Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: 23andMe is laying off 40 percent of its staff

Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 22:12:07 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/23andme-is-...

More than 200 employees of 23andMe are being laid off as part of the
companyΓÇÖs ongoing cost-cutting measures. The layoffs will impact 40 percent
of the genetic testing companyΓÇÖs workforce.

23andMe CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki said in a statement released on
Monday that the staff reduction would save the beleaguered company more than
$35 million. She called the layoffs ΓÇ£difficult but necessary actions as we
restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer
business and research partnerships.ΓÇ¥

The company also announced it will start to shut down its therapeutics
clinical programs that used its genetic database to research and develop new
drugs. The therapeutics division housed two ΓÇ£immuno-oncology programsΓÇ¥
that investigated therapeutic antibodies ΓÇ£designed to restore the ability
of the bodyΓÇÖs immune cells to kill cancer cells,ΓÇ¥ according to the
divisionΓÇÖs website.

The San Francisco-based company has not had an easy year. Hackers hit the
genetics giant in April of last year and leaked information of 6.9 million
customers. The data breach went unnoticed for a year and a half, leading to a
$30 million settlement of a class action lawsuit and resignations from the
companyΓÇÖs entire board.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-
tech/23andme-is-laying-off-40-percent-of-its-staff-221207302.html?src=rss

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