DNA-testing company 23andMe said on Monday that it was firing roughly 40% of its workforce, more than 200 people, as Chief Executive Anne Wojcicki seeks to stabilize her money-losing business. As part of the restructuring, the company said it was closing its drug development arm, which had been conducting human trials for two of the company’s advanced drug candidates. The company said it would wind down those trials and try to sell those two prospects. Wojcicki for years touted drug development as central to the company’s strategy to profit from the trove of data that consumers send in to learn about their ancestry. In August, 23andMe said it would close its sister drug discovery unit, which had been tasked with identifying new drug candidates. 23andMe still hopes that pharmaceutical companies will license its genetics data to help develop their own drugs. It has been seeking additional partners since it announced that a prior deal with pharma giant GSK would no longer be exclusive. A year later it hasn’t announced any others. The company has undergone five rounds of layoffs since the beginning of 2023. Back then it had more than 800 employees. After this round of cuts, that number falls to about 300. It said Monday’s restructuring would save $35 million annually. 23andMe’s stock has continued to fall to new lows, and the company’s market capitalization has fallen below the $170 million of cash that it reported on its balance sheet at the end of June. “We are taking these difficult but necessary actions as we restructure 23andMe and focus on the long-term success of our core consumer business and research partnerships,” Wojcicki said in a statement.

Full report : Biotechnology startup 23andMe cuts 40% of its workforce, discontinues all genetic drug therapy programs.