AMDL Orders Salary Cuts, Layoffs

AMDL, a Tustin maker of medical diagnostic kits, said Friday it has implemented stringent cost-cutting measures to conserve cash, including slashing the pay of its three top executives by 50%.

The company also laid off two of its 11 workers and cut in half the compensation of board members. The belt-cinching was necessary to ensure that AMDL has the cash needed to market and distribute its two proprietary products, the company said.

“We’ve been existing on investor funding for a number of years and that’s dwindling,” said Chief Financial Officer Harry Berk, whose $80,000 annual salary was slashed to $40,000. “It was a step taken to have what we have last as long as possible until we can attract funding.”

Other executives with shrinking paychecks are Chief Executive That T. Ngo, whose annual salary was $222,000 before the cuts, and Thomas V. Tilton, director of corporate development, who made $80,000 a year.

AMDL, founded in 1987, has been immersed in research and development and only recently brought to market its two core products, a cancer detection kit and a test that detects a bacterium that causes ulcers, Berk said.