Startup asks SEC to let it pay people for DNA
Sharing DNA data may soon provide people with more than just the answer to whether they’ve got any Irish relatives.
LunaDNA, a startup backed by the genome-sequencing giant Illumina, has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its novel plan to pay people for their DNA data. It’s a departure from the standard in which companies like 23andMe charge people to analyze their genes, then use that data for research.
Luna wants to build a DNA marketplace where people could upload their data from genetictesting companies. The data would then be stripped of identifying details and encrypted. Users would receive shares of LunaDNA, which will house the stored DNA data. Researchers would pay Luna to access that data, and some of the revenue from research studies would be passed along to shareholders as dividends.
“We’re recognizing data donors as having currency to acquire shares in the company,” said Dawn Barry, president of Luna and a former Illumina vice president. “People should be rewarded when value is created from their data. We can’t say something has value and then just sort of take it from people.”
Friday, the San Diego-area startup filed to offer shares in LunaDNA, which will house the DNA data. LunaDNA is overseen by LunaPBC, a separate corporation that isn’t selling shares to the public. There will be a minimum 21-day period for public comment. After that, if the SEC gives the green light, Luna can begin collecting the DNA.
The idea is to increase the incentives for the broad sharing of biomedical data that, Luna says, may help advance science and medicine while encouraging more transparency in how that data is used.
Founded in 2017 by former Illumina executives, Luna has raised $4 million from investors including Illumina Ventures and Arch Venture Partners.
Health records stripped of identifying markers are a soughtafter commodity. Luna is part of a small but growing number of “biobrokers” that give people tools to control the sharing of their health data.
“We pay people to participate in clinical trials — I don’t see why people shouldn’t be compensated for their genes,’’ said Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former associate commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Pitts said that as long as companies are up front about the way the data is used, paying people for their information seems like a good thing.
But not all information is created equal.
The data a customer gets from 23andMe, for example, would be worth 50 shares, while a whole genome would equal 300 shares, Luna says. At 7 cents per share, according to the filing, a person’s whole genome is worth $21.
“We’re not talking about lifechanging money here,” Barry said. “What we’d like to focus on is really the transparency of this model.”