By Adriano Marchese

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals said that it will lay off 60% of its staff and eliminate its commercial operations as part of a broader restructuring effort.

The biopharmaceutical company said Friday that the decisions are part of an effort to preserve its cash and focus its resources on advancing its clinical development pipeline.

"This prioritization of investment is designed to advance the research and development programs that have the greatest potential for value creation and patient impact," the company said.

Recently, Lexicon received a "deficiencies preclude discussion" letter from the Food and Drug Administration regarding a new drug application for its insulin therapy Zynquista, or Sotagliflozin, which precluded discussion of labeling and post-marketing requirements and commitments.

The restructuring will eliminate its commercial field team and reduce the size of other functions across the business, including promotional activity for its other drugs, Inpefa and Zynquista.

It will also eliminate 60% of its employees, with the most being let go by the end of the year.

The moves are expected to save the company $100 million in 2025, which is in addition to the $40 million previously expected.

The company will continue to focus on its pipeline of candidates, it said.

Shares fell over 14% in premarket trading to 66 cents.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2024 08:04 ET (13:04 GMT)

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