(Reuters) – 23andMe filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, hit by faltering demand for its ancestry testing kits as it struggled to contain the reputational damage from a widespread data breach.
Presented below is a sequence of events outlining the journey of the San Francisco-based firm, once considered a pioneer in the DNA-testing space:
2006: Anne Wojcicki, Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza come together as co-founders of 23andMe. A year later, the company launches its first direct-to-consumer genetic testing kit, which provides more than 200 health and trait reports as well as genetic ancestry information.
2008: Time magazine labels 23andMe’s saliva-based genetic testing kit the “Invention of the Year.”
2013: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues a warning letter to 23andMe to stop selling its genetic tests due to concerns that it failed to provide any indication that it had analytically or clinically validated the test kits for its intended uses.
2015: After two years of working with regulators — including meeting some of the FDA’s reporting requirements — the company is able to market its DNA test kit directly to individuals in the United States.
2016: 23andMe makes it to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list of companies.
2017: Oprah Winfrey names the 23andMe genetic testing kit one of her “favorite things” of the year.
2018: 23andMe signs a four-year collaboration agreement with British drugmaker GSK, focusing on research and development of new medicines using human genetics.
2019: American singer Lizzo dresses up as the company’s DNA test kit for Halloween, and 23andMe is featured in actor Eddie Murphy’s sketch on Saturday Night Live.
Several media outlets report that the company is seeing an almost 54% decline in sales of its genetic testing kits.
2021: 23andMe goes public after merging with billionaire Richard Branson’s SPAC, notching up a $3.5 billion valuation. Its market capitalization nears $6 billion later that year and the company spends $400 million to buy telehealth firm Lemonaid Health.
2023: 23andMe notifies customers of a data breach in its “DNA Relatives” feature that allowed them to compare ancestry information with users worldwide. It is later revealed that hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users.
April 2024: Co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki considers making an offer to take the company private.
July 2024: Wojcicki makes her first non-binding proposal to acquire all of the company’s outstanding shares for 40 cents per share.
August 2024: 23andMe’s board rejects Wojcicki’s take-private offer, calling it “insufficient.”
