Sema4 to exit reproductive well being testing, lay off 500

AI-backed genomic and medical information firm Sema4 introduced this week it will exit the reproductive well being testing enterprise, shut down its lab in Stamford, Conn., and lay off about 500 workers.

The corporate mentioned it will full its departure from the section within the first quarter subsequent 12 months. It should now make use of about 1,100 staff. Based on a WARN Act Discover filed in Connecticut, the cuts have an effect on 206 workers who report back to its headquarters in Stamford, 227 who work within the Stamford lab and 15 from its Branford lab. 

The newest layoffs come months after Sema4 lower round 250 staffers, then round 13% of its workforce, as a part of one other restructuring. Mixed with layoffs from earlier this 12 months, Sema4 mentioned in August it had lower about 30% of its jobs from its legacy enterprise.

By eliminating the reproductive well being section, the corporate will double down on its GeneDx exome and complete genome sequencing service and its Centrellis information platform. Sema4, which acquired GeneDx earlier this 12 months, is pitching the deal with these choices as a technique to attain profitability, which it now expects in 2025. 

“We consider that our targeted industrial and R&D efforts present the suitable basis for us to focus on increased development areas of the genomics market and optimize our information and well being insights go-to-market technique,” Katherine Stueland, president and CEO of Sema4, mentioned in an announcement. “We anticipate the mixture of those efforts will assist us develop income in extra of 20% over the subsequent a number of years. We additionally anticipate the actions now we have undertaken will allow us to greater than double our run price gross margin profile exiting the third quarter and cut back our annual money burn by larger than 50% in 2023.”

THE LARGER TREND

Sema4 was spun out from Mount Sinai Well being System in 2017 and hit the general public markets via a merger with a particular objective acquisition firm final 12 months.  

Alongside the summer season job cuts, founder Eric Schadt, who had been with the corporate because it spun off, left his roles as president and chief analysis and improvement officer, in addition to his place as director of the corporate.

Sema4 additionally posted outcomes for the third quarter that ended September 30. It reported income of $83.2 million in comparison with $43.2 million within the prior-year interval. The corporate posted a internet lack of $77.6 million, in contrast with revenue of $32.7 million final 12 months.

Sema4 mentioned it is going to keep its full-year income steerage of $245 to 255 million.