US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jan Schakowsky on Thursday despatched letters to the 2 potential consumers of troubled genetic testing agency 23andMe demanding particulars about client information privateness ought to both of them purchase the corporate.
Signed by 20 different Democratic members of Congress, the letters have been despatched to Regeneron Prescription drugs and TTAM Analysis Institute, which have put forth separate bids to purchase 23andMe. Within the letters, they ask Regeneron and TTAM if they are going to proceed to provide prospects the choice to delete their information and withdraw consent for his or her information for use in medical analysis. Additionally they need to know if 23andMe’s present coverage of not sharing genetic information with regulation enforcement with no warrant will likely be upheld, and whether or not each entities intend to proactively notify 23andMe prospects in regards to the sale.
After struggling for years to show a revenue, 23andMe filed for chapter safety in March and put its property up on the market. Shortly after, its CEO Anne Wojcicki resigned. Wojcicki had tried unsuccessfully to take the corporate non-public however her proposals have been rejected by a particular committee shaped by 23andMe’s board of administrators.
In Might, biotech firm Regeneron introduced that it was named the profitable bidder in a chapter public sale, providing $256 million to accumulate 23andMe. “We consider we can assist 23andMe ship and construct upon its mission to assist these enthusiastic about studying about their very own DNA and how you can enhance their private well being, whereas furthering Regeneron’s efforts to make use of large-scale genetics analysis to enhance the best way society treats and prevents sickness general,” mentioned George Yancopoulos, cofounder and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, in a company statement final month.
However after the public sale closed, Wojcicki put in a bid of her personal—providing $305 million by way of a newly shaped nonprofit, TTAM Analysis Institute. The supply prompted a federal decide to reopen the sale course of, and now each Regeneron and TTAM can have an opportunity to place in a remaining bid.
Based in 2006, 23andMe pioneered the sphere of private genomics with its DNA take a look at kits, which permit prospects to find out about their ancestry, household connections, and sure medical dangers after submitting a spit pattern. Regardless of promoting greater than 12 million of its DNA testing kits, the corporate by no means achieved profitability and struggled to diversify its income streams after going public in 2021. In one other blow to the corporate, a serious information breach in 2023 uncovered the private information of tens of millions of consumers, including a leak that focused customers with Chinese language and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.
The brand new proprietor of 23andMe would purchase its huge trove of genetic information, elevating questions on how that information could be used. Underneath 23andMe’s present coverage, prospects can select to make their genetic information and different private data out there for medical analysis. Additionally they have the option of deleting all of their data and directing 23andMe to destroy their saliva pattern. The members of Congress who despatched the letters on Thursday are looking for readability from Regeneron and Wojcicki on whether or not they plan to proceed these practices.
The signees are additionally involved about genetic information being shared with regulation enforcement and immigration authorities and the potential for genetic and different private information getting used to coach AI fashions. They’re additionally asking Regeneron and TTAM to reveal a full listing of all third events who presently have entry to 23andMe information and the steps each entities will take to make sure transparency of third-party entry sooner or later. 23andMe beforehand had a multi-year analysis collaboration with pharma large GlaxoSmithKline.
The representatives are asking Regeneron and TTAM to reply by June 26.
Wojcicki and 23andMe’s interim CEO Joe Selsavage testified throughout a House Oversight Committee listening to this week on the privateness and nationwide safety considerations surrounding 23andMe’s sale. Throughout that listening to, Selsavage instructed lawmakers that 1.9 million folks, or about 15 % of its buyer base, have requested for his or her genetic information to be faraway from the corporate’s servers because the firm filed for chapter safety in March.
This week, greater than two dozen states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit in opposition to 23andMe, arguing that the corporate can not public sale 15 million prospects’ extremely delicate private genetic data with out their consent or data.
