Latest news with #geneticTesting
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
23andMe seeks new bids after $305 million offer from its co-founder
NEW YORK, June 4 (Reuters) - Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe ( opens new tab 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 (REGN.O), opens new tab 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.
Wall Street Journal
21 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
A Startup Wants to Help Parents Rank Embryos for Longevity
Prospective parents using IVF will soon be able to rank embryos using genetic and other information in the hopes of extending the longevity of their offspring, according to the 25-year-old entrepreneur behind Nucleus Genomics, a DNA testing and analysis company. 'Lifespan has dramatically increased in the last 150 years,' said Kian Sadeghi, the company's founder and CEO. 'DNA testing to predict and reduce chronic disease can make it happen again.'
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
23andMe's Anne Wojcicki moves to reopen auction with support from a Fortune 500 company
(Corrects paragraph 3 to say 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, not April) The founder of 23andMe, Anne Wojcick i, 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. South San Francisco, California-based 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, seeking to sell its business at auction after a decline in consumer demand and a 2023 data breach that exposed sensitive genetic and personal information of millions of customers. Last month, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy the firm for $256 million, topping a $146 million bid from Wojcicki and TTAM Research Institute, which was founded by Wojcicki and describes itself as a California non-profit public benefit corporation. In a filing dated May 31, Wojcicki claimed that 23andMe's debtors had attempted to tilt the sales process away from TTAM and in favor of Regeneron. TTAM and Wojcicki said in the filing that 23andMe's financial and legal advisers unfairly capped their maximum bid at $250 million due to misplaced concerns about TTAM's 'financial wherewithal'. The plaintiffs said the auction was prematurely concluded before they had the opportunity to submit a bid that would have exceeded $280 million. The company's debtors said the auction results came after an extensive and careful consideration by a four-member special committee of independent directors, according to the filing. According to another filing, 23andMe is seeking court approval to let Wojcicki and Regeneron submit final proposals by June 12. 23andMe is also seeking a $10 million breakup fee for Regeneron if Wojcicki's bid is ultimately accepted. Regeneron said it does not comment on the ongoing proceeding and aims to close the acquisition as intended.
Medscape
3 days ago
- General
- Medscape
Genetic Tests in AF Patients May Flag Heart Failure Risk
Genetic testing in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) may identify those at higher risk of developing incident cardiomyopathy or heart failure, new research from the Netherlands suggested. In a study that included two longitudinal cohorts (the All of Us Research program and the UK Biobank), the prevalence of inherited rare gene variants associated with cardiomyopathy was twice as high in patients with AF and up to five times as high in patients with early-onset AF, defined as that occurring in people younger than 45 years. The analysis, of 44,182 patients with AF, also found those with gene variants associated with cardiomyopathy were at a higher risk for incident cardiomyopathy or heart failure after a diagnosis of AF — about 50%-70% higher compared with noncarriers — independent of clinical and polygenic risk. The findings appeared in JAMA Cardiology . 'If you see a young person in the clinic with AF, first of all, it's not a good sign,' Sean J. Jurgens, MD, MSc, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Experimental Cardiology at Amsterdam UMC, and a co-author of the study, told JAMA in an interview about the research. 'The risk of heart failure and cardiomyopathies are relatively high and substantially elevated in any person with AF at a younger age. It's not a benign disease where you only have to treat the ischemic stroke risk.' People carrying rare pathogenic variants 'are the patients you really need to look after because these will be the ones who will go on to develop heart failure more likely,' he said. Jurgens acknowledged barriers remain with widespread genetic testing, citing cost, insurance coverage, a lack of cardiovascular genetic expertise, and the lack of genetic counselors. Genetic testing is also more widely available in a smaller country like the Netherlands. In the United States, especially outside of urban centers, accessibility is particularly limited. 'This is a very difficult problem, is why it is so important to do the right stratification,' Jurgens said. 'We can't offer it to everyone. One thing that's good to see is that the prices, at least on the technological side are dropping.' Jurgens said the new research may help reduce the cost of genetic testing, as it narrowed the panel of pathogenic variants from more than 100 to 26, with a high degree of confidence. Notable Strengths In an editorial accompanying the journal article, Olivia G. Anderson, MS, CGC, with the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and her colleagues called the new study 'methodologically rigorous.' The work 'affirms the observation that AF can be an early phenotypic manifestation' of genetic cardiomyopathy, they wrote. Anderson and her co-authors praised the study for generating concordant results from a sensitivity analysis using a 12-month blanking period, which reduced the likelihood patients were diagnosed with AF and cardiomyopathy at the same time. They also said the Dutch team's study makes a strong case for genetic testing in patients with AF, particularly for those younger than 45 years. 'Their findings also highlight the increasing need for genetic counselors embedded in cardiology practices and an expanded availability of specialized cardiovascular genetics clinics,' they wrote. This work was supported in part by the Amsterdam UMC YTF, Dutch Heart Foundation, and the AFIP Foundation; the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; the CIRCULAR NOW Consortium and the Dutch Heart Foundation, focused on genomic risk prediction in cardiomyopathies; the American Heart Association, the European Union, and the Fondation Leducq. Jurgens and the authors of the editorial reported no relevant financial relationships.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Regeneron agrees to purchase bankrupt 23andMe, protect data
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe announced Monday that it agreed to be sold to biotechnology firm Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million. The deal, which is subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy court, includes Regeneron's commitment to comply with 23andMe's data privacy policies and 'process all customer personal data in accordance with the consents, privacy policies and statements, terms of service, and notices currently in effect,' according to a press release. 'We are pleased to have reached a transaction that maximizes the value of the business and enables the mission of 23andMe to live on, while maintaining critical protections around customer privacy, choice and consent with respect to their genetic data,' 23andMe Board Chair Mark Jensen said in the release. Sunnyvale, California-based 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March after facing financial challenges in recent years and a massive data breach in 2023. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson is among public officials who have expressed concern about whether data privacy commitments made by 23andMe would be kept in the event of a sale of the company and its assets. 'As you may know, 23andMe collects and holds sensitive, immutable, identifiable personal information about millions of American consumers who have used the Company's genetic testing and telehealth services,' Ferguson said in a March letter to Acting U.S. Trustee Jerry Jensen. The information includes genetic data, biological DNA samples, health records, and ancestry and genealogy details, he said. A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment on the deal with Regeneron. Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron will acquire 'substantially all of the assets' of 23andMe. The proposed sale doesn't cover 23andMe's Lemonaid Health subsidiary, which the company plans to wind down, the press release said. 'We believe we can help 23andMe deliver and build upon its mission to help people learn about their own DNA and how to improve their personal health, while furthering Regeneron's efforts to improve the health and wellness of many,' George Yancopoulos, Regeneron's president and chief scientific officer, said in the release. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri as well as 'customary closing conditions,' including a review required by U.S. antitrust regulations, the release said. A court hearing to consider approval of the transaction is currently scheduled for June 17. A court-appointed, independent consumer privacy ombudsman will conduct an examination of the transaction and its potential impact on consumers' privacy, according to the release. The ombudsman is expected to present a report to the court by June 10. The deal highlights the need for comprehensive federal data privacy protections, according to J.B. Branch, a 'Big Tech accountability advocate' for Washington-based public interest group Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. 'The precedent is being set that your DNA can be considered a business asset which is in complete contradiction to any notion of human dignity,' Branch said in an email. 'Congress needs to pass real digital privacy laws that are ironclad and protect consumers from having their literal identifiable information sold off to the highest bidder.' Without such federal protections, Regeneron's intentions to prioritize the privacy and security of consumer genetic data 'still leave consumers concerned about their highly sensitive genetic data,' said Suzanne Bernstein, counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, another advocacy group. '23andMe consumers could not have envisioned, or meaningfully consented to their genetic data being sold or used for purposes outside of the original context to discover family heritage or genealogy,' Bernstein said in an email. Recommended Reading FTC chief flags data privacy concerns in 23andMe bankruptcy
