UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form
CURRENT REPORT
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| Item 2.05. | Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities. |
On February 6, 2020, Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wave”) implemented a plan to reduce operating costs and better align its workforce with the needs of its business following the Company’s December 16, 2019 announcement of its decision to discontinue the suvodirsen program for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and to cease development of the Company’s other DMD programs. Under this cost reduction plan, the Company will reduce its workforce by approximately 22%. Communication of the workforce reduction to impacted employees is expected to be complete by February 10, 2020. The Company estimates that it will incur one-time restructuring charges of approximately $3.5 million, including employee severance, benefits and related termination costs, the majority of which it expects to pay in the first quarter of 2020.
The Company’s cost reduction plan, including the workforce reduction, will allow the Company to focus its resources on its existing central nervous system (CNS) programs, including those in Huntington’s disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), spinocerebellar ataxia-3 (SCA3), and the additional CNS programs it is pursuing in collaboration with Takeda. In addition, the cost reduction plan will not impact the Company’s advancement of its PRISM platform, including ADAR-mediated RNA editing, or its hepatic and ophthalmology programs.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| WAVE LIFE SCIENCES LTD. | ||
| By: |
/s/ Paul B. Bolno, M.D. | |
| Paul B. Bolno, M.D. | ||
| President and Chief Executive Officer | ||
Date: February 6, 2020