Facing growing scrutiny over privacy and legal challenges, genetic testing firm 23andMe is heading into a second auction after its first sale attempt fell apart.
Former CEO Anne Wojcicki, now aligned with a California-based research group, has submitted a $305 million bid to reclaim the company’s core asset: a massive collection of consumer DNA data. Her offer exceeds the previous high bid by close to $50 million.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals had initially been declared the winner of the first auction with a $256 million proposal. That decision was quickly contested by Wojcicki in federal court, where she argued the auction process had been skewed. This legal fight prompted all parties, including 23andMe, Regeneron, and Wojcicki, to meet before a bankruptcy judge to negotiate new auction terms.
The revised structure agreed upon this week in St. Louis, lays out a sequence of offers designed to resolve the disputes that marred the first round.
