23andMe on Sunday filed for bankruptcy in the United States after struggling with the fallout of a data breach and weak demand for its ancestry testing kits that featured in Oprah Winfrey’s annual list of favorite things just eight years ago.
The biotech unicorn has seen a sharp fall in its market value since then. On Monday, its shares fell 46 per cent to 96 cents after co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, who made multiple failed takeover bids, also resigned.
Wojcicki will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Joe Selsavage on an interim basis.
In 2021, billionaire Richard Branson’s SPAC took 23andMe public at a $3.5 billion valuation. AncestryDNA, which offers similar tests, was also bought by Blackstone Group that same year, despite slowing sales for both the genetic testing companies.
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A five-month-long data breach in 2023 that exposed personal data of nearly seven million customers, dealt a major blow to 23andMe’s reputation. Late last year, it laid off 200 employees and stopped development of all therapies.
It also agreed to a $30-million settlement in a lawsuit related to the breach.
Wojcicki has been pushing for a buyout since last April but has been rebuffed by 23andMe’s board. She reportedly used her contacts including ex-husband and Google GOOGL.O co-founder Sergey Brin to help drive initial investments.
She intends to make another bid, Wojcicki said in a post on X on Monday, without giving details. Her last offer of 41 cents per share valued 23andMe at about $11 million, below its current value of $50 million, and a far cry from its $6 billion peak in 2021.
23andMe secured a financing commitment of about $35 million on Sunday and will continue to operate during the sale process. It did not say if it had other buyout offers or interest.
It listed assets and estimated liabilities between $100 million and $500 million.