Regeneron Pharmaceuticals bids $256m for bankrupt genetics test kit company 23andMe but ex-CEO trying to bid herself

The assets of bankrupt DNA consumer genetic testing company 23andMe may have been bought by US biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256m, as part of a US court-supervised bankruptcy process.

However, a last-minute attempt by 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki to buy the company she ran until stepping down in March 2025 may derail Regereron’s bid. She has asked the judge in the bankruptcy proceedings to allow additional bids for the business. Media reports say that (as of 03/06/25) Wojcicki has filed documents which claim she has backing from a Fortune 500 company for a higher bid.

23andMe offered low-cost genetic testing which could be used to identify someone’s genetic ancestry, find lost relatives, identify potentially harmful genetic conditions, and even perhaps get genetically tailored healthcare.

Founded in 2006, 23andMe went public in 2021, at one point hitting a market capitalisation of $6bn; but it never managed to make a profit. Attempts to build a subscription model for its services failed, and so did plans to use the genetic data it had for drug development.

Worse, in 2023, it suffered a data breach involving the personal records of seven million customers. While the company says the stolen data did not include DNA records, hackers were able to view family trees, customer dates of birth, and location details. It agreed a legal settlement in the US that saw users able to claim up to $10,000.

In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office said in March 2025 that it was considering fining 23andMe £4.6m over the breach. The ICO UK and its Canadian counterpart, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), sent a joint letter to the US authorities administering the bankruptcy procedure calling for assurances that the data the company holds will be protected.

These concerns over the future use of the genetic data 23andMe had collected led Regeneron to issue a statement assuring the public and regulators that it will only use the genetic data it is acquiring responsibly and with consent.

Aris Baras, the senior vice-president and head of the Regeneron Genetics Center, says in the statement: “Regeneron Genetics Center is committed to and has a proven track record of safeguarding the genetic data of people across the globe, and, with their consent, using this data to pursue discoveries that benefit science and society. We assure 23andMe customers that we are committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset with our high standards of data privacy, security and ethical oversight and will advance its full potential to improve human health.”

In its announcement of the original deal, Regeneron says it will detail the intended use of customer data and the privacy programs and security controls in place for review by a court-appointed, independent Customer Privacy Ombudsman and other interested parties. Presumably the same rules will apply to a new, higher, Regeneron bid, or one from other parties, should the court re-open the bidding process.

The current Regeneron statement says: “Regeneron intends to acquire 23andMe’s Personal Genome Service® (PGS), Total Health and Research Services business lines, together with its Biobank and associated assets, for $256 m and for 23andMe to continue all consumer genome services uninterrupted.”

While no details of how much of the purchase price will be for intangibles, including trade marks, patents, and other IP rights, the price does underline how data has become a core intangible asset for modern companies – whether the data in question is details of customers, research data, or medical data.

But it also highlights the challenges that data assets can involve, particularly, as here, where it relates to consumer genetic records. Furthermore, valuable data is increasingly targeted by cyber-criminals.