Genetics testing startup 23andMe CEO shares the product she wants to offer next

23andMe Co-Founder and CEO
Anne Wojcicki
Steve Jennings/Getty
Images for TechCrunch

• Anne Wojcicki, the CEO and founder of Silicon Valley’s
  most popular genetics testing startup, 23andMe, said this week
  that she hopes the company expands its current health offering
  lineup.
  
• 23andMe, which made headlines recently on the heels of
  a new
  $300-million partnership with drug giant GlaxoSmithKline,
  currently offers health screenings for some of the genes
  involved in breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, and
  Parkinson’s.
  
• On Tuesday, Wojcicki said she hopes to add a new
  
  mental health screening that looks at how you process
  depression medications.
• Albertsons pharmacies and gene testing startup Color
  Genomics currently offer that kind of test for $250-$750, but
  many
  scientists say it’s not worth the money.

Anne Wojcicki, the CEO and founder of popular Silicon Valley gene
testing company 23andMe, doesn’t feel like the company is
currently offering what she called a “complete product.”

That’s because the current gene testing kit — which includes
health screenings for some of the genes involved in Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s, and breast cancer — does not include a
test that looks at how you process depression medications.

Those DNA tests, which assess genes involved in the break down of
antidepressants in the body, are
currently being offered by psychiatrists and Albertsons
pharmacists in three major cities at a hefty price tag of $750.
Just last month, another Silicon Valley genetics testing startup
called
Color Genomics began offering the test as part of its $250
kits. 

And on Tuesday at a conference organized by Rock Health, one of
Silicon Valley’s premier health-tech funding groups, Wojcicki
said she hoped her company could include that kind of test in its
product lineup soon.

But many scientists feel the tests don’t offer a clear benefit to
people and in some cases are
not worth the money. Among other issues, the tests may give

conflicting results to the same patient for the same
medication and don’t tell providers which specific medication is
best, according to experts.

‘When we can bring pharmacogenomics back, then we have a complete
product back’

Lydia Ramsey/Business Insider

In the early days of 23andMe, the company included a test for
depression medications in its lineup of health offerings,
Wojcicki said. But in 2013, the Food and Drug Administration
forced the company to stop selling those products and get federal
approval on the grounds that the tests could be misinterpreted as
health advice. The company was allowed to continue selling the
genealogy component of its kit, which looks at ancestry.

Last year, the FDA gave the company the green light to again sell
some of its health screenings. On the heels of that decision,
23andMe rolled out a limited selection of some of its original
products. The most recent addition, unveiled in March, is a

test for some of the genes involved in the risk of developing
breast cancer, also known as
BRCA genes.

Now, the company is only missing one of those original health
products, Wojcicki said: a test for depression medications, also
called pharmacogenomics.

“The only one we don’t have back yet is pharmacogenomics. We used
to have that and we’d like to have that one come back,” Wojcicki
said on Tuesday at a panel discussion at the Rock Health Summit
in San Francisco.

“When we can bring pharmacogenomics back, then we have a complete
product back,” she said.

It remains to be seen how the company would roll out such a test.
Because 23andMe sells its tests directly to people (they can be
purchased online and at a selection of drug stores), it would
need to get FDA approval before selling an additional health
product. The test could be incorporated into the existing health
lineup, which currently includes tests for Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s, and breast cancer for $199, or it could be sold as a
stand-alone test.

Color Genomics chose to incorporate its new pharmacogenomics
product into its existing $250 test. Unlike 23andMe, which sells
its services directly to consumers, Color requires people to
order their tests through a medical provider. In addition, the
company mandates talking with a professional genetics counselor
and a clinical pharmacist to avoid potentially dangerous
misinterpretations of the results.

Genomind and Assurex, the two companies who offer a standalone
pharmacogenomics product, sell the test through psychiatrists and
some pharmacists for $750.

Wojcicki did not provide further details on how much the test —
should the company ultimately choose to offer it — would cost or
when it would be available. A company representative also
declined to offer Business Insider more information about the
test. But Wojcicki said she saw the pharmacogenomics service as
part of the company’s overall mission to help empower customers
with more data about themselves and prevent negative health
outcomes when possible.

“I think one thing genetics can do is help prevent a lot of early
deaths,” Wojcicki said.