23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki is slated to regain control of her DNA-testing company after a nonprofit she controls outbid rivals in a bankruptcy auction.
TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit public benefit corporation based in California and led by Wojcicki, won the sale of substantially all of 23andMe Holding Co.’s assets, including the Personal Genome Service (PGS) and Research Services business lines and the Lemonaid Health business, for $305 million, topping Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’s bid of $256 million.
Once approved by the court, the definitive agreement with TTAM will nullify the previously announced acquisition and underlying asset purchase agreement with Regeneron, the DNA-testing company announced.
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Wojcicki co-founded the company in 2006, three years after the first human genome was sequenced, to help people learn about their ancestry. She sat at the helm up until the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March.
As part of the bankruptcy protection proceedings, the genetic testing company sought a new owner. Wojcicki stepped down intentionally so she could be in a better position to bid for ownership in her former company.
“I am supportive of the company and I intend to be a bidder. I have resigned as CEO of the company so I can be in the best position to pursue the company as an independent bidder,” Wojcicki posted on X as she resigned in March.
Despite the company falling into bankruptcy, Mark Jensen, chair of the board and member of the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of 23andMe, commended Wojcicki, saying she is “well positioned to advance the company’s founding vision of helping people access, understand and gain health benefits through greater understanding of the human genome.”
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23andMe will begin its next chapter as a nonprofit. TTAM also agreed to adopt additional privacy safeguards to enhance protections for customer data and privacy as part of its deal.
Under the agreement, TTAM will honor 23andMe’s existing policies that allow individuals to delete their account and genetic data and opt-out of research.
Additionally, all customers will be emailed at least two business days before the deal closes with details on TTAM’s role as well as its commitment to privacy choices. The emails will also include instructions on how to delete data or opt out of research.
TTAM also agreed that if the company goes through bankruptcy or changes ownership, it won’t sell or share genetic data unless the new owner is a U.S.-based organization that follows the same privacy rules and obeys all laws.
TTAM will establish a consumer privacy advisory board and will implement privacy procedures, notify customers of material changes, mitigate data breaches, and prepare annual reports to be made available to Attorneys General upon request.
Customers will also be given two years of free Experian identity theft monitoring, according to the terms of the deal.
Meanwhile, TTAM will still use 23andMe’s policy of allowing de-identified data to be used for scientific and biomedical research by research scholars at academic universities and other nonprofits. It will also refuse donations from individuals or companies in specified countries.
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