The 23andme Holding Co.’s saga came full circle with founder Anne Wojcicki regaining control of the bankrupt genetic testing company in a bidding battle against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

GC Genome Corp. priced a Kosdaq offering of 4 million shares at ₩10,500 per share May 27, entailing a gross ₩42 billion (US$30.5 million) raise in early June. The Yongin, South Korea-based genomics subsidiary of GC Biopharma Corp. fixed its shares price to the top of its ₩9,000 to ₩15,000 price band May 27 after conducting demand forecasting on domestic and international institutional investors from May 19 to May 23.

Noridian Healthcare Solutions opened a draft local coverage determination for gene tests for heritable thoracic aortic disease per a request from Invitae Corp., of San Francisco, which makes a comprehensive panel test for aortopathy.

Up to 50% of glaucoma cases have a genetic component, a factor which could significantly change the screening recommendations and monitoring of patients – if they know their risk. Seonix Pty. Ltd. has a vision for making that genetic information easier to obtain and use to guide care with its Sightscore saliva-based test.

Artificial intelligence-powered rare disease diagnostics firm 3billion Inc. debuted on the tech-heavy Kosdaq board of the Korea Exchange Nov. 14 with its IPO raising about ₩14.4 billion (US$10.25 million) via an offering of about 3.2 million shares at ₩4,500 per share, the low end of its offering price range.

For Inocras Inc., the benefits of whole genome sequencing are two-fold. First is its explicit usefulness in diagnosing and treating hard-to-treat diseases like cancer and rare diseases. The second, less apparent, benefit lies in the data generated in the process, and its applications to current and future generations of cancer patients.

The U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence endorsed the use of testing for the CYP2C19 genotype for management of clopidogrel usage after ischemic stroke and heart attack, but the agency is specific about the use of tests by Genedrive plc and Genomadix Inc. in point-of-care settings as alternatives to lab testing.

The U.S. Office of Inspector General (OIG) has concluded an analysis that found fault with Medicare payments for genetic testing under CPT code 81408, a code that covers tests for a variety of mutations of medical interest. According to OIG, these claims were often paid $2,000 each despite poor oversight from Medicare administrative contractors (MACs), raising the risk that a substantial percentage of roughly $888 million in claims paid between 2018 and 2021 were either fraudulent or at best inappropriate.