The problem
Global drug discovery runs on genetic data that is overwhelmingly non-African — under 3% of research material comes from the continent — leaving African populations poorly represented in the medicines developed for them.
How it works
Founded in 2019 by Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong, 54gene collected African biological samples into a biobank meant to supply pharmaceutical companies with the continent’s missing genetic data. Riding its COVID-testing success, it expanded into diagnostics in 2021 with Seven River Labs, opening collection stations in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt employing over 100 people.
Pain points
Biased global research datasets, no scaled African genomics infrastructure, and a biobank whose core revenue couldn’t carry the company once pandemic testing demand faded.
Business model
Fees from genomic research services and biobank access for pharma, supplemented — then overwhelmed — by the diagnostics bet on Seven River Labs, whose expected returns never materialised despite heavy investment.
Challenges
The company burned through cash by mid-2022 after failing to raise fresh external finance, triggering layoffs and salary cuts. Founder-CEO Ene-Obong departed abruptly in October 2022; Teresia Bost’s interim tenure ended in a hostile-workplace lawsuit; and third CEO Ron Chiarello, appointed March 2023, quit in July. Creditors went unpaid, and plans to sell the biobank assets stalled amid legal disputes.
Funding
- Raised: $45 million across three fundraising rounds.
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — September 2023
The wind-down began in July 2023; by September the company’s website was taken down and its long-serving PR firm confirmed it no longer represented 54gene, with the company seeking buyers for its assets including the biobank sample collection.