23andMe Launches Discover23 to Help Accelerate Large-Scale Genetics Research For Biopharma Collaborators, Powered By Lifebit's Trusted Technology

Core Insights - 23andMe has launched Discover23®, a new research offering that allows authorized collaborators to access its research cohort through a secure Trusted Research Environment (TRE) developed by Lifebit [1][2] Group 1: Discover23 Overview - Discover23 provides analysis-ready genome-wide association studies (GWAS) based on over 4.7 billion phenotypic data points curated from more than 1,000 disease and condition cohorts [2] - The platform evaluates associations of over 172 million genetic variants, leveraging data from approximately 15 million customers, with 84% opting into the research program [3] Group 2: Collaboration and Security - Collaborators can access summarized results from analyses conducted in a secure environment, ensuring participant privacy by stripping personal identifiers from the data [2][5] - The partnership with Lifebit aims to enhance security and support collaborative research while allowing researchers to analyze data where it resides [4] Group 3: Company Vision and Future Prospects - The CEO of 23andMe expressed excitement about empowering biomedical researchers with insights that could lead to new and effective treatments [4] - Lifebit’s CEO emphasized the importance of secure data handling in driving innovative discoveries in drug development and precision medicine [4]