Beleaguered genetic testing firm 23andMe introduced Friday that it has reached an settlement to promote itself to a nonprofit led by the corporate’s co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki.
Following a large cyberattack in 2023 and a associated lawsuit settlement, 23andMe filed for chapter in March, with Wojcicki resigning with a purpose to turn into an impartial bidder for the corporate. But pharmaceutical firm Regeneron was introduced as the corporate’s acquirer with a $256 million bid.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wojcicki’s nonprofit TTAM Research Institute reopened the bidding course of by making an unsolicited bid earlier this month, and Regeneron declined to beat TTAM’s $305 million supply.
In the announcement, TTAM (an acronym that corresponds with the primary letters of Twenty-Three And Me) mentioned that clients will probably be notified of the acquisition at the least two enterprise offers earlier than the deal closes, and that the nonprofit will proceed to abide by 23andMe’s privateness insurance policies permitting clients to delete their information and opt-out of analysis. It additionally mentioned that it’ll set up a Consumer Privacy Advisory Board inside 90 days of closing.
“I’m thrilled that TTAM Research Institute will have the ability to proceed the mission of 23andMe to assist individuals entry, perceive and profit from the human genome,” Wojcicki wrote on LinkedIn. “We imagine it’s vital that people are empowered to have selection and transparency with respect to their genetic information and have the chance to proceed to study their ancestry and well being dangers as they need.”
The acquisition nonetheless must be accredited by the chapter courtroom, and it faces further authorized hurdles — a bunch of 28 state attorneys basic led by New York’s Letitia James filed a lawsuit this week objecting to the sale of the corporate’s property.
“23andMe can’t public sale tens of millions of individuals’s private genetic info with out their consent,” James mentioned.
A court-appointed privateness ombudsman additionally mentioned it’s not clear that 23andMe’s privateness insurance policies permit for the sale of its genetic information, in accordance with the WSJ.
Nor is it clear that 23andMe may regain client belief if the deal goes by means of. The firm’s interim CEO Joseph Selsavage not too long ago instructed a House Oversight Committee that 15% of shoppers had requested to delete their information because the firm filed for chapter.
