A US bankruptcy judge on Friday approved the sale of 23andMe to the nonprofit TTAM Research Institute, owned by cofounder and former CEO of 23andMe Anne Wojcicki.
The sale will ensure that the DNA of the company’s customers will not be transferred to a third party.
According to an Associated Press report, this means that Ms. Wojcicki’s nonprofit TTAM Research Institute “will purchase ‘substantially all’ of San Francisco-based 23andMe’s assets for $305 million. The transaction — which arrives more than three months after 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — is set to officially close in the coming weeks.”
Under the deal, TTAM will acquire 23andMe’s signature “Personal Genome Service” provided through the company’s saliva-based DNA testing kits — as well as research operations and its Lemonaid Health subsidiary, a telehealth services provider that 23andMe previously planned to wind down.
When announcing its intended sale to Ms. Wojcicki’s nonprofit last month, 23andMe confirmed that TTAM “has affirmed its commitment” to comply with the company privacy policies and applicable law. That means TTAM will honor existing policies around consumer data, the company said, which includes allowing users to delete their data and “opt out” of research.
23andMe said it will send an email will be sent to all customers at least two business days before the acquisition closes to provide details on TTAM’s privacy commitments and instructions on how to delete data or opt out of research. TTAM will also offer customers two years of Experian identity theft monitoring at no cost.
