While in the past, testing service 23andMe (NASDAQ:ME) has generated little more than exciting conversation about users’ racial makeup and conspiracy theories about DNA collection for shadowy government agencies, one thing is clear: there’s some potential here for healthcare. Now, 23andMe is expanding to focus better on that.
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The new service in question is called “Total Health,” and it takes a particular portion of the genome known as the “exome” to look for specific genetic markers of predisposition to certain conditions. With the exome sequenced, the customer can then be appropriately connected to the best help for managing those conditions.
The service is set to cost $1,188 per year, which includes two blood tests per year that check for 50 separate “biomarkers” to indicate certain health conditions. Those interested will be able to get access to the service starting in November.
Though some may be hesitant to get in on this, especially considering that 23andMe recently suffered a wide-scale data leak in what was considered an attack on Ashkenazi Jews connected to the Israel-Hamas War. It was sufficiently noteworthy that Congress itself took note, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, sought further details about the attack.
For its part, 23andMe noted that it wasn’t breached, but around five million users’ worth of data leaked out over the course of the last several weeks in two different batches. That may sound academic—misappropriated data is misappropriated data—but knowledge about how it happened might serve to protect other users down the line.
Is 23andMe Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on ME stock based on one Buy and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average ME price target of $3.88 per share implies 403.77% upside potential.
