Millions of DNA records at stake as 23andMe files for bankruptcy and CEO quits to bid for business
Genetic testing large 23andMe has filed for chapter safety within the US because it seeks to unload its enterprise — putting the non-public genetic information of thousands and thousands of consumers in a precarious place.
The San Francisco-based firm, which rose to prominence with its client DNA testing kits, introduced on Sunday that it had initiated voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in Missouri to “facilitate a sale course of to maximise the worth of its enterprise.”
The dramatic growth follows a catastrophic information breach in 2023 that compromised the non-public data of almost 7 million clients — virtually half of its world person base. With buyer belief plummeting and revenues collapsing, the corporate has minimize 40 per cent of its workforce, halted all therapeutic growth, and now faces an unsure future.
So as to add to the turmoil, co-founder and chief government Anne Wojcicki has stepped down so as to mount a non-public bid for the corporate — one among a number of she has unsuccessfully proposed in current months. She stays on the board however has handed day-to-day management to CFO Joe Selsavage.
Wojcicki’s newest supply, valuing the agency at simply $11 million, represents a dramatic fall from grace for an organization as soon as valued at $5.8 billion on the peak of its Nasdaq debut in 2021. Her bid of $0.41 per share — an 84 per cent drop from an earlier proposal — was rejected by the board, prompting her non-public fairness associate to withdraw from the method.
The corporate has secured $35 million in debtor-in-possession financing from JMB Capital Companions to take care of operations through the sale, and insists it’s “enterprise as regular” for now. “There aren’t any modifications to the best way the corporate shops, manages, or protects buyer information,” 23andMe stated.
However considerations about genetic privateness are escalating. California’s legal professional common, Rob Bonta, issued a public warning over the weekend urging 23andMe clients to request deletion of their DNA information and destruction of organic samples. The corporate is already paying $30 million and providing three years of identification safety following a class-action lawsuit over the breach.
Chairman Mark Jensen stated a court-supervised sale was now the one viable route. “Data privacy might be an necessary consideration in any potential transaction,” he famous.
Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe in 2006, had lengthy harboured ambitions to evolve the corporate right into a drug developer by leveraging its huge genetic database. That technique is now on ice, with all therapeutic initiatives shelved since November.
Writing on X (previously Twitter), she expressed her disappointment: “If I’m lucky sufficient to safe the corporate’s belongings by the restructuring course of, I stay dedicated to our long-term imaginative and prescient of being a world chief in genetics.”
However critics say the collapse of 23andMe is a stark warning in regards to the dangers of commercialising delicate well being information with out ample safeguards. As one of many first direct-to-consumer genomics corporations, its downfall raises questions not solely about enterprise fashions in biotech but additionally about client belief within the dealing with of deeply private information.
With 15 million DNA profiles in its archives and possession doubtlessly altering arms, privateness campaigners and clients alike are watching carefully — and calling for stronger protections round how genetic information could be bought, saved or shared in future.
