Kips Bay Medical (NSDQ:KIPS) said this week that it’s laying off 5 of its 13 employees and instituting temporary pay cuts for its officers as it retools to focus on its eSVS mesh for coronary artery bypass grafts.
Minneapolis-based Kips Bay said it will also look to cut its non-clinical operating costs to conserve cash while it closes out its eMesh I feasibility trial.
The company, which took itself public in February 2011, said it let go 2 sales directors, 2 admin positions and 1 operations role, aiming to get its monthly cash burn down to $200,000. Kips Bay said it had cash and equivalents worth $3.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2014, or enough to see it through to the end of the year.
The eSVS mesh is designed to keep vein grafts open during CABG procedures. The device is comprised of a flexible, knitted sleeve that fits around the outside of the vein in order to reduce vessel wall stress and mitigate the potential for vessel injury.
In September 2011 the FDA issued a non-approvable letter for the device, asking for more information on the eSVS mesh before granting permission for a feasibility study. That approval came in November 2012 and was later expanded.
This week Kips Bay said it’s nearly completed enrollment in the eMesh I trial, with 99 patients on the roster and another 2 to 7 needed to meet the 45-50-patient treatment goal for the eSVS product. The company said it expects to reach the enrollment goal by the end of the month.
Data from the study, which are expected to start rolling in next August, are slated for an investigational device exemption application for a larger pivotal trial, according to a regulatory filing.
KIPS shares were trading at 16¢ apiece as of about 10 a.m. Eastern today, down 5.2%.