GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will pay 23andMe $20 million for access to the genetic-testing company’s vast trove of consumer DNA data.
The five-year collaboration between GSK and 23andMe has allowed the drugmaker to mine genetic data as it researches new medications.
Under the new agreement, 23andMe will provide GSK with one year of access to anonymized DNA data from the approximately 80% of gene-testing customers who have agreed to share their information for research.
The genetic-testing company will also provide data-analysis services to GSK.
With information from more than 14 million customers, the only data sets that rival the size of the 23andMe library belong to Ancestry.com and the Chinese government
The idea for drugmakers is to comb the data for hints about genetic pathways that might be at the root of disease, which could significantly speed up the long, slow process of drug development .
GSK and 23andMe have already taken one potential medication to clinical trials: a cancer drug that works to block CD96, a protein that helps modulate the body’s immune responses .
It entered that testing phase in four years, compared to an industry average of about seven years.
Overall, the partnership between GSK and 23andMe has produced more than 50 new drug targets .