Navigenics, Inc. was a privately held personal genomics company, based in Foster City, California, that used genetic testing to help people determine their individual risk for dozens of health conditions.[1]
 | |
| Company type | Public (NYSE: TMO) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Waltham, Massachusetts, USA |
Key people | Marc N. Casper (President & CEO) |
| Website | www.thermofisher.com |
History
editNavigenics was co-founded in 2006 by David Agus, M.D., a prostate cancer specialist who is a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California and director of the USC Center for Applied Molecular Medicine and the USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center in Los Angeles, and Dietrich Stephan, Ph.D., member of the board of directors of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, current CEO of Silicon Valley Biosystems, former chairman of Neurogenomics and deputy director for discovery research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute.[2]
In July 2012, Navigenics was acquired by Life Technologies,[3] which was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in February, 2014.
Controversy in California
editIn June 2008, California health regulators sent cease-and-desist letters to Navigenics and 12 other genetic testing firms, including 23andMe.[4] The state regulators asked the companies to prove a physician was involved in the ordering of each test and that state clinical laboratory licensing requirements were being fulfilled. The controversy sparked a flurry of interest in the relatively new field, as well as a number of media articles, including an opinion piece on Wired.com entitled, “Attention, California Health Dept.: My DNA Is My Data.”[5] In August 2008, Navigenics and 23andMe received state licenses allowing the companies to continue to do business in California.[6]
References
edit- ^ Navigenics, Inc. "Navigenics launches with pre-eminent team of advisors, collaborators and investors." Archived 2008-09-19 at the Wayback Machine Press release. (2007-11-06.) Retrieved on 2008-10-24.
- ^ "Life Technologies Buys Navigenics for Genetic Diagnostics". Bloomberg.com. 16 July 2012.
- ^ Langreth, Robert. "California Orders Stop To Gene Testing." Forbes. (2008-06-14). Retrieved on 2008-10-15.
- ^ Goetz, Thomas. "Attention, California Health Dept.: My DNA Is My Data." Wired Blog Network. (2008-06-17). Retrieved on 2008-08-27.
- ^ Pollack, Andrew. "California Licenses 2 Companies to Offer Gene Services." New York Times. (2008-08-19). Retrieved 2008-10-15.
External links
edit- Official Navigenics site - Archive.org version from 2012
- NOVA scienceNOW profiles personal genetic services
- Charlie Rose discusses personal genetics