A Timeline of 2023 Lab Company Layoffs So Far

Earnings are down, costs are rising, and lab companies are restructuring, leading to massive layoffs in the clinical space. The wave of layoffs, which began last year with the decline in sales of COVID-19 testing, has gathered momentum in 2023. Here’s a chronology of the major layoffs in the diagnostics space announced thus far this year.

JANUARY

January 5

Cue Health: After a revenue decline of 69 percent in 2022 Q3, Cue Health cuts its workforce by roughly 26 percent (388 employees). This latest round of layoffs comes after the newly public company laid off 170 workers in June 2022.

January 6

Biocept: The liquid biopsy firm announces a 35 percent staff cut as part of its new restructuring program.

January 11

Verily Life Sciences: The CEO of Alphabet subsidiary Verily Life Sciences sends an email to employees announcing that 15 percent of the company’s workforce (over 200 employees) is being laid off.

January 16

Personalis: The cancer genomics firm with $65 million in annual revenues in 2022 discloses plans to lay off approximately 30 percent of its staff (114 workers) in a move to save $17 million in 2023 operating costs.

January 18

PAVmed Inc.: Hoping to reduce quarterly cash burn by 25 percent, PAVmed and subsidiaries Lucid Diagnostics and Veris Health announce the layoff of 20 percent of their employees.

Immunovia: The Swedish firm lays off R&D employees in its home country to focus on US operations and the commercialization of its new IMMRay PanCan-d blood-based pancreatic cancer test.

January 25

Guardant Health: Still reeling from the failure of its blood-based colorectal cancer test ECLIPSE trial, the precision oncology firm lays off approximately seven percent of its workforce (130 employees) in the account management, bioinformatics, and technology development departments.

January 30

Quantum-Si: The proteomics firm announces plans to lay off roughly 12 percent of its workforce as part of its 2023 Q1 restructuring program.

FEBRUARY

February 7

Thermo Fisher Scientific: With COVID-19 test sales in rapid decline, the life sciences giant cuts 230 jobs at three San Diego area sites associated with Mesa Biotech.

February 15

Epigenomics: As part of a massive restructuring and following the recall of its Epi proColon blood-based colorectal cancer test, the molecular cancer diagnostics firm announces that it’s cutting an unspecified number of positions to keep only the minimum number of employees necessary to maintain operations at its San Diego and Berlin offices.

Grifols: The biopharma firm announces plans to cut 2,000 US jobs in a bid to save approximately $428 million in 2023.

MARCH

March 7

Thermo Fisher Scientific: A month after slashing 230 jobs, Thermo Fisher lays off another 154 workers in San Diego, reducing Mesa’s staff to approximately 116 employees.

March 17

Natera: Although the company doesn’t make an official announcement, multiple former Natera employees post on LinkedIn that the genetics testing firm has laid off an unspecified number of workers as part of a restructuring. At least three of the posts come from those with the former position of “medical science liaison.”

March 23

Genentech, Inc.: The California biotech firm lays off 271 workers after closing a production facility in South San Francisco.

March 30

SQI Diagnostics: The Canadian firm cuts its workforce from 44 to 20 full-time employees to refocus its business on point-of-care tests for respiratory health.

APRIL

April 4

Foundation Medicine: The Roche subsidiary lays off seven percent of its workforce (135 employees) to streamline its organizational structure.

April 6

LumiraDx: With yearly revenues down 40 percent, the London-based point-of-care testing firm reduces its global workforce by 40 percent as part of a comprehensive restructuring.

Thermo Fisher Scientific: The company announces a new round of layoffs for the third time this year. The elimination of 113 jobs is part of a plan to shut down a manufacturing facility in New Jersey.

April 11

Biogen: The pharma firm, which laid off 100 employees as part of a March 2022 downsizing, announces a new round of job cuts—the company didn’t disclose a specific number—in its struggling multiple sclerosis unit.

April 13

Oncocyte: After reducing its workforce by 40 percent in December 2022, the oncology and transplant diagnostics firm implements a further 20 percent staff reduction as part of a plan to ensure ample cash through 2024.

April 26

Illumina: With its margins shrinking, to cut more than $100 million from annual expenses over the next several years, the genomic testing firm says it will reduce its workforce via a combination of streamlining and outsourcing operations.

April 27

Cepheid: The Danaher subsidiary that made hundreds of millions from rapid COVID-19 testing products announces plans to cut 625 jobs in the California Bay Area. This follows its layoff of 925 workers, also in the Bay area, last November.