23andMe was going to remake healthcare with its DNA spit tests. Today, it’s languishing on the sidelines. Wojcicki has a long road ahead.
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing pioneer 23andMe unveiled a new product in May. Cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki had long promised that 23andMe would democratize genetics and, in the process, unleash a health revolution based on personalized genomic insights. But the company’s newest feature was decidedly more mundane: Through its telehealth service, 23andMe would start writing prescriptions for erectile dysfunction medication.