23andMe and its user data will soon belong to a pharmaceutical giant

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is acquiring “substantially each of" 23andMe’s assets.

23andMe volition support offering customers its DNA investigating services aft being bought retired of bankruptcy. New York-based biotech institution Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced an statement connected Monday to acquisition the 23andMe startup for $256 million, alongside its Total Health and Research Services concern and biobank of lawsuit information and familial samples.

Regeneron is the victor of 23andMe’s bankruptcy auction, which required each bidders to comply with applicable laws and the firm’s privateness policies astir lawsuit data. 23andMe says that lawsuit information is anonymized and that stored familial samples are destroyed when users delete their 23andMe accounts, but it’s unclear however overmuch accusation is retained and may, therefore, soon beryllium successful Regeneron’s hands.

The acquisition is expected to adjacent aboriginal this year, taxable to US Bankruptcy Court approval. If each goes ahead, Regeneron co-founder George D. Yancopoulos says the acquisition volition further the company’s “large-scale genetics research” into aboriginal drugs and treatments.

23andMe has collected familial samples and information from much than 15 cardinal customers since launching its at-home DNA investigating kit business. Once concisely valued astatine $6 cardinal aft going nationalist successful 2021, the institution filed for bankruptcy successful March aft failing to crook a profit. Its co-founder and erstwhile CEO, Anne Wojcicki, simultaneously stepped down from the company.

“We are pleased to person reached a transaction that maximizes the worth of the concern and enables the ngo of 23andMe to unrecorded on, portion maintaining captious protections astir lawsuit privacy, choice, and consent with respect to their familial data,” said 23andMe seat Mark Jensen. “We are grateful to Regeneron for offering employment to each employees of the acquired concern units, which volition let america to proceed our ngo of helping radical access, understand, and summation wellness benefits done greater knowing of the quality genome.”