Bankruptcy auction2025-05-19confirmed

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals × 23andMe

Following its bankruptcy filing in March 2025, direct-to-consumer DNA testing company 23andMe sold its most valuable asset, its massive database of genetic information. [1, 6] Drug developer Regeneron Pharmaceuticals acquired the data bank for $256 million in a sale monitored by a court-appointed privacy ombudsman. [1]

Price paid
$256M
asset price, paid once
Losing bid
Per unit
17.0667
$ / customers

The asset

The company's data bank, including the genetic data and DNA samples from its approximately 15 million customers.

  • 15M customers

The record

Seller status
Chapter 11
Sector
Genetic testing
Modalities
genomic_data
Jurisdiction
US
Personal data
The buyer pledged to comply with the seller's privacy policy, which allows customers to request data deletion. A court-appointed privacy ombudsman was assigned to monitor the sale process to ensure compliance. [1]

What it means if you hold data

This bankruptcy sale set a significant precedent for the treatment of large, sensitive, consumer-derived genetic datasets in insolvency proceedings. The price of approximately $17 per genome and the appointment of a privacy ombudsman are key benchmarks for future data asset sales. [1, 2]

Sources