG, will close its genetics laboratory as part of a strategic transformation that emphasizes its drug delivery technologies and therapeutics.
Closing the lab and other "operational improvements" will allow the company to reduce annual the capital required for operations by approximately 70%, from more than $180 million to about $50 million in 2022.
Progenity will focus primarily on its research and development pipeline and will stop offering its Preparent Carrier Test, Innatal Prenatal Screen, Riscover Hereditary Cancer Test, and Resura Prenatal Test.
The strategic transformation is expected to be finished over the next two months and will include a 56% reduction of its total workforce, trimming 374 employees from its staff.
The change is also expected to result in annualized cost savings of about $130 million in costs.
After accounting for the costs of the change, the company's capital requirements are expected to be about $4 million to $5 million per month.
Progenity's affiliate laboratory, Avero Diagnostics, has projected revenues for 2021 of $35 million to $40 million, and the company said it is "evaluating strategic opportunities" for Avero to generate capital.
On a conference call to discuss the change, Progenity CFO Eric d'Esparbes said the firm was withdrawing its full-year 2021 guidance.
Progenity will still develop its Preecludia preeclampsia rule-out test, Drug Delivery System platform, and Oral Biopharmaceutical Delivery System, along with gastrointestinal-targeted therapeutics and monoclonal biotherapeutics.
It will also continue developing PIL Dx, its ingestible lab-in-a-capsule technology, as well as its single-molecule detection platform.
Price Action: PROG shares are down 17.5% at $2.36 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.

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Progenity to Close Genetic Test Services, Shifts Focus to Therapeutics