Struggling DNA testing agency 23andMe to be purchased for $256m | EUROtoday

The DNA testing agency 23andMe says it has entered into an settlement to be acquired by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256m (£192m).

It comes two months after the corporate filed for chapter safety within the US.

23andMe mentioned Regeneron had dedicated to adjust to its privateness insurance policies as a part of the deal, and that Regeneron has safety controls in place to guard consumer knowledge.

Last month, the agency agreed to have an ombudsman oversee the safety of consumer knowledge in response to calls for by a number of state attorneys normal within the US.

The officers expressed concern over the potential for unscrupulous consumers to wield the information towards shoppers.

Regeneron will purchase practically all of 23andMe’s property, the corporate mentioned in a press release.

Its subsidiary Lemonaid Health shall be wound down underneath the settlement.

23andMe will proceed to function as a wholly-owned unit unit of Regeneron, which mentioned it might use the agency’s knowledge for drug growth.

“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,” mentioned 23andMe’s board chairman Mark Jensen.

The firm declined to remark additional when approached by the BBC.

23andMe was co-founded in 2006 by Anne Wojcicki who served as CEO till stepping down in March.

Over the years, the corporate obtained high-profile endorsements from celebrities together with Oprah Winfrey, Eva Longoria and Snoop Dogg.

23andMe went public in 2021, which noticed its worth prime $6bn – but it surely by no means turned a revenue.

The once-celebrated firm has struggled amid weak demand for its testing kits and by no means managed to redefine its enterprise mannequin.

A subscription service failed to achieve traction with prospects and efforts to make use of its huge trove of knowledge to maneuver into drug growth additionally faltered.

Then in 2023 the corporate skilled an information breach that uncovered the genetic knowledge of hundreds of thousands of customers.

The agency finally settled a lawsuit alleging it failed to guard the privateness of practically seven million prospects whose private data was uncovered.

Hackers gained entry to household bushes, start years and geographic areas, by utilizing prospects’ outdated passwords, however the firm maintains the information stolen didn’t embody DNA data.

Two months after the settlement, it slashed 200 jobs – about 40% of its workforce.

Ms Wojcicki tried to take the corporate non-public however was not open to a third-party takeover.

When 23andMe filed for chapter safety in March, attorneys normal from a number of US states suggested its prospects to purge their data from the agency’s database.

At the time, the corporate mentioned it might proceed to guard buyer knowledge as specified by its privateness coverage, and any purchaser of the corporate must abide by legal guidelines that apply to how buyer knowledge is handled.

But its privateness coverage additionally included language which allowed for private data to be accessed, offered, or transferred if it was “involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets”.

23andMe agreed to a court-appointed overseer of buyer genetic knowledge after a number of states alleged the corporate was failing to take knowledge safety severely sufficient.