23andMe Is Selling All User Data to Drug Developer Regeneron
Regeneron told 23andMe customers that it would adhere to 23andMe's privacy policy, which allows customers to request to delete their personal information.
Related: 'Surprised and Disappointed': All Independent Board Members of 23andMe Resign, Leaving Only the CEO
"We assure 23andMe customers that we are committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset," Aris Baras, head of the Regeneron Genetics Center, said in a press release.
Baras explained that the Regeneron Genetics Center has experience with genetic data, processing the genetic information of nearly three million people in research studies since it was founded in 2013. Regeneron "shares 23andMe's founding vision of the power of genetics and data," Baras stated.
Regeneron's acquisition includes 23andMe's personal genome service, which conducts DNA testing for genetic predispositions, ancestry, and traits based on a small saliva sample. Under the acquisition, 23andMe will continue its daily operations as a personal genomics service, but as a subsidiary of Regeneron, and continue to offer genetic testing.
Anne Wojcicki. Photo by Cindy Ord/VF24/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Related: 'Difficult but Necessary': 23andMe Is Cutting 40% of Its Workforce
The only part of 23andMe's business that the acquisition does not cover is its telehealth division, Lemonaid Health, which 23andMe plans to shut down. Company staff in divisions other than Lemonaid Health, numbering around 300 employees, will keep their jobs.
The deal still has to be approved by the judge overseeing the bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
23andMe filed for bankruptcy in late March following a tumultuous few years. The company's reputation took a hit after a data breach in 2023 exposed the data of nearly seven million people, or about half of the company's users. 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million in September to settle a lawsuit about the breach, but data privacy remains a point of concern.
23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki, 51, resigned as 23andMe's CEO following news of the bankruptcy but continued to serve on the company's board of directors. Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe in 2006 and owns 49% of the company, said that she had resigned from the CEO role in order to be "in the best position" to bid for total ownership of the company.
Wojcicki submitted a few rejected proposals to buy 23andMe, one in July 2024 and another in February to purchase all of the company's shares that she didn't already own in cash for $2.53 per share, for an equity value of $74.7 million.
In September, all of 23andMe's independent directors resigned from the board due to strategic differences with Wojcicki. They have since been replaced. The company laid off 40% of its workforce, or over 200 people, in November to cut costs.
23andMe went public in 2021 and was valued at around $6 billion that year at its peak.
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