Court approves sale of 23andMe to nonprofit led by former CEO Anne Wojcicki
A bankruptcy court this week approved the $305 million sale of genetics testing firm 23andMe to a nonprofit organization led by the company's former CEO Anne Wojcicki, the company announced.
The 23andMe bankruptcy earlier this year elicited fears about the security of genetic data belonging to the company's roughly 15 million customers.
The TTAM Research Institute, or TTAM, a California-based nonprofit set to acquire 23andMe, plans to maintain the company's customer privacy policies and add further data security measures, 23andMe said in a statement.
The sale replaces a previous $256 million bid announced in May by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which said the genetic information could improve drug development.
Last month, 27 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit to block the sale of customers' genetic information without their consent.
Wojcicki, 23andMe's co-founder and former chief executive, said TTAM aims to operate for "the public good."
"I am thrilled that TTAM will be able to build on the mission of 23andMe to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome," Wojcicki said. "As a nonprofit, TTAM will be a champion of improving our knowledge of DNA – the code of life – for the public good, creating a resource to advance human health globally."
"Core to my beliefs is that individuals should be empowered to have choice and transparency with respect to their genetic data and have the opportunity to continue to learn about their ancestry and health risks as they wish. The future of healthcare belongs to all of us," Wojcicki added.
The acquisition of 23andMe will include Lemonaid Health, a telemedicine service that 23andMe purchased for about $400 million in 2021.
In March, 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, saying it would enter a "court-supervised" sale process. At the same time, Wojcicki resigned from her role as chief executive.
The move followed a series of setbacks for the company, including a 2023 class-action settlement over a data breach and a mass resignation among its board of directors in 2024.
Founded in 2006, 23andMe helped pioneer consumer genetic testing but faced difficulty turning the service into a sustainable business.
The sale received approval on Monday from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks, 23andMe said in a statement.
All customers will receive an email informing them of the sale prior to closure of the acquisition, the company said.
