NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Counsyl said today that it would lay off its dedicated oncology sales team, or around 5 percent of its workforce, during January. The decision comes about seven months after the firm launched an oncology business unit.
The South San Francisco, California-based genetic testing company said that it planned to focus on women's health. Counsyl currently markets three next-generation sequencing-based genetic tests: Family Prep Screen for carrier screening, Informed Pregnancy Screen for fetal chromosomal aneuploidies, and Inherited Cancer Screen.
The company said that it would continue to develop and support its hereditary cancer test. In addition, it said that it would launch an upgraded version of its carrier screening test in the second quarter of this year.
Counsyl's CEO Ramji Srinivasan said in a statement that the firm has a "unique opportunity to strengthen our leadership role in preventive genetic testing for women’s health applications."