23andMe Files for Bankruptcy, Loses CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: What That Means for You and Your Data

23andMe, the business whose mail-in self-testing sets came to be identified with DNA screening, is filing for bankruptcy amidst reducing sales 4 years after it went public. Anne Wojcicki, that co-founded 23andMe in 2006, is tipping down as chief executive officer as the company tries to find a buyer.

In January, 23andMe said it was checking out alternatives for a sale amidst reducing need for its item and the after effects of a significant information violation in 2023. In 2024, the business consented to a monetary negotiation for the violation, which impacted 6.9 million individuals. The business had actually likewise revealed discharges ofabout 40% of its workforce in late 2024 Recently, the business’s supply dipped below a dollar, placing it at risk of being delisted from the NASDAQ.

In a note to customers, the business claimed absolutely nothing is presently altering concerning the method it shops, takes care of or secures client information which the business is still open for service and marketing DNA sets. “Through this process, we will seek to find a partner who shares our commitment to customer data privacy and allows our mission of helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome to live on,” the business claimed in its blog post.

At its top, 23andMe came to be the best-known name in the arising location of DNA self-testing, with individuals paying $99 for sets that provided understandings right into their hereditary make-up, prospective loved ones and origins. But the business’s energy decreased recently after its $3.5 billion public offering in 2021.

People that have actually made use of 23andMe and are worried concerning what could take place to their information in a sale have alternatives: They can download their details after that erase their account, in addition to ask the business to discard their DNA product along with erasing the information. Doing so will certainly maintain DNA details from being made use of in future study, yet it can not be eliminated from study that has actually currently been done.