China's Wuxi Healthcare VC joins round for US genetics start-up
Wuxi Healthcare Venture, a corporate venture fund owned by China-based Wuxi Pharmatech, has participated in a $115 million Series E round of funding for 23andMe, a Silicon Valley-based genetics-testing company.
Fidelity is the lead investor in the round. New investors Casdin Capital and Xfund also participated, as did existing backers such as IIIumina, New Enterprise Associates, MPM Capital and Google Ventures.
23andMe, which is named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes found in a human cell, was founded in 2006. It has developed tools that allow consumers to test their genes and generate a report that assesses their potential susceptibility to more than 254 diseases and conditions. It claims to have more than one million customers.
The investment will enable the company to expand its operations and introduce direct-to-consumer products in the US and in overseas markets, it said in a statement. Additional functions such as carrier status reports and other enhanced tools are scheduled for launch by the end of this year.
WuXi PharmaTech, a China-based provider of contract R&D services to the global pharmaceutical sector, received a take-private bid led by its founder and chairman and healthcare-focused PE firm Ally Bridge Group in May.
Earlier this year, it launched the WuXi Healthcare Ventures Fund II with an anchor commitment of up to $50 million. The vehicle, which is seeking $200 million in total, targets healthcare companies in the US and China. Several previous investments have been made alongside Ally Bridge, such as a Series B round of funding for Shanghai-based Hua Medicine in January.
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