DeCODE genetics

deCODE genetics, Inc. (Icelandic: Íslensk erfðagreining) is a biopharmaceutical company based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The company was founded in 1996 by Kári Stefansson 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 is said to represent the first time a gene has been identified by two independent studies to be associated with schizophrenia).

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. A legal judgement from the Icelandic Supreme Court in November 2003 effectively killed off the HSD project. However, the company believed it could continue to identify disease-related genes without such a database.

The company was removed from the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index in November 2008 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. 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 and management team.

In December 2012, deCODE genetics was purchased by Amgen for $415 million which in October 2013 spun off deCODE genetics' systems and database to a new company called NextCODE Health which in turn was acquired in January 2015 by the Chinese company WuXi PharmaTech for $65 million.

DeCODE was founded in 1994 by Ernir Kristján Snorrason, Kári Stefánsson, and Kristleifur Kristjánsson.