23AndMe, the company's mail-in self-testing kit, became synonymous with DNA testing, is filing for bankruptcy as sales slowed four years after publication. Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andme in 2006, is serving as CEO as the company tries to find a buyer.
In January, 23AndMe said it was exploring sales options due to slowing demand for products and the impact of major data breaches in 2023. In 2024, the company agreed to conduct a financial settlement for the violation, which affected 6.9 million users. The company also announced about 40% of its workforce layoffs by the end of 2024. Recently, the company's stock has dropped below one dollar, putting it in danger of standing out from the Nasdaq.
In a notation to customers, the company said there is currently no change in how it stores, manages or protects customer data, and that the company is still doing business and selling DNA kits. “Through this process, we will seek to find a partner that shares our commitment to customer data privacy and allow our mission to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” the company said in its post.
At its peak, 23AndMe became the most famous name in the emerging field of DNA self-testing, with users paying $99 for the kit, thus giving them an idea of their genetic makeup, potential relatives and ancestry. But the company's momentum has slowed down in a $3.5 billion public offering in 2021.
People who use 23andMe and are worried about what might happen to sales data have a choice: They can download the information, then delete their accounts, and ask companies to abandon their DNA material in addition to deleting the data. Doing so will prevent DNA information from being used in future studies but cannot be deleted from already completed studies.
“Take the data from there”
Arthur Caplan, director of the Department of Medical Ethics at the Grossman School of Medicine, has criticized 23AndMe for decades. He said he was not surprised by the news, and he had just made a prediction in January.
“They are more interested in getting data,” Kaplan told CNET. “It's a lovely amateur selling and receiving. But that's not really the goal, it gives it the value it once had for billions of dollars.”
Kaplan said the company's business model promises that he believes the information from his ancestors was unreliable in the beginning.
“I don't think science is good,” he said, adding that the company's sale has no legal obligation to ensure the privacy of the customer for another owner.
The risk is that data can be used in a way that people who hand over saliva unpredictable, Caplan said.
“DNA information is very sensitive – it can tell you things about parent-child relationships, and it can cause government agencies to go without you considering it,” he said. “Genetic data can be used to promote or market to you. A third party can decide that you are not eligible for insurance.”
“My advice is to take your data out of there. I won't leave it there, it may be too late,” Kaplan said.
