Pfizer Gains Access to 23andMe's Genetic Mine

23andMe Inc., the genetic-testing startup backed by Google Inc. (GOOG), is sharing DNA data on about 650,000 individuals with Pfizer Inc. (PFE), to help find new targets to treat disease and to design clinical trials.

The collaboration with Pfizer is the broadest announced so far in 23andMe’s ambitious plan to become a repository for humanity’s genetic makeup, and to turn data gathered from $99 saliva tests sold to consumers into multimillion-dollar deals with drugmakers.

The agreement unveiled today gives the U.S.’s largest drugmaker access to anonymous, aggregated information from consumers who bought 23andMe’s test over the past seven years to learn about their own genetic histories. It includes only people who agreed to let their data be used in research. Pfizer and 23andMe declined to give the deal’s value.

Reported on Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/1xhimt3