Genetic testing firm 23andMe Inc. said it will cut the price on its personal DNA test to $399 from $999.
The Mountain View-based, Google Inc.-backed startup, which analyzes genes to predict health risks for customers, said the price change would be effective immediately.
The company said it is able to offered the reduced price thanks to technology upgrades at Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) of San Diego. 23andMe uses Illumina’s DNA Analysis Beadchips to genotype customers and has added improved custom content to the new Beachip, the company said.
“By taking advantage of continuing innovation, we are able to introduce a new chip that will give people more relevant data at a lower price,” said Anne Wojcicki, the company’s co-founder.
Many other direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies charge close to $1,000 or more. DNA Direct of San Francisco, which offers a range of more than a dozen conditions for which it can test, prices its services from $175 to $995.
The companies, including Redwood City-based Navigenics Inc., say the tests give consumers the information and the power to make medical decisions. But such services have come under fire from state officials, who want to make sure that the companies are following state law, and ethicists, who worry that the tests are being marketed to consumers who aren’t ready to make medical decisions based on the information from the tests.
DNA Direct, Navigenics and 23andMe recently were given the green light by California's Public Health Department offer their genetic testing services. State officials in June said 14 firms were told to halt their direct-to-consumer services until the state could confirm that the labs that receive DNA samples from customers are certified by state or federal authorities.
State officials also wanted to discover if individuals tests had been ordered by doctors, mandated by California law.
Besides Google — whose co-founder, Sergey Brin, is married to Wojcicki — other 23andMe investors include South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc. (NYSE:DNA) and New Enterprise Associates.
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