TwinStrand Biosciences’ co-founder Jesse Salk has stepped down from the CEO role, according to a statement issued by the Seattle biotech company Friday. Salk will remain as chief scientific officer and a member of the board. Healthcare industry veteran Chad Brown, a former exec at Nanostring and Qiagen, has stepped in as interim CEO. Brown is also a board member at TwinStrand. The leadership change comes amid reports of layoffs at the 7-year-old gene sequencing startup. Several employees posted on LinkedIn this week about being laid off, with some noting that “nearly 50%” of the company’s workforce was cut.