Second Sight Announces Employee Layoffs, Intent to Wind Down Operations and Appointment of Matthew Pfeffer as Acting CEO
March 30 2020 - 1:15PM
Business Wire
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYES) (“Second
Sight” or the “Company”), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of
implantable visual prosthetics that are intended to create an
artificial form of useful vision for blind individuals, announced
that in response to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on
its ability to secure financing, the Company will lay off
approximately 84 of its 108 employees effective March 31, 2020. The
impacted employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits
subject to local regulations. Against a background of unprecedented
economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and inability to
secure additional financing, the Company’s Board of Directors has
evaluated strategic alternatives and decided to pursue an orderly
wind down of the Company’s operations. The Company intends to
retain an adviser experienced in winding down operations to guide
the board on next steps. Any wind down activity, if implemented,
will be subject to uncertainties. Additional layoffs are expected
to be made at a later date based on the Company’s level of
operations.
The Company further announced that the Board of Directors
appointed Matthew Pfeffer, a member of the Board and Chairman of
the Audit Committee of the Board, as acting Chief Executive Officer
to guide the Company through the transitional wind down period,
instead of Gregg Williams, Chairman of the Board, as was previously
announced.
About Second Sight
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYES) develops,
manufactures and markets implantable visual prosthetics that are
intended to deliver useful artificial vision to blind individuals.
A recognized global leader in neuromodulation devices for
blindness, the Company is committed to developing new technologies
to treat the broadest population of sight-impaired individuals. The
Company’s headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. More
information is available at www.secondsight.com.
About the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis System
Leveraging Second Sight’s 20 years of experience in
neuromodulation for vision, the Orion Visual Cortical Prosthesis
System (Orion) is an implanted cortical stimulation device intended
to provide useful artificial vision to individuals who are blind
due to a wide range of causes, including glaucoma, diabetic
retinopathy, optic nerve injury or disease, and eye injury. Orion
is intended to convert images captured by a miniature video camera
mounted on glasses into a series of small electrical pulses. The
device is designed to bypass diseased or injured eye anatomy and to
transmit these electrical pulses wirelessly to an array of
electrodes implanted on the surface of the brain’s visual cortex,
where it is intended to provide the perception of patterns of
light. A six-subject early feasibility study of the Orion is
currently underway at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los
Angeles and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. No
peer-reviewed data is available yet for the Orion system.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, which are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor”
created by those sections. All statements in this release that are
not based on historical fact are “forward looking statements.”
These statements may be identified by words such as “estimates,”
“anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “strategy,” “goal,” or
“planned,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “expects,” “intends,”
“believes,” “should,” and similar expressions, or the negative
versions thereof, and which also may be identified by their
context. All statements that address operating performance or
events or developments that Second Sight expects or anticipates
will occur in the future, such as stated objectives or goals, our
refinement of strategy, or that are not otherwise historical facts,
are forward-looking statements. While management has based any
forward-looking statements included in this release on its current
expectations, the information on which such expectations were based
may change. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and
uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various
factors, including those risks and uncertainties described in or
implied by the Risk Factors and in Management’s Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections
of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 19, 2020 and our
other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. We urge you to consider those risks and
uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We
caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.
Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we
disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained
herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations
with regard thereto, or any change in events, conditions, or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.
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Investor Relations Contacts: Institutional Investors In-Site Communications,
Inc. Lisa Wilson, President T: 212-452-2793 E:
lwilson@insitecony.com or Individual
Investors MZ North America Greg Falesnik, Managing Director
T: 949-385-6449 E: greg.falesnik@mzgroup.us Media Contacts: Nobles Global Communications Laura
Nobles or Helen Shik T: 617-510-4373 E: Laura@noblesgc.com E:
Helen@noblesgc.com
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