Genetic testing company 23andMe will lay off more than 200 employees -- 40% of its workforce -- and discontinue its therapeutics division as part of its restructuring program.
The firm said in a statement that it expected to substantially reduce operating expenses, resulting in a savings of more than $35 million, through the restructuring. It anticipates incurring up to $12 million in costs, primarily related to one-time severance and other termination-related expenses.
Additionally, the company said it is "exploring all strategic options for a limited time" for its drug research and development assets, including finding buyers or striking licensing agreements. These assets include potential oncology therapeutics. At the same time, it plans to wrap up all ongoing clinical trials "as quickly as practical," it said.
The programs under development include 23ME-00610, a phase I/IIa therapeutic antibody designed to restore the immune system's ability to kill cancer cells by blocking the immune checkpoint CD200R1; and 23ME-01473, a phase I therapeutic antibody that targets ULBP6, which can be expressed and secreted by tumor cells to suppress immune activity, as well as other preclinical programs. Both 23ME-00610 and 23ME-01473 have yielded promising data, the company said.
The independent board of directors resigned in September after not receiving what they considered a satisfactory take-private proposal from CEO Anne Wojcicki since she made the proposal in April. The genetic testing business has been embattled since a high-profile data breach in October 2023, which resulted in the data of approximately 1 million customers being offered for sale on a hackers' forum and spurred a class-action lawsuit.
