Dive Brief:
- Freenome, a developer of blood tests for early cancer detection, said it is eliminating just over 100 jobs, or about 20% of its staff, in a restructuring. Before the workforce reduction, it had about 530 employees, the company said Wednesday in an emailed statement.
- South San Francisco, California-based Freenome said it is restructuring its organization to align with strategic priorities.
- Earlier this month, Freenome published results from a study of a blood-based test for colorectal cancer that met its primary endpoints but fell short of analyst expectations for sensitivity measures.
Dive Insight:
Freenome wants to expand access to early cancer detection through screening tests based on a standard blood draw. The company is focusing initially on colorectal and lung cancer and has single- and multi-cancer tests in development.
To advance that pipeline, the privately held company said it raised an additional $254 million in February in a financing led by Roche and supported by Quest Diagnostics and other investors.
“As we continue to build our early cancer detection platform and portfolio of blood-based tests, we strive to direct and preserve our resources to align with our long-term success,” the company wrote in a statement.
Freenome said it will provide transitional support to affected employees, noting the layoffs span multiple job functions.
The company’s colorectal cancer test demonstrated sensitivity rates below both Exact Sciences’ stool-based Cologuard test and a rival blood test, called Shield, being developed by Guardant Health, Baird analysts said in an April 2 research note.
Freenome could make future enhancements to the test, the Baird analysts said, but the “lackluster” study results serve as “additional validation of the challenges blood tests may face in [colorectal cancer] screening.”
Freenome said it remains confident its blood-based tests will help level the playing field for people who need access to recommended cancer screenings.
The company announced the job cuts in a LinkedIn post.