- A nonprofit run by Anne Wojcicki, the cofounder and former CEO of 23andme, has agreed to purchase the genetic testing firm for $305 million. Wojcicki’s return is prone to spark lawsuits. The nonprofit, TTAM Analysis Institute, says it’s going to adjust to 23andme’s privateness insurance policies.
The swift and sudden fall—and tried rebirth—of genetic-testing firm 23andme has taken a last twist. A nonprofit run by Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder and former CEO of the corporate, has reached an settlement to purchase the corporate, with a $305 million supply.
The deal, introduced late Friday, will see Wojcicki take management of basically all the firm’s property.
For a very long time, it appeared Wojcicki wouldn’t regain management of the corporate she left in March. New York-based biotech firm Regeneron Prescribed drugs was set to purchase 23andMe for $256 million, however within the last spherical of bidding, Wojcicki’s TTAM Analysis Institute got here out of prime.
The sale of 23andme, which was as soon as valued at $6 billion, led to a wave of consternation about what would occur with the client genetic knowledge it held. Roughly 15% of its clients, some 1.9 million folks, have requested their knowledge be deleted from the corporate servers since 23andme filed for chapter in March. The sale of the corporate has additionally attracted the curiosity of the Home Oversight Committee, which was involved about the place the info might find yourself.
TTAM says it’s going to adjust to 23andMe’s “privacy policies and applicable law” and has made “binding commitments” to create further protections and privateness safeguards. These will embody a consumer-privacy advisory board.
23andme’s troubles got here following a hack of the corporate in 2023 which raised a number of considerations in regards to the firm. For example, one on-line put up that supplied knowledge on the market bragged of getting an enormous database of Ashkenazi Jews, together with folks whose ties with that ancestry are lower than 1%.
Wojcicki, whereas she was nonetheless CEO, oversaw three rounds of layoffs and recommended a plan that will remodel the corporate from only a provider of ancestral knowledge and right into a healthcare firm that develops medicine and sells subscription well being reviews.
Wojcicki first supplied to purchase the corporate in mid-2024. The 23andMe board rejected her bid to take the corporate personal, later quitting en masse.
The acquisition of 23andme by a gaggle run by Wojcicki is prone to spark lawsuits. Earlier this 12 months, an unbiased investor in 23andMe spoke with Fortune expressed disbelief that Wojcicki, whom he held liable for permitting 23andMe’s valuation to plunge, might flip round and purchase the corporate at a low value. “I can’t understand why there aren’t other bids,” the investor, who requested that his privateness be protected, instructed Fortune.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
