Sema4, a genomics company that spun out of New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System, said it plans to lay off 500 employees as it closes its reproductive and women's health testing services.
The job cuts represent about 32.5 percent of Sema4's workforce, according to a Nov. 14 securities filing. Exiting the negative margin business will leave the firm with about 1,100 employees. The company will stop accepting samples for reproductive and women's health tests Dec. 14 and cease operations at its Stamford, Conn., laboratory.
"Our concerted work to improve lab efficiency and revenue cycle management has helped drive a meaningful uptick in our gross margins," Sema4 CFO Kevin Feeley said in a Nov. 14 company news release. "Following the announced exit of our reproductive health testing business, we believe our financial profile positions the company for long-term success."
Sema4, which uses genomic data and artificial intelligence to predict patients' health trajectories, has collaborated with health systems including Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Avera Health, Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth and Evanston, Ill.-based NorthShore University HealthSystem since spinning off from Mount Sinai in 2017. The company previously laid off 250 employees in August.