23andMe Raises $79 Million From Undisclosed Investors

23andMe, the California-based lab that has clashed with the Food and Drug Administration over the molecular testing it has offered to the public, has recently raised $79 million from outside investors, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the July 2 filing, 23andMe said it is planning to raise $150 million in outside investments, and has raised $79.07 million to date. It has not disclosed the investors, and has not commented on the infusion of capital. Industry observers suggest that the company will use the money to focus on developing therapeutic treatments. In March, 23andMe formed a therapeutics group. It is headed by Richard Scheller, formerly an executive vice president of research and early development.

The company initially made its mark by selling to the general public a $99 test that included interpretations of what kinds of genetic risks each individual faced. But the FDA essentially ordered the company to stop selling such interpretations without the agency approving its technology. 23andMe instead began only telling customers about their overall genetic makeup and heritage. It has to date received FDA approval for a single test for Bloom's Syndrome, an inherited disorder that affects a small portion of the general population.

However, the company has striven to remake itself in other areas. In January, it announced a collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Inc. that would use the data 23andMe has gathered on 800,000 individuals (that number has recently hit the 1 million mark). In a recent interview with the Market Place radio show, 23and- Me Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki outlined the company's future path.

"Every single year for the last couple of decades it has become more inefficient and harder and harder to develop new therapies. What I see as success is if we can actually change that by having a genetic approach to drug discovery," she said, adding that the company would take a "Moneyball" approach to developing new products. "If we can actually decrease the failure rate from nine out of 10 drugs in clinical trials to seven out of 10, it would be a major victory for drug discovery and drug therapies. That's my goal."

Takeaway: 23andMe has raised a significant amount of cash as it likely is pursuing a new path as a therapeutics development company.