genetics founded 1996 headquarters reykjav k iceland key people k ri stef nsson ceo revenue usd 77m 2015 number of employees 190 website www.decode.com decode genetics inc. icelandic slensk erf agreining is a biopharmaceutical company based in reykjav k iceland . the company was founded in 1996 by k ri stefansson 1 to identify human genes associated with common diseases using population studies and apply the knowledge gained to guide the development of candidate drugs . the company isolated genes believed to be involved in cardiovascular disease cancer and schizophrenia among other diseases the company s research concerning the latter 2 is said to represent the first time a gene has been identified by two independent studies to be associated with schizophrenia 3 . decode s approach to identifying genes and in particular its proposal to set up an icelandic health sector database hsd containing the medical records of all icelanders was controversial and prompted national and international criticism for its approach to the concepts of privacy and consent . 4 part of this project went ahead in the form of a genealogical database of all icelanders called slendingab k. a legal judgement from the icelandic supreme court in november 2003 effectively killed off the hsd project . 5 however the company believed it could continue to identify disease related genes without such a database . 6 the company was removed from the nasdaq biotechnology index in november 2008 7 in november 2009 the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in a us court listing total assets of 69.9 million and debt of 313.9 million . according to the american law decode was nevertheless allowed to continue its operations . 8 in january 2010 most of decode genetics inc. s assets were purchased by saga investments llc an investment company whose owners include polaris venture partners and arch venture partners who said they intended to continue most services including decode diagnostics and decodeme personal genome scans 9 and management team . 10 in december 2012 decode genetics was purchased by amgen for 415 million 11 which in october 2013 spun off decode genetics systems and database to a new company called nextcode health 12 which in turn was acquired in january 2015 by the chinese company wuxi pharmatech for 65 million . 13 contents 1 history 2 decodeme 3 sec filing 4 appearances in popular culture 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit decode was founded in 1994 by ernir kristj n snorrason k ri stef nsson and kristleifur kristj nsson . 14 in the late 1990s decode proposed to create the world s first population wide genomic biobank by collecting data from the entire population of iceland which numbered 270 000 at the time . 15 the plan had these three major components creating a genealogical database collecting biobank specimens by means of which genotyping could be done and creating a national electronic health record system to connect genetic data to each individual s phenotype . 15 in december 1998 with lobbying from decode the icelandic parliament passed the act on health sector database which permitted public bidding for the right of a company to create this health database and use it for various purposes . 15 the parliament shortly thereafter granted decode the right to create this database after the company made a successful bid to do so . 16 decodeme edit as a step toward the personal genome the company has announced that its decodeme service is available for 985 to anyone who wishes to send a cheek swab to learn details about disease risk and ancestry . this service was launched in november 2007 and thereby became the first web based service to offer a comprehensive genome scan and an online analysis of an individual s dna . more than one million single nucleotide polymorphisms are included in the scan . 17 decodeme claims that the dna profile it provides can supply its customers with a basis from which they are able calculate the relative risk of developing these diseases and thereby enable them to make better informed decisions about medical prevention and treatment . the decodeme service currently includes information on the genetic susceptibility to close to 45 common diseases such as myocardial infarction atrial fibrillation several types of cancers and type 2 diabetes as well as providing insights into distant ancestry and geographical origins . the decodeme service was discontinued in january 2013 and decode genetics stopped selling personal genetic tests altogether . 18 sec filing edit decode s 2006 10 k sec filing reveals that their net losses to date are in excess of 530 million dollars and that they have never turned a profit 19 if we continue to incur operating losses longer than anticipated or in amounts greater than anticipated we may be unable to continue our operations . we incurred a net loss of 85.5 million 62.8 million and 57.3 million for the years ended december 31 2006 2005 and 2004 respectively and had an accumulated deficit of 535.7 million at december 31 2006 . we have never generated a profit and we have not generated revenues except for payments received in connection with our research and development collaborations . the same sec filing indicates that decode is involved in a lawsuit against former employees for computer fraud and disclosure of confidential information . if we are not successful in our pending litigation regarding misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of related non competition non solicitation and non disclosure agreements our ability to protect our confidential information and to enforce non competition and non solicitation agreements against former employees may be impaired which could adversely affect our business and prospects . appearances in popular culture edit the work of decode is criticised by arnaldur indri ason s novel jar city from 2000 which was adapted as a film in 2006 . 20 decode and specifically k ri stef nsson is presented as the creator of monstrous genetic hybrids in ttar m. nor fj r s satirical 2007 work j n sgeir & afm lisveislan reykjav k s gur 2007 and the history of decode appears both directly and in allegorised form under the fictional name origenes in the same author s lygarinn s nn saga reykjav k s gur 2011 . see also edit genomics k ri stef nsson co founder and ceo of decode 23andme a company offering a service similar to decodeme navigenics a company offering a service similar to decodeme genomic counseling references edit herper matthew 6 march 2001 decode ing schizophrenia forbes retrieved 28 january 2015 . stefansson h sarginson j kong a et al. january 2003 . association of neuregulin 1 with schizophrenia confirmed in a scottish population . am . j. hum . genet . 72 1 83 7 . doi 10.1086 345442 . pmc 420015 . pmid 12478479 . sands tim 2008 . gene surveys identify schizophrenia triggers . nature . doi 10.1038 news .2008.994 . david e. winickoff 2006 . genome and nation iceland s health sector database and its legacy . renate gertz 2004 . an analysis of the icelandic supreme court judgement on the health sector database act . scripted . mckie robin 2004 05 16 . icelandic dna project hit by privacy storm . the observer international . guardian unlimited . retrieved 17 november 2007 . lee wayne 2008 11 14 . semi annual changes to the nasdaq biotechnology index . press release . nasdaq newsroom . retrieved 19 november 2008 . decode genetics declare bankruptcy will sell core business to us investors . scienceblogs.com . announcing the new decode . decode management team . newswire pr . amgen to acquire decode genetics a global leader in human genetics . amgen.com . amgen . retrieved 3 may 2013 . proffit allison 24 october 2013 nextcode health launches decode s clinical genomics platform bio it world retrieved 28 january 2015 . 9 january 2015 wuxi pharmatech acquires nextcode health to create global leader in genomic medicine pr newswire retrieved 28 january 2015 . andl t dr. ernir k. snorrason morgunbla i 30.4.2012 http www.mbl.is frettir innlent 2012 04 30 andlat dr ernir k snorrason ; h r ur kristj nsson me stofnandinn ger i d ms tt vi decode bar ist hart gegn mi l gum gagnagrunni en segir ekkert l t af sinni h lfu vinskap vi k ra stef nsson dv november 1 2001 p. 5 http timarit.is view page init.jsp pageid 3022354 . a b c greely h. t. 2007 . the uneasy ethical and legal underpinnings of large scale genomic biobanks . annual review of genomics and human genetics . 8 343 364 . doi 10.1146 annurev.genom .7.080505.115721 . pmid 17550341 . chadwick r. 1999 . the icelandic database do modern times need modern sagas . bmj . 319 7207 441 444 . doi 10.1136 bmj .319.7207.441 . pmc 1127047 . pmid 10445931 . decodeme . decodeme.com decode genetics sec edgar 10 k 12 31 2006 . retrieved 18 november 2007 . burke lucy genetics and the scene of the crime decoding tainted blood journal of literary & cultural disability studies 6 2012 193 208 . doi 10.3828 jlcds .2012.16 . external links edit decode genetics inc. website decode genetics icelandic website the world s most successful failure newsweek 12 february 2010 coordinates 64 08 08 n 21 56 45 w 64.13556 n 21.94583 w 64.13556 ; 21.94583 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title decode genetics & oldid 738369480 categories companies based in reykjav kbiotechnology companiespharmaceutical companiesbiological databasesgenomics companiesbiobank organizationscompanies established in 1996biotechnology companies of icelandicelandic brandshidden categories coordinates not on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload 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