Our Platform
Targets supported by human genetic data are more than twice as likely to succeed in the clinic than those without such validation. Yet two decades since publication of the first human genome, the potential of human genetics to inform therapeutic development has been only partly realized.
We believe there is a need to unleash the power of all data types at scale, and 23andMe is uniquely positioned to achieve this. We’ve reached a critical mass of genetic, phenotypic and biological data, developed technology to analyze it, and have the tools and team needed to translate our discoveries into medicines.
Fully integrated biotech capabilities, backed by insights from the largest recontactable human database, uniquely position us to create medicines faster and at lower risk than competitors.
References:
Nelson et al., 2015 (Nature Genetics); King et al., 2019 (PLOS Genetics)
As of September 30, 2023
Tung et al., 2011 (PLOS ONE)
At our platform’s foundation is the world's largest recontactable database, containing more than 14 million genotyped individuals, 80 percent of whom consent to participate in research. Using this data, 23andMe has been able to identify large numbers of potential drug targets across a range of therapeutic categories by running hundreds of billions of association tests per year. A powerful tool for target discovery and validation, the platform spawned more than 50 programs during an exclusive five-year collaboration between 23andMe Therapeutics and GSK, and has launched two clinical-stage immuno-oncology programs (GSK6097608 and 23ME-00610).
Our platform primarily collects phenotypic data by fielding online customer surveys, which have been validated through replication of multiple GWAS results. Our customers have proven highly motivated in responding to these surveys, completing more than 30,000 per day. Using this ever-growing data source, 23andMe analyzes over 1,000 medically relevant conditions for genetic associations. And because research-consented participants are recontactable, we have further opportunities to conduct cohort identification and clinical trial recruitment through the 23andMe database.
As the 23andMe database has grown in size, so has our platform’s ability to interrogate it. Over the years our researchers have kept pace with, and in some cases driven important advancements in, the progress of computational genomics. That evolution has included the adoption of AI/ML across various aspects of drug discovery and development, where the availability of large, high-quality datasets like ours are key to generating useful insights. Coupled with the scale of our database, emerging AI/ML tools give us the opportunity to identify new disease subtypes, to design antibodies and other therapeutics more efficiently and to streamline the drug development process.
While the 23andMe genotyping platform measures about 640,000 genetic variants directly, combining this data with more than 200,000 whole-genome sequences enables us to probe over 100 million variants for links with medical conditions. This approach enables us to examine rare variants at a small fraction of the cost of DNA sequencing; biobanking allows us to augment this approach with sequencing when needed in a targeted and cost-effective way.
23andMe Therapeutics is focused on developing therapeutic antibodies against targets in oncology and other therapeutic areas, with the ability to advance programs from discovery through the mid-clinical stage. Our team is able to take genetic discoveries from the 23andMe database and validate the underpinnings of potential targets before advancing them into the clinic. 23andMe designs and oversees the manufacture of the drugs it takes into the clinic, and is a fully-functional drug development organization running regulatory-compliant global clinical trials.