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Big Law

23andMe Goes Public With a Richard Branson SPAC Merger

The newest trade in the stock market is “ME.”

Personalized medicine and at-home genetic testing kit company 23andMe went public on Thursday through a merger with a Richard Branson SPAC, VG Acquisition Corp., in a deal that raised near-$600 million and valued the company at $3.5 billion.

23andMe shares rose by 21% on the Nasdaq in its first day of trading as a public company.

Founded by Anne Wojcicki — the former spouse of Google founder Sergey Brin, who was an early investor in the company — 23andMe was created 15 years ago. Along with Ancestry, it has helped pioneer the idea that genetic testing is not just a medical field, but a big consumer business. Its at-home testing kits, which allowed people to learn about their genetic profiles and ancestry by sending a bit of saliva through the mail, ushered in a new era of personalized medicine, though not without controversy.

Read the source article at cnbc.com

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