Spit in A test tubeSend it to Silicon Valley, then lean back and wait for information about your ancestors and your genetic health risks. For more than 15 million peopleImmediately enforcing a 23andme test seemed to be a good idea.
For 80% Customers continued their interaction with the company – they decided to use their data in health research. 23Andme collected one of the world’s largest DNA databases with ambitions when all DNA strands deliver new medical breakthroughs.
But many 23Andme customers began to rethink wisdom to share the DNA with the company in 2023 Hackers fallen accessed in his database and for detailed information on almost 7 million people. Then 23andme last week Insolvency registeredtrigger a comprehensive panic and Warnings These customers should Delete your data from the website before the sale of assets.
In the middle of demand Step ordinance With regard to the use of private companies, 23Andme tried to assure customers that it does everything to prevent their data from falling into the wrong hands. In an open letterIt was written that the submission of Chapter 11 “The way we store, manage or protect customer data” did not change and swore that privacy will be “important considerations in every transaction”. However, this did not stop any speculation about where the data can land according to A May 14th auction.
On March 31, the US Federal Trade Commission wrote a letter to the agency, in which bankruptcies are supervised that everyone who buys 23andme Should be bound through the same data protection agreement as the existing directive of the company. Among other things, the Company has promised the customer that they do not share any information to employers or health insurance companies unless it has a written consent.
So far, only a few interested parties have made it public that they are interested in buying 23Ande, together with its massive data record. Here is a look at four potential buyers:
Nucleus genomics
The core is a full society Test company SEART in New York and supported by investors such as Peter Thiel-led founders Fund and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Kian Sadeghi, CEO from Nucleus First hovered The opportunity to buy 23andme a few months ago and to rethink the idea after the company has filed for bankruptcy.
Sadeghi Calls Core of the Netflix Up to 23andmes blockbuster, which indicates that it is the next iteration of genome tests because it covers entire genomes with recent technology. On his website, Nucleus states that all customer data is “used and shared in accordance with the hipaa requirements”.
Nucleus offers customers 400 US dollar tests that can identify information on health risks for more than 900 diseases. But the company also attracted controversy To start and defend a genetic IQ test that is no longer available on the website.
Sadghi tells Assets That it is most not attracted to 23andmes data, but to Lemonaid, the Telemealth company, the 23Andme bought in 2021. He wants to start the integration of genome tests and a health practice, which 23Andme had just started. “There is a much greater chance here to primarily recognize the power of the genome,” says Sadeghi.
The Seit Foundation
This is a foundation, a non -profit organization that is dedicated to accepting the introduction of the introduction Its high-speed blockchain platformsays it sees a chance in 23andmes bankruptcy to demonstrate how Blockchain And decentralized networks could be used for more than just cryptocurrency transactions.
The foundation is an advocate of Desci, short for decentralized science, a movement to make scientific research more transparent and collaborative. In A contribution to XA vision for the purchase of 23Andme was recently described, its millions of data points were placed on the blockchain and returned to its original owner back “by encrypted, confidential transfers”. The organization says their plan would enable people to control how their data is monetized and participate in the income. “
Eleanor Davies, head of Desci at the Sein Foundation, says that the organization sees itself as the perfect 23andme buyer for the protection of data protection data protection and the combination of the “ethics of the decentralized science movement” with 23andmes dates.
Justin Barlow, head of business development, adds that this application fully corresponds to the health data and the data protection laws.
“The associated legal questions are not specific to whether the data is stored in the chain or not, and the current guideline requires termination and new approvals of customers in the event of a sale of assets or a change in control,” said Gerald Gallagher, General Counsel of the foundation.
Climax
Ryan Sitton, CEO and co -founder of the Analytics Company ClimaxWas bullish when buying 23andme before it registered bankruptcy. In An online contribution He spoke to the company’s shareholders and said that he would buy the Genetics Testing Company for $ 100 million, much more than an offer from the former CEO Anne Wojcicki, which was before the company.
“(W) We believe that in combination with their data, our algorithms can give humans more insight into their long -term health than ever,” he wrote.
Sitton, an entrepreneur, engineer and former republican politician, who was the commissioner of Texas Railroad Commission, has no formal at that time Assets That he sees a great opportunity for the United States to reduce the cost of health care through genetic tests. If you give people information about your health risks, you can concentrate on prevention, he said and added: “I think this is something like that that could change the world.”
Since the bankruptcy of 23Andme, a spokesman for Pinnacle has announced that the private company “is discussing our way forward and still has serious interest in the data tester.
Anne Wojcicki
Anne Wojcicki, co -founder of 23andme and his former CEO, stepped back on the same day when the biotech registered bankruptcy. But she made it clear that she didn’t go exactly. Instead, she still hopes to be able to revive the company by buying it yourself. “I resigned as a CEO of the company so that I can be in the best position to pursue the company as an independent bidder” wrote.
A Wojcicki spokesman rejected more comments.
Wojcicki led for 23 and 19 years and is considered a pioneer in genetic medicine. The once $ 6 billion never became profitable.
The ex-CEO previously tried to buy the company twice. Her first excursion to the private individual, with a proposal that the board considered to be as low and not properly financed, ended when all seven Her former board members terminated on the same day. At the beginning of March, Wojcicki introduced a second proposal to buy the company and presented it to its new, smaller board. The commandment was also rejected.
“We have achieved a lot of success, but I am equally responsible for the challenges we have today,” wrote Wojcicki on the day she resigned. “There is no doubt that the challenges of 23Andme due to a developed business model were real, but my belief in the company and its future is steadfast.”
This story was originally on Fortune.com
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