Shares of 23andMe crashed in premarket trading on Monday after the genetic testing unicorn startup filed for bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, following a slide in demand for its ancestry kits and a data breach. The bankruptcy raises one alarming question about DNA security: What will happen to the genetic data of the company’s more than 15 million customers?
23andMe announced that its CEO, Anne Wojcicki, has resigned immediately and will remain on the company’s board of directors. She led the cash-burning startup that never turned a profit and once commanded a market capitalization of nearly $6 billion in late 2021. Shares plunged 44% in the premarket to $1.
“After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business,” Mark Jensen, Chair and member of the Special Committee of the Board of Directors wrote in a statement.
Jensen said, “We expect the court-supervised process will advance our efforts to address the operational and financial challenges we face, including further cost reductions and the resolution of legal and leasehold liabilities. We believe in the value of our people and our assets and hope that this process allows our mission of helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome to live on for the benefit of customers and patients.”
“We want to thank our employees for their dedication to 23andMe’s mission. We are committed to supporting them as we move through the process. In addition, we are committed to continuing to safeguard customer data and being transparent about the management of user data going forward, and data privacy will be an important consideration in any potential transaction,” he added.
The most ridiculous part is that if one of my naive family members supplies theirs, in effect, they have mine without my authorization or warrant.
Pitiful and flagrant violation of my 4th Amendment protections.
I worked in genetics and can tell readers a few things.
1. 23 & me/ Ancestory/ etc. – pretty much any of these companies that take a saliva sample – not accurate
2. All of the about in #1 provide a broad scatter and are nowhere near as accurate as a blood draw and assay.
3. When you sign on to any of the companies on #1, know that you are paying them a fee to sign off on GIVING your genetic data to them.
4. In reference to #3, your genetic data is sold and traded to the tune of upwards of 21k PER SAMPLE!
Your genetic data is not in any way secure, despite what they say. If you did engage with one of these companies, you need to go read the fine print. Just think about the myriad of possibilities that your genetic data could be used for.
If I had done something like this, I’d be looking into a class action suit.
Good luck