Sangamo Therapeutics, a biotech company developing treatment for genetic conditions, announced that it is laying off 162 employees, or 40% of the company's U.S. workforce, as the company looks to restructure and focus on the creation of neurological treatments.
As part of the restructuring, the company is also shuttering its Brisbane, Calif., headquarters in early 2024. Sangamo will transition to a headquarters in Richmond, Calif. The company claims that the restructuring efforts will decrease operating expenses by 50%, according to a Nov. 1 Sangamo news release.
"In 2020, we shared our refreshed company strategy, which aims to both maximize the potential of our proprietary genomic editing and delivery technology and to focus on areas where we believe we can apply that technology to be either first-in-class or best-in-class," Sangamo CEO Sandy Macrae said in the news release. "The process of streamlining Sangamo's pipeline has been accelerated within today's challenging economic environment and we have had to make difficult decisions."