Written by Wytte Graham-Phillips
NEW YORK (AP) The court has approved Anne Wojcicki’s petition to purchase 23andMe, the genetic testing business she cofounded almost 20 years ago.
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Accordingly, Wojcicki’s charity TTAM Research Institute will pay $305 million to acquire nearly all of 23andMe’s assets in San Francisco. In the upcoming weeks, the deal, which comes more than three months after 23and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will formally conclude.
I’m overjoyed that TTAM will be able to expand on 23andMe’s goal of assisting people in accessing, comprehending, and using the human genome. In a statement released on Monday, Wojcickis added that we are all responsible for the future of healthcare.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian C. Walsh approved the transaction on Friday, capping a months-long bidding war between TTAM and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company that had earlier agreed to pay $256 million in May to purchase the majority of 23andMe’s assets. However, Wojcicki’s organization later outbid that offer in the last round of bidding, which took place last month.
The agreement calls for TTAM to purchase 23andMe’s hallmark Personal Genome Service, which is offered through the business’s saliva-based DNA testing kits, research activities, and Lemonaid Health subsidiary, a telehealth services provider that 23andMe had previously intended to shut down.
For a while, Wojcicki had been trying to take 23andMe private. She has argued that the company would function better outside of market pressures because it has struggled to develop a sustainable business model since going public in 2021. However, after protracted negotiations, all of 23andMe’s independent directors resigned from the board in September of last year, citing a glaring disagreement with Wojcicki regarding the company’s future.
Wojcicki’s subsequent attempts to buy 23andMe failed, and the company filed for bankruptcy in March. Additionally, Wojcicki resigned as CEO of 23andMe after the company filed for Chapter 11 in late March, stating that she was leaving to be in the best position as an independent bidder.
It’s unclear if Wojcicki, the co-founder, would return to the CEO role now that his foundation will purchase 23andMe. However, Wojcicki has stayed on the board of the company during the bankruptcy process, even though he resigned from his position as CEO months ago.
In addition to the financial difficulties that preceded 23andMe’s bankruptcy, privacy issues pertaining to consumers’ genetic data surfaced even earlier, most notably in a data breach in 2023. However, in recent months, worries about what the new ownership would imply for 23andMe consumers’ personal data have grown. According to court filings, the genetic testing company had roughly 13 million clients at the time of the sale hearing.
A lawsuit was launched in June by 27 states and the District of Columbia to stop 23andMe from selling sensitive genetic data without the agreement of its customers. Additionally, Walsh addressed these states’ concerns to the transaction in a memorandum opinion detailing his approval of 23andMe’s sale to TTAM on Friday, noting that many of them had already been handled. Utah, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and California are still adamantly opposed to the sale.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement to Politico on Monday that 23andMe’s sale does not adhere to the state’s genetic privacy law. The office expressed disappointment with the court’s permission and said it was considering its options.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press contacted Bonta’s office for additional information.
TTAM has reaffirmed its pledge to adhere to the company’s privacy standards and applicable law, 23andMe said last month when it announced its planned sale to Wojcicki’s organization. According to the corporation, this implies that TTAM will uphold current consumer data regulations, which permit customers to remove their data and refuse participation in research.
At least two business days prior to the purchase closing, 23andMe stated that all customers will receive an email with information about TTAM’s privacy pledges and how to remove data or opt out of study. Additionally, the business said that TTAM will provide clients with free two-year Experian identity theft monitoring.
On Monday, 23andMe restated those privacy guidelines. Core to my convictions, Wojcicki continued, are that people should be given the freedom to choose and be transparent about their genetic information, as well as the chance to learn more about their heritage and health concerns whenever they so choose.
