Common DNA testing agency 23andMe has filed for chapter safety, and introduced that its co-founder and CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned with instant impact.
The corporate will now try to promote itself below the supervision of a court docket.
23andMe said in a press release that it plans to proceed working all through the sale course of and that there “are not any modifications to the way in which the corporate shops, manages, or protects buyer information.”
On Friday, the Legal professional Normal in 23andMe’s house state of California issued a client alert advising clients to delete their information from the positioning given the corporate’s “reported monetary misery.”
23andMe’s saliva-based take a look at kits have been as soon as celebrated amongst clients and traders, who helped to push the corporate’s worth as excessive as $6bn (£4.6bn).
But it surely has been struggling for survival.
Based in 2006, the corporate went public in 2021 however has by no means turned a revenue.
In September, the agency settled a lawsuit alleging that it failed to guard the privateness of almost seven million clients whose private info was uncovered in a 2023 information breach.
In some instances, hackers gained entry to household bushes, beginning years and geographic areas, through the use of clients’ previous passwords. The information stolen didn’t embrace DNA information, in keeping with the corporate.
Two months after the settlement, it lower 200 staff, amounting to 40% of its workforce.
23andMe mentioned its finance chief, Joe Selsavage, will take over as interim chief government.
Ms Wojcicki will proceed to function a member of the board.
She had tried to take the corporate non-public however was not open to a third-party takeover.
23andMe – which as soon as had high-profile endorsements from the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Eva Longoria, and Snoop Dogg – struggled to redefine its enterprise mannequin.
Clients didn’t have a lot to return for as soon as that they had paid for a DNA report, and an effort to launch a subscription service proved unsuccessful.
Efforts to make use of its huge trove of knowledge to maneuver into drug growth additionally faltered.
The entire firm’s administrators, aside from Ms Wojcicki resigned final summer time, saying in a letter they have been quitting after not receiving a passable buyout supply from her.
In its assertion on Sunday, 23AndMe’s board chair Mark Jensen mentioned the corporate is “dedicated to persevering with to safeguard buyer information and being clear concerning the administration of person information going ahead”.
He mentioned it could be “an vital consideration in any potential transaction”.
However this may occasionally not ease issues of some customers about what occurs to the DNA they shared with the corporate.
Within the UK, it’s thought-about particular class information below information safety legal guidelines.
This supplies authorized protections if a agency goes bust or modifications palms.
When a DNA testing firm referred to as Atlas Biomed appeared to have ceased buying and selling final 12 months, some customers were left with more questions than answers about what it meant for them.
Prof Carissa Veliz – writer of Privateness is Energy – beforehand instructed the PJDM it’s arguably essentially the most useful private information you’ve got.
“In the event you gave your information to 23andMe, you additionally gave the genetic information of your dad and mom, your siblings, your youngsters, and even distant kin who didn’t consent to that,” she mentioned.
Further reporting by Liv McMahon
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, 2025-03-24 09:42:00
