The company was founded by Jessica Richman, Zachary Apte, and Will Ludington who were scientists in the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences. In November 2012, uBiome generated $350,000 through a crowdfunding campaign. The founders received mentoring and funding from Y Combinator and further funding from Andreessen Horowitz and 8VC. As of 2015, uBiome offered a $1 million grant program to researchers and citizen scientists for microbiome sampling and related analysis. One winner of the first round of such grants was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Products and services
Customers purchase kits to sample one or more parts of their body, including the gut, genitals, mouth, nose, or skin. After swabbing, a participant takes a survey which is used to make correlations with microbiome data. The participant sends the kit to the company in the mail and receives data in a few weeks; he or she can compare their data with that of uBiome’s data set. In 2015 uBiome received Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments certification from the State of California. In 2016, uBiome received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists.
Technology
, the company first amplifies a portion of the bacterial gene that encodes 16S ribosomal RNA using PCR, then sequences the amplified 16S ribosomal RNA gene, in order to categorize the bacteria at the genus level. The company has proprietary machine learning algorithms that analyze the sequence data and compare it with the company's proprietary database of microbiomes, built from the samples that partners and single customers send to them, and web-based software that allows individuals to view their microbiome and make certain comparisons. A 2014 report in Xconomy said the company outsources the sequencing. The sequencing is done on the Illumina NextSeq500 sequencer. In October 2015 the company introduced an app on iOS using ResearchKit that allowed customers to view their results on mobile devices. uBiome has been compared with Theranos and 23andMe, each of which are also biotechnology companies influenced by Silicon Valley.
Controversies
Amy Dockser Marcus noted in a 2014 essay in The Wall Street Journal that when Ubiome raised its initial round of crowdfunding in early 2013, many questions were raised by bioethicists about the company's citizen sciencebusiness model - namely whether it had actually obtained informed consent from its customers, and whether direct to consumer genetic testing initiatives could be ethically conducted at all, and its lack of Institutional review board approval. The Wall Street Journal essay also noted that questions were raised about the quality of data obtained in citizen science initiatives, with regard to self-selection and other issues. The company obtained IRB approval in July 2013. In 2014, people experienced in biotechnology entrepreneurship also raised questions about the ethics of crowdfunding a biotech company, as the risks of such ventures are high even for people with scientific and business sophistication. In April 2019, FBI agents raided the UBiome office in an investigation over possible insurance fraud. Cofounders Apte and Richman were put on administrative leave pending an investigation by the company's board.The company filed for bankruptcy on September 4, 2019 amidst the investigation.
Awards and recognition
In March 2018, uBiome made Fast Company's list for The World's Most Innovative Companies in Data Science, acknowledging uBiome's work collecting data to develop tests for HPV and STIs.
