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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company with a long history of large-scale genetics research, plans to buy DNA testing firm 23andMe out of bankruptcy, announcing Monday it was named the successful bidder in a court-run auction.
Regeneron’s offer, which is still subject to court and regulatory approvals, is a bet it can do what 23andMe couldn’t and mine the troves of genetics data the testing firm collects to discover new drug targets. Regeneron plans to continue 23andMe’s consumer genome services without interruption — a task made easier by its decade of experience sequencing the DNA of millions of people through its genetics center.
“We believe we can help 23andMe deliver and build upon its mission to help those interested in learning about their own DNA and how to improve their personal health, while furthering Regeneron’s efforts to use large-scale genetics research to improve the way society treats and prevents illness overall,” George Yancopoulos, Regeneron’s co-founder and chief scientist, said in a statement.
Under the proposed deal, Regeneron will pay $256 million to acquire “substantially all” of 23andMe’s assets, including its personal genome service, health and research service and biobank. It will also offer jobs to all of the employees at those business units.
The purchase would not include the telehealth business Lemonaid Health, which 23andMe will wind down.
Regeneron expects the deal will close in the third quarter, assuming it obtains all the necessary approvals. An ombudsman appointed by the bankruptcy court will review the transaction to assess how it might affect the privacy of individuals who previously used 23andMe to sequence their genome. A report from that review is due to the court by June 10, and a hearing is set for June 17.
In a statement, Aris Baras, head of the Regeneron Genetics Center, said the company is “committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset with our high standards of data privacy, security and ethical oversight and will advance its full potential to improve human health.”
The center, which Regeneron launched in 2013, has uncovered more than two dozen novel drug targets by combing through its genome sequencing database. Among them are gene mutations associated with lower risk of obesity and liver disease, as well as a specific variant in the BRCA gene linked to breast and ovarian cancers.
The bankruptcy sale is a quiet end for a company that, at its peak, was worth some $6 billion. Co-founded by Anne Wojcicki in 2006, the firm built a brand that became synonymous with personal DNA testing. But it always had ambitions to use that data to develop drugs, inking an R&D alliance with GSK in 2018 and then later building its own pipeline of experimental medicines.
Recent years have been harder on 23andMe, though. Declining demand for its consumer tests eroded its financial health and share price to the point Wojcicki attempted to take the company private. Her offer was rejected by the board, members of which later resigned to avoid a “protracted and distracting difference of view” with Wojcicki.
After laying off 40% of its staff in November, the firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March.
