While patients have a growing number of options for genetic testing, they can still be difficult to navigate. Most consumer-facing tests are limited in the amount of health information they can provide, and results can sometimes be challenging to interpret.
Genome Medical, a startup looking to make genetic testing available through telehealth visits, recently raised $60 million in funding. It also plans to acquire genetic counseling practice GeneMatters.
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Patients can pay for a virtual consultation with a genetic counselor, or in some cases, their insurance may cover the visit. After determining whether genetic testing would be a good fit for that person, they can either receive a test kit at home or go into a lab. The counselor also walks them through their results.
Genome Medical also works with healthcare providers and insurers to make it easier for people to access testing. For example, it has partnerships with Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Shriners Hospitals for Children, and Cigna.
With its acquisition of GeneMatters, Genome Medical would add more than 20 genetic counselors to its team, CEO Lisa Alderson wrote in an email. It will have more than 100 total clinicians, including primary care physicians, medical geneticists, pharmacists and genetic counselors.
Eli Casdin, whose firm Casdin Capital led the series C round, said the combination of the two startups would make “the clear leader in digital health for genomics.”
GV and Amgen Ventures also joined the funding round as new investors, along with previous backers including Illumina Ventures and Kaiser Permanente.
Eli Casdin, Shaun Rodriguez, Casdin Capital’s director of life science research, and GeneMatters Co-Founder and President Jill Davies will join the company’s board.
Genome Medical also plans to use the additional funds to build technology solutions for genomic medicine programs, and add more services for physicians, such as test-ordering capabilities and guidelines-based care plans.
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