Beleaguered genetic testing company 23andMe announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell itself to a nonprofit led by the company’s co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki.
Following a massive cyberattack in 2023 and a related lawsuit settlement, 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, with Wojcicki resigning in order to become an independent bidder for the company. But pharmaceutical company Regeneron was announced as the company’s acquirer with a $256 million bid.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wojcicki’s nonprofit TTAM Research Institute reopened the bidding process by making an unsolicited bid earlier this month, and Regeneron declined to beat TTAM’s $305 million offer.
In the announcement, TTAM (an acronym that corresponds with the first letters of Twenty-Three And Me) said that customers will be notified of the acquisition at least two business deals before the deal closes, and that the nonprofit will continue to abide by 23andMe’s privacy policies allowing customers to delete their data and opt-out of research. It also said that it will establish a Consumer Privacy Advisory Board within 90 days of closing.
“I am thrilled that TTAM Research Institute will be able to continue the mission of 23andMe to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” Wojcicki wrote on LinkedIn. “We believe it is critical that individuals are empowered to have choice and transparency with respect to their genetic data and have the opportunity to continue to learn about their ancestry and health risks as they wish.”
The acquisition still needs to be approved by the bankruptcy court, and it faces additional legal hurdles — a group of 28 state attorneys general led by New York’s Letitia James filed a lawsuit this week objecting to the sale of the company’s assets.
“23andMe cannot auction millions of people’s personal genetic information without their consent,” James said.
A court-appointed privacy ombudsman also said it’s not clear that 23andMe’s privacy policies allow for the sale of its genetic data, according to the WSJ.
Nor is it clear that 23andMe could regain consumer trust if the deal goes through. The company’s interim CEO Joseph Selsavage recently told a House Oversight Committee that 15% of customers had asked to delete their data since the company filed for bankruptcy.
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