DNA-testing site 23andMe to lay off 40% of its workers

The struggling familial investigating institution 23andMe says it volition chopped 40% of its workforce, oregon 200 jobs, arsenic it fights for survival.

The once-popular DNA-testing tract volition besides halt enactment connected therapies it was developing.

Last year, the institution said hackers had managed to gain access to idiosyncratic accusation of millions of its users.

23andMe's stock terms has fallen by much than 70% this year, arsenic its co-founder and main enforcement Anne Wojcicki tries to crook the concern around.

The institution said it expects to incur one-off costs of $12m (£9.3m), including severance pay, for the program that volition effect successful savings of $35m.

"We are taking these hard but indispensable actions arsenic we restructure 23andMe and absorption connected the semipermanent occurrence of our halfway user concern and probe partnerships," Ms Wojcicki said.

The institution besides said it is considering what to bash with the therapies it had successful development, including licensing oregon selling them.

23andMe is simply a elephantine of the increasing ancestor-tracing industry. It offers familial investigating from DNA, with ancestry breakdown and personalised wellness insights.

In December past year, 23andMe confirmed that hackers had accessed details of astir 6.9 cardinal of its users.

In immoderate cases this included household trees, commencement years and geographic locations, the institution said. But the stolen information did not see DNA records, it said.

Its customers included celebrated names, from rapper Snoop Dogg to multi-billionaire capitalist Warren Buffett.