Latest news with #Wojcicki
Mint
2 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Genetic testing company 23andMe to re-auction over 15 million customers' DNA data with bid starting at $305mn — Details
Bankrupt genetic analysis company 23andMe said it will conduct a second auction for its DNA data cache, with an opening bid of $305 million from former CEO Anne Wojcicki, Bloomberg reported. 23andMe built its fame by providing medical and ancestry-related genetic testing to over 15 million customers. It has nearly 5,50,000 subscribers, but filed for bankruptcy saying this was not enough to keep the business afloat, the report added. Notably, this new offer is around $50 million higher than the last bid (which was $256 million) won by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in May 2025. The result of that auction, conducted over three days, was challenged by Wojcicki, who argued that bidding was unfairly closed to favor Regeneron. This auction comes as a compromise between the three parties, after Wojcicki, Regeneron and 23andMe attended a hearing in the matter at a federal court in St Louis on June 4, as per the publication. Hearing the case, US Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh asked Regeneron and 23andMe to justify the limits they wanted to set for the second auction process. Company attorney Christopher Hopkins told Judge Walsh that under the new rules, Wojcicki and her partner, a California-based research institute, would make a bid of $305 million, which Regeneron can counter with at least $315 million. Hopkins added that Wojcicki and the research institute would be then allowed to make another bid, post which, Regeneron gets the chance to make the last offer of the auction. The case is 23andMe Holding Co., number 25-40976, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the report added. Amid the bankruptcy and auction news, a host of 23andMe's customers and government officials have raised an alarm over protection and security of the years of DNA data held by the company. The business worked by collecting saliva samples from customers, which was used to extract DNA and then trace one's ancestry or certain health-related genetic traits. The mail-back saliva test cost less than $200. Both Regeneron and Wojcicki have pledged to comply with 23andMe's privacy policy, based on which customers had submitted their samples. The policy allows customers to get their personal information deleted on request. The pioneering company on March 23, 2025, said that it had 'filed a voluntary petition for reorganisation' with a state bankruptcy court in Missouri, USA. Notably, just months before 23andMe declared backruptcy, and tried to attact buyers, it was hit with a class-action lawsuit due to a 2023 data breach that gave hackers access to customer information. Settlement from those claims is also likely to be addressed during the bankruptcy process, the report said. (With inputs from Bloomberg)
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
23andMe seeks new bids after $305 million offer from its co-founder
By Dietrich Knauth NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday that it wants to re-open bidding on its assets, including customers' genetic data, after receiving a $305 million offer from its co-founder Anne Wojcicki. 23andMe had previously selected a $256 million bid from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals as the lead offer after a bankruptcy auction concluded in May. But it received a later bid from TTAM Research Institute, a new nonprofit founded by Wojcicki, and asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh in St. Louis, Missouri, to be allowed to re-engage with potential buyers after determining that TTAM had sufficient financing to proceed with the higher offer. Regeneron is willing to make a new bid for 23andMe's assets, but wants a $10 million breakup fee if Wojcicki's bid is ultimately accepted, its attorney Emil Kleinhaus told the judge. Kleinhaus said Regeneron still wants to buy 23andMe, but believes that it was unfair for the genetic testing company to seek a "do-over" after its earlier auction. "The auction was over, the rules were clear," Kleinhaus said. South San Francisco, California-based 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, seeking to sell its business at auction following a decline in consumer demand and a 2023 data breach that exposed sensitive genetic and personal information of millions of customers. The bankruptcy sale will include more than 15 million customer DNA profiles, collected via 23andMe's popular direct-to-consumer saliva-testing kits. The data breach and subsequent bankruptcy filing have drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers concerned that the company's genetic data on millions of customers could be sold to unscrupulous buyers. 23andMe had named TTAM as the backup bidder after its earlier auction, valuing its offer at $146 million. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
23andMe seeks new bids after $305 million offer from its co-founder
By Dietrich Knauth NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday that it wants to re-open bidding on its assets, including customers' genetic data, after receiving a $305 million offer from its co-founder Anne Wojcicki. 23andMe had previously selected a $256 million bid from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals as the lead offer after a bankruptcy auction concluded in May. But it received a later bid from TTAM Research Institute, a new nonprofit founded by Wojcicki, and asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh in St. Louis, Missouri, to be allowed to re-engage with potential buyers after determining that TTAM had sufficient financing to proceed with the higher offer. Regeneron is willing to make a new bid for 23andMe's assets, but wants a $10 million breakup fee if Wojcicki's bid is ultimately accepted, its attorney Emil Kleinhaus told the judge. Kleinhaus said Regeneron still wants to buy 23andMe, but believes that it was unfair for the genetic testing company to seek a "do-over" after its earlier auction. "The auction was over, the rules were clear," Kleinhaus said. South San Francisco, California-based 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, seeking to sell its business at auction following a decline in consumer demand and a 2023 data breach that exposed sensitive genetic and personal information of millions of customers. The bankruptcy sale will include more than 15 million customer DNA profiles, collected via 23andMe's popular direct-to-consumer saliva-testing kits. The data breach and subsequent bankruptcy filing have drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers concerned that the company's genetic data on millions of customers could be sold to unscrupulous buyers. 23andMe had named TTAM as the backup bidder after its earlier auction, valuing its offer at $146 million.
Mint
12 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
23andMe Judge Questions Limits for New Auction for Bankrupt Firm
(Bloomberg) -- The judge overseeing the bankruptcy of 23andMe questioned the limits proposed for a second auction that is designed to push bids higher than a current $256 million offer from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for the genetic-testing firm. US Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh asked lawyers for Regeneron and 23andMe to justify the limits they're supporting, but which have been criticized by the only other bidder, a California-based research institute backed by former 23andMe Chief Executive Officer Anne Wojcicki. Walsh has to decide whether to limit the auction in a way that gives Regeneron the chance for a final bid, but not Wojcicki and TTAM Research Institute. The current proposed rules for the auction appear to be 'inefficient,' said Walsh, who also questioned a $10 million breakup fee payable to Regeneron if it loses. All sides were present during a federal court hearing in St. Louis on Wednesday to determine how to revive bidding, after 23andMe held an auction last month that the company initially claimed that Regeneron won with a $256 million final bid. Wojcicki objected after the auction, arguing the bidding was unfairly closed in order to favor Regeneron. The current proposal is 'one-sided with a last look for Regeneron,' Wojcicki's lawyer, Susheel Kirpalani, told Walsh. 'There is absolutely not a level playing field.' Last month's auction lasted three days with each side accusing 23andMe of unfairly favoring their competitor, company bankruptcy attorney Christopher Hopkins said in court. Afterward, TTAM and Wojcicki made a bid that was 'substantially higher' than Regeneron's, he said. 23andMe then proposed a new, final bidding round with the current limits, which Regeneron accepted, but which Wojcicki opposes. Without the limits, Regeneron may cancel its $256 million bid, Hopkins argued. That would mean no more offers would come in allowing TTAM and Wojcicki to get 23andMe for $156 million, since that was their last, binding bid before the auction ended. A wave of customers and government officials have demanded that 23andMe protect the genetic data it had built up over the years by collecting saliva samples from customers. Both bidders have pledged to comply with 23andMe's privacy policy, which allows customers to have their personal information deleted upon request. 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March after failing to generate sustainable profits by providing medical and ancestry-related genetic testing to more than 15 million customers. About 550,000 people had subscribed to the company's two primary services, which hasn't been enough to keep the company afloat. One of those services, Lemonaid Health, was not part of the sale and will be wound down, 23andMe said in a statement. In the months leading up its bankruptcy, 23andMe tried to attract a buyer while struggling to end a class-action lawsuit related to a 2023 data breach that gave hackers access to customer information. The company will try to resolve those claims as part of the bankruptcy. The case is 23andMe Holding Co., number 25-40976, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. --With assistance from Georgia Hall. More stories like this are available on
Epoch Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
23AndMe Founder Aims to Restart Auction With Major Corporate Backing
The founder of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki, has asked a U.S. judge to reopen an auction for the genetic testing company, saying she has the support of a Fortune 500 company with a current market capitalization of more than $400 billion. Wojcicki did not name the Fortune 500 company in court filings.
