Schrödinger is laying off 60 staffers, or about 7% of its workforce, in an effort to save cash and boost efficiency.
The restructuring is designed to cut costs by $30 million annually, with half of that amount tied to the workforce downsizing, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated May 19. At the beginning of the month, the company said it employed about 900 people across 15 sites worldwide.
“The reduction is relatively evenly spread across all teams,” a Schrödinger spokesperson told Fierce Biotech via email when asked about the kind of roles impacted. “Since our strategic priorities have not changed, there is not one area that is impacted more than others.”
Schrödinger expects the changes will cost around $3 million in severance payments, employee benefits and related expenses, according to the company filing.
“While our business is strong and we are confident in our ability to deliver on our long-term goals, we have made this decision in the face of uncertain times and challenging economic conditions,” the company wrote in a May 19 LinkedIn post. “As we move forward, we will continue to focus on advancing the science underlying our platform to drive continued growth in our software business, and to advance our collaborative and proprietary drug discovery pipeline.”
The New York-based company aims to change the molecular discovery process using its computational platform that it licenses to organizations around the world. Schrödinger has also used the software platform to advance three clinical-stage oncology programs, all of which are in phase 1 development.