Abasi Ene-obong Breaks Silence On 54gene Hints At Sabotage False Allegations In Exit

For the first time since stepping down as CEO of 54gene, Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong has opened up about the circumstances surrounding his departure and the company's eventual collapse.

In a Medium post published on Thursday, Ene-Obong detailed his ordeal, drawing parallels between his experience and a broader pattern of sabotage against transformational African ventures. While 54gene's fall was widely attributed to financial mismanagement and operational struggles, Ene-Obong has now hinted at more insidious forces at play, including sabotage and false misconduct allegations.

"When someone rises to do something that hasn't been done before, that empowers the African people, various interests sabotage or try to sabotage them," Ene-Obong wrote in the post. He reflected on how powerful African initiatives are often targeted by internal and external actors, referencing not only his own experience but also recent examples like Aliko Dangote's refinery and historical cases like Michael Aondoakaa's legal battle against a pharmaceutical company in the late 1990s.

54gene, founded by Ene-Obong in 2019, was a groundbreaking project aimed at addressing the severe underrepresentation of African genetic material in global pharmaceutical research. The Y Combinator-backed company quickly gained attention for its audacious mission and secured USD 45 M in funding from investors like Adjuvant Capital and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund.

Its core asset, a biobank containing over 130,000 unique African patient samples, was set to revolutionise precision medicine and drug development in the region. However, by 2022, cracks began to appear in the company's financial and operational structure.