Trovagene Inc., a local diagnostics company in San Diego, has announced a reorganization of the company’s priorities that resulted in a 20-person cut to its staff and a cost savings of $4 million per year.
The reorganization will allow the company to concentrate on the distribution of its diagnostic kits and systems to research institutions, cancer centers, and clinical service facilities for research use. The company expects the program will reduce annual pre-tax expenses by about $4 million per year mainly through the reduction of 20 personnel and expenses linked to marketing certain services directly to medical professionals.
The company develops urine and blood based tests for cancer. As cancer cells grow and spread, they release their DNA, known as circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), into the urine and blood. Trovagene’s liquid biopsy test, Trovera, uses urine and blood to provide information about changes in a person’s cancer.
“Numerous clinical research laboratories have expressed significant interest in utilizing our ctDNA technology to offer their own in-house liquid biopsy tests to clinicians and their patients,” Bill Welch, CEO of Trovagene, said in a statement. “Our transition to marketing kits directly to these clinical research laboratories lowers our commercial costs and mitigates any sales conflicts with our laboratory customers.”