Startups, Diagnostics

23andMe’s position on genomic diversity, international expansion

23andMe President Andy Page discusses the company's international expansion strategy - and interest in increasing the diversity of its genomics database.

 

23andme

In terms of demographics, consumer genomics startup 23andMe tends to be slightly more urban and educated. In terms of age, there are two bubbles – users are more often than not in their 20s, or their 40s.

Ethnicity? Predominantly Western European, 23andMe President Andy Page said in an interview. Part of that, of course, is because most of its million-plus users are stateside.

However, 23andMe plans on international expansion – to broaden the company’s user base as well as to diversify its research cohort, he said. But that’ll take time.

“Our international expansion to date has been toward English speaking countries, and where the regulatory environment is relatively friendly,” he said. 23andMe ships its genetic tests to 60 countries – and has expanded its presence in Canada and the United Kingdom, with websites specific to these countries. It also has a Europe-centric site, geared particularly towards Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

But he said China is becoming a more realistic target for the company as well – thanks in part to an investment this past October from Chinese firm WuXi Ventures, which participated in  23andMe’s $115 million Series E round. Since, 23andMe has been looking more closely at China as a potential new market for expansion.

“It’s a complicated market. We would proceed by talking to CFDA – but we haven’t announced timing,” Page said. “That’ll be a medium-term project.”

In addition to broadening 23andMe’s consumer base with international expansion, there’s an upside in increasing the ethnic diversity of the company’s genomic database – for research purposes. 23andMe has three pillars of its business – the consumer genomics side, a research side that farms out data to other pharmaceutical companies, and an in-house therapeutics arm. About 80 percent of 23andMe users have consented to be used in research – but it’s important to note that this filled largely with Western European genotypes.

Ethnicity is an important consideration when doing population-scale genetic studies – because when it comes to disease research and pharmacogenomics, the scale continues to tip in favor of the Caucasian. Of course, international sequencing efforts are only recently starting to ramp up. But many disease states present differently in different ethnicities – so it’s important to get data from the broader population.

In terms of expanding the database’s ethnic demographics to improve the diversity of its research cohorts, Page said: “We’re intrigued by it. It’s part of our expansion plan. The question is when.”

But in terms of other countries, it’s of primary importance for 23andMe to get its footing solid in the U.S. first, Page said.

“We don’t want to spread ourselves too thin,” he said.

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