Genetic testing firm 23andMe said it has filed for filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US to help the $50m company sell itself and that co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki had resigned after multiple failed takeover bids.
23andMe, whose saliva-based test kits help customers learn about their ancestry, had cut about 40%, or 200 employees, of its workforce and stopped development of all its therapies as part of a restructuring programme announced in November.
Founded in 2006, California-based 23andMe analyses has sold more than 12 million DNA testing kits, according to the company's website, operating in markets including the US, the UK, Canada, and Europe.
Ms Wojcicki, to be replaced by CFO Joe Selsavage on an interim basis, has been pushing for a buyout since last April but has been rebuffed by 23andMe's board.
She intends to make another bid during the bankruptcy process, she said in a post on X, without giving details.
Her last offer was for $0.41 per share earlier this month, an 84% cut from an offer the previous month since her private equity partner in that bid had walked after the board's rejection.
The latest offer valued 23andMe at about $11m, below its current value of $50m, per LSEG data, and a far cry from its $3.5 billion market capitalisation when it went public in 2021.
"After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we have determined that a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward to maximize the value of the business," Chair Mark Jensen said in a statement.
23andMe said it secured a debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing commitment for about $35m and expects to continue operating during the sale process. It did not say if it had any other buyout interest or offers.
It listed both assets and estimated liabilities of $100-500m.
A month before its restructuring, 23andMe agreed to pay $30m and give three years of security monitoring to settle a lawsuit accusing it of failing to protect the privacy of 6.9 million customers whose personal information was exposed in a data breach in 2023.
