uBiome interrupts the processing of Explorer test samples after the dismissal of workers



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UBiome, the struggling start-up of dung tests, has suspended its latest tests after dropping a crucial laboratory staff on Wednesday.

According to an internal Slack message seen by Business Insider, uBiome has temporarily stopped processing samples for its Explorer test because the startup no longer has a lab director after halving its workforce. Explorer costs $ 89 and is available without a doctor's prescription.

"In the absence of a lab director, we stopped processing Explorer samples until we had a replacement," says the Slack message seen by Business Insider. He was sent by Josh Raynes, whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a clinical laboratory scientist at uBiome. Raynes declined to comment when he was contacted by Business Insider.

Curtis Solsvig, interim CEO of UBiome, has confirmed the temporary stop of Business Insider. "We decided to suspend the processing of new Explorer samples until the establishment of a new laboratory director," he said in a statement.

uBiome had already stopped selling and processing its clinical tests, which require a doctor's order, after an FBI raid on the company in April. Earlier Wednesday, a person familiar with uBiome's projects told Business Insider that the start-up was considering keeping its labs open. The company still sells the Explorer test.

In total, uBiome eliminated 114 of the 229 people employed on Wednesday. Nathaniel Walton, chief executive of uiBiome, was removed from office, as was Susan Zneimer, one of the company's laboratory directors.

uBiome raised $ 105 million from investors with the goal of revealing new information about people's health through bacteria in their body, called a microbiome. The FBI raided the startup in April as part of a survey of ubiome's billing practices, the Wall Street Journal reported. The founders and executives of uBiome left office in June and the consulting firm Goldin Associates made replacements.

Read more: uBiome convinced Silicon Valley that the poop tests were worth $ 600 million. Then the FBI came to knock on the door. Here is the story inside.

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