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23andMe Lays off 100 Employees Across Consumer Business

NEW YORK – 23andMe has laid off approximately 100 employees, about 14 percent of its workforce, the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company confirmed on Thursday.

According to a spokesperson, the layoffs occurred across the company's consumer business, which is being restructured, but did not affect its therapeutics business.

Going forward, 23andMe will focus its activities on its core businesses, consumer genomics and therapeutics, and plans to scale back on non-core activities, such as clinical trials, the spokesperson said.

Earlier this month, 23andMe announced an agreement with Admirall under which the pharma firm licensed a monoclonal antibody from 23andMe, aiming to develop it for potential treatment of dermatological conditions. The antibody blocks all members of the IL-36 cytokine subfamily.

The layoffs follow a slowdown in the consumer genomics market last year, when Illumina announced reduced revenues from customers in that market. 

It also follows cutbacks by others in the market, for example Helix, which reduced its consumer testing business last spring in order to focus on stategic partnerships with health systems.

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