23andMe bankrupt: Anne Woj

On Friday, days before the bankruptcy declaration of 23andme, the California general prosecutor Rob Bonta issued an urgent notice that recalls 23 and 23 customers their legal rights pursuant to the state law – and invited them to consider the elimination and destruction of any genetic data held by the company. The Bonta Office indicated the financial anguish in progress of 23ndme and the “trunk of sensitive consumption data” that the company has accumulated.

Months of turmoil

23andme was founded in 2006 with the promise to revolutionize the future of genetics and health care. The company has become known for its DNA test kits based on saliva-aquisticed by millions of customers eager to know more about their ancestors-and subsequently sided further in research on health and development of drugs.

But the last few years have been anything but navigated fluids for 23andme. And the Failure Failure Volunteer Caps months of turbulence.

Last September, all its independent directors resigned in a rare move following acquisition negotiations with Wojcicki.

The company therefore announced in November that it would have fired 40 % of its workforce, or more than 200 employees and stop its therapeutic division. And in January, the Special Committee of the Board of Directors said that strategic alternatives was exploring, including a possible sale.

In recent deposits of titles, 23andme continued to warn on his “ability to continue as concern”, which is an accounting to have the resources necessary to operate and remain in business.

The deposit of chapter 11 of 23ndme recorded total debts of over $ 214.7 million at the end of last year. In the meantime, the activities amounted to over $ 277.4 million.

What’s the next?

23ndme states that the presentation of the bankruptcy protection of chapter 11 will help to facilitate a company sale, which means that it is looking for a new property.

In a statement, the Prime Minister Mark Jensen said that this trial supervised by the court was “the best path to follow”. He also added that they expect it to help 23andme’s efforts to reduce costs and resolve legal and lease liabilities.

23andme is trying to withdraw from its real estate imprint. Among the motions presented on Sunday, the company is looking for the approval of the court to reject leasing contracts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, in California, for example, in the efforts to help reduce expenses.

Otherwise, 23ndme says he plans to continue working. The company says that it has received $ 35 million in debtor loans in possession by JMB Capital Partners to help support its business during the bankruptcy process.

23ndme says that its bankruptcy deposit will not change the way it archives or protects the data. Jensen, the president of the Board of Directors, said that 23andme is “committed to continuing to safeguard customers’ data” and that data privacy will be “an important consideration” in any future sale.

John Bringardner of Debtwire has observed that any new buyer of 23ndme will have to respect the regulatory approvals that guarantee that “customer data will not end up in unscrupulous hands”.

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However, that it will end up having 23andme at the bottom of the road is not known. And experts note that the risks remain.

“The personal data collected by 23ndme have always been at risk,” Bingardner wrote in the comment and -mail on Monday, indicating in particular a violation of the 2023 data that compromised the ancestral information for almost 7 million customers 23andme. He added that the dispute that extended from the consequences of this violation contributed to triggering liabilities that eventually contributed to the current bankruptcy deposit.

Last year, 23andme agreed to pay $ 30 million in cash to resolve a legal cause by accusing the company of not having protected customers whose personal information has been exhibited in this violation. On Sunday, the company has declared that it plans to use a bankruptcy procedure to “resolve all pending legal liabilities” deriving from the accident of October 2023.

In addition to this data violation, the uncertainty about the future of the company has also led some to recently solicit 23 and customers to eliminate their data.

Ap, Bloomberg

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