More than 200 23andMe employees are being laid off as part of the company’s ongoing cost-cutting measures. The layoffs will affect 40 percent of the genetic testing company’s workforce.
said Anne Wojcicki, CEO and co-founder of 23andMe said the staff cuts would save the beleaguered company more than $35 million. He called the layoffs “difficult but necessary actions as we rebuild 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships.”
The company also announced that it will begin closing its therapeutic clinical programs that use its genetic database to research and develop new drugs. The therapeutics division included two “immuno-oncology programs” investigating therapeutic antibodies “designed to restore the body’s immune cells’ ability to kill cancer cells.” .
The San Francisco-based company has not had an easy year. in April of last year and the data of 6.9 million customers was leaked. The data breach went unnoticed for a year and a half, and as a result class action lawsuit and resignations from the company’s entire board.
