The Washington Post reported: The fate of genetic data belonging to millions of 23andMe customers is again up in the air, as the bankrupt company seeks a judge’s permission to consider another bid from its co-founder and undisclosed financial backers after previously accepting an offer from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
A nonprofit research institute backed by Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s co-founder and former CEO, but has been pressing 23andMe to consider additional bids purportedly topping Regeneron’s $256 million cash offer last month, arguing that the bankruptcy auction was closed prematurely.
That has put 23andMe in a bind, with the firm saying in court filings it was at risk of litigation unless it effectively reopened the auction to entertain final offers from Wojcicki’s group and Regeneron.
So 23andMe is proposing a compromise that would all TTAM Research Institute, founded by Wojcicki, to make a final bid and give Regeneron the opportunity to make a counteroffer. Should TTAM prevail, 23andMe would pay Regeneron a $10 million breakup fee.
After a brief court dispute, 23andMe and all its assets are up for auction once again. The second time around, former CEO Amy Wojcicki has started out hot with an opening bid nearly $50 million higher than the previous auction’s winner, Gizmodo reported.
Last month, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals purchased the bankrupt 23andMe for $256 million, beating out Wojcicki’s nonprofit, TTAM Research Institute’s opening bid by over $100 million. However, Wojcicki quickly requested that a U.S. judge reopen the auction.
In her filing, Wojcicki argued that 23andMe’s advisors capped her maximum bid at $250 million due to concerns about TTAM’s “financial wherewithal.”
Now, Wojcicki says she has the additional backing of an unnamed Fortune 500 company valued at over $400 billion. On Wednesday, all parties involved reached a compromise in federal court, according to Bloomberg, which allowed Wojcicki to reopen the process with a $305 million bid.
Now, Regeneron can counter with an offer of at least $315 million. After that, Wojcicki gets another bid and then Regeneron can respond with the auction’s final offer.
Mashable reported: Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe is looking to sell its assets — most notably its customers’ DNA data – for more than $300 million.
The company told a bankruptcy judge this week that it wanted to re-open bidding for its asset after co-founder and ex-CEO Anne Wojcicki put forth a $305 million bid, Reuters reported.
The company last month agreed to sell most of the data to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million. Now, 23andMe is looking to back away from that deal.
Regeneron’s lawyer called the “do-over” unfair but indicated the company was willing to make another offer, according to Reuters. Regeneron did request a $10 million breakup fee if the new Wojcicki-led bid is ultimately accepted.