The genetic test giant 23andme has provided bankruptcy protection in the United States as it seeks to sell its business – the personal genetic data of millions of customers in a risk fraught position.
The San Francisco -based company, which has emerged with consumers' DNA testing groups, announced on Sunday that it started the volunteer semester 11 procedures in Missouri “to facilitate the sale process to increase the value of its business to the maximum.”
The dramatic development follows a breach of the catastrophic data in 2023, which led to the exposure of personal information for nearly 7 million customers – nearly half of its global user base. As customer confidence and revenue decreased, the company reduced 40 percent of its working power, stopped all therapeutic development, and is now facing an uncertain future.
To add to the disturbances, the co-founder and CEO Ann Wajiki stepped down to launch a special offer for the company-one of them suggested without success in recent months. She is still on the blackboard, but she went through daily driving to CFO JOE Selsavage.
WoJCICKI's latest offer, which is residing in the company for only $ 11 million, is a significant decrease from Grace for a company once worth $ 5.8 billion at the height of its first appearance on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 2021.
The company has received a funding of $ 35 million from the financing of debtors from JMB Capital Partners to maintain operations during the sale, and insists that it is “used as usual” at the present time. “There are no changes to the way the company is stored, managed or protects customer data,” said 23andme.
But concerns about genetic privacy escalate. California Public Prosecutor, Rob Punta, issued a public warning during the weekend urges 23ndme agent to request to delete their DNA data and destroy biological samples. The company already pays $ 30 million and applies three years of identity protection after a collective lawsuit.
President Mark Jensen said that the sales process under the supervision of the court is now the only way to be viable. “Data privacy will be important in any possible treatment,” he pointed out.
WoJCICKI, who co -founded 23ndme in 2006, has long aspires to develop the company to a drug developer by taking advantage of its extensive genetic database. This strategy is now on ice, with all therapeutic projects saved since November.
She wrote on X (previously Twitter), she expressed disappointment: “If you are lucky enough to secure the company's assets through the restructuring process, I am still committed to our long -term vision because we are a world leader in genetics.”
But critics say that the collapse of 23andme is a blatant warning about the risk of marketing sensitive health data without sufficient guarantees. As one of the first direct genome companies for the consumer, its fall raises questions not only about business models in biotechnology but also about consumer confidence in dealing with deep personal data.
With the presence of 15 million DNA profiles in its archive and ownership, hands are likely to change, privacy activists and clients are closely monitored – and they claim stronger protection on how to sell, store genetic data, or share it in the future.