Pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has invested $300m in US-based DNA services provider 23andme as part of a four-year collaboration agreed by the companies yesterday.
Founded in 2006, 23andme runs a service enabling users to send their genetic data to be tested in order to get information on their ancestry or risk of diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
Customers provide a saliva sample at home using the company’s DNA collection kit and the samples are processed in between six and eight weeks. 23andme also uses the genetic data to conduct research on inherited disorders in addition to selling it to other researchers.
The collaboration agreement will involve 23andme becoming GSK’s partner on drug target discovery initiatives, utilising its data and analytics to discover disease targets. The deal will last for a four-year period with an option for a fifth.
Anne Wojcicki, 23andme’s co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, said: “This collaboration will enable us to deliver on what many customers have been asking for – cures or treatments for diseases.
“By leveraging the genetic and phenotypic information provided by consenting 23andMe customers and combining it with GSK’s incredible expertise and resources in drug discovery, we believe we can more quickly make treating and curing diseases a reality.”
The investment brings 23andme’s overall funding to about $790m altogether, $250m of which came in a September 2017 round led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital that was closed at a $1.75bn post-money valuation.
Financial services and investment group Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), family office Euclidean Capital, research support provider Wallenberg Foundation and investment firms Altimeter Capital and Casdin Capital also contributed to the 2017 round.
Other 23andme investors include GV, the corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology group Alphabet that backed its $9m series A round in 2007 alongside biotech researcher Genentech, MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures and New Enterprise Associates (NEA).
GV provided another $2.6m in 2009 before taking part in 23andme’s series C round, closed at $31m in 2011, with NEA, MPM Capital, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Roche Venture Fund – subsidiaries of pharmaceutical firms Roche and Johnson & Johnson.
23andme raised $57.9m in series D funding from GV, NEA, MPM, Anne Wojcicki and Google co-founder Sergey Brin the following year, and closed a $115m series E in 2015 that was led by FMR.
GV, genomics technology producer Illumina and WuXi Healthcare Ventures, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical research firm WuXi AppTec, also took part in the series E round, along with NEA, MPM, Casdin Capital and Xfund.
– Image courtesy of 23andme, Inc.