More than 200 23andMe employees will be laid off as part of the company’s ongoing cost-cutting measures. The layoffs will affect 40% of the genetic testing company’s workforce.
23andMe CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki said in a statement Monday that the layoffs will save the beleaguered company more than $35 million. She called the layoffs “a difficult but necessary step 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 would begin shutting down therapeutic clinical programs that used genetic databases to research and develop new drugs. The Therapeutic Division had two “immuno-oncology programs” researching therapeutic antibodies “designed to restore the ability of the body’s immune cells to kill cancer cells,” according to the department’s website. .
The San Francisco-based company hasn’t had an easy year. Hackers attacked the genetic engineering giant in April last year, leaking the information of 6.9 million customers. The data breach went unnoticed for a year and a half, leading to a $30 million class action lawsuit settlement and the resignation of the entire board.
