There’s a lot of confusion about 23andMe: Is the company still in business? So is it now owned by Regeneron, the biotech company it once tried to buy? Are genetic testing kits still available for sale? If you are a customer, what happens to your data? It’s been almost a year since 23andMe Relegated to chapter 11 After a series of financial and organizational ordeals. Last summer, in bankruptcy court, the company’s founder and former CEO, Anne Wojcicki, won a bidding war against Regeneron and Regeneron. Acquired the assets of 23andMeThe most important of which is the genetic data of millions of users for $305 million. The company is now housed within the TTAM Research Institute, a non-profit founded by Wojcicki to take private company 23andMe.
Its nonprofit status means that 23andMe is now more focused on making a positive impact than selling test kits. “We have, in many ways, the same mission and the same work, but now it is 100 percent aligned with making a scientific impact,” Wojcicki told the Observer at the Semaphore World Economics Conference in Washington, D.C., last week. “Everything we do now is done through the foundation angle of influence.”
TTAM is a nonprofit medical research organization, which means it is not bound by the 5 percent annual payment rule required of private charities like the Gates Foundation. Instead, they must be continuously involved in medical research. The structure also adds a layer of protection for user data. If TTAM shut down, it wouldn’t simply be able to sell the data to a hedge fund, for example; The assets must be transferred to another nonprofit organization with a similar mission. During her testimony before Congress last year, Wojcicki also pledged to never sell data to China or any entity owned by a foreign adversary.
At its peak, 23andMe was valued at $6 billion when it went public in 2021. By the time it filed for bankruptcy, its market capitalization had fallen to about $20 million. The major turning point came in late 2023, when the company suffered a data breach that ultimately affected nearly seven million users, including relatives of more than 10,000 users whose accounts were directly compromised. The incident sparked a “Delete 23andMe” campaign, prompting about 2 million users (out of 15 million) to leave the platform before the restructuring.
“Part of the reason we became a nonprofit is to protect data forever,” Wojcicki said. “Moving forward as a nonprofit gives it a new level of stability.”
Despite user losses, it confirms that customers retained control of their data. “Although the last two years have been painful, what I am proud of is that we have kept our word by making sure customers always have a choice,” she said.
TTAM is funded by 23andMe revenue and outside capital, and Wojcicki said it is on track to cover research spending through revenue alone. The organization is run by a board of directors with close ties to Wojcicki and the biotech world, including Stephen Quick, chief science officer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; her sister, Janet Wojcicki, a professor of epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco; CEO of her family office Stephen Magowan; and seasoned biotech executive Brad Margus.
Focus on research
Earlier this month, 23andMe Published a large study In Science magazine nature On genetic predictors of GLP-1 weight loss drugs. The study provides the first direct genetic evidence explaining why people respond differently to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. By analyzing data from more than 27,000 participants, researchers identified genetic markers associated with weight loss success and the risk of severe side effects.
This type of scientific contribution is now the company’s primary focus. It is known that medical research is expensive and slow. 23andMe is trying to disrupt this model by building what Wojcicki describes as “a huge, ongoing, never-ending research pool where you can ask all kinds of questions.” Even when recruiting narrowly defined groups — for example, only people with Parkinson’s disease — the company asks them a wide range of questions, from serious conditions like cancer to specific traits like sneezing in response to sunlight. “We ask all kinds of questions, and because we have all this data — and 13 million people participating — you can do a search almost as if it were a Google query,” she said during an on-stage interview last week.
Wojcicki’s sister, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, died in August 2024 at the age of 56 after a two-year battle with non-small cell lung cancer. “She was very clear that you should do everything you can with my data that leads to lung cancer,” Wojcicki said. “So we want to reflect everything that is in the best interest of our customers.” She stressed that 23andMe does not sell user data and only shares scientific insights with partners.
“I have two main goals,” Wojcicki said. “First, that everyone in the world can benefit from genetic testing. Everyone should know their genetic information. And second, building the world’s largest open source research platform so we can answer important questions faster and with much less capital.”
