The final time we talked about 23andMe’s chapter sale, we recommended you would possibly wish to delete your genetic knowledge from the location, since we didn’t know who would find yourself proudly owning it. Now, a purchaser has been introduced, and so they’re promising to “prioritize the privateness, safety and moral use” of buyer knowledge and to maintain providing the corporate’s companies uninterrupted. That is all—most likely—excellent news. I am feeling cautiously optimistic, anyway.
Regeneron shall be 23andMe’s new proprietor
23andMe’s new purchaser, paying $256 million for the corporate’s property, is Regeneron. Regeneron is a biotech firm maybe greatest recognized for growing an antibody remedy for COVID early within the pandemic. (Donald Trump was given a dose when he first got here down with the virus.) That remedy by no means made all of it the best way to market, however the firm does market different antibody- and protein-based remedies for situations like Ebola virus, genetic problems, and cancers.
Regeneron’s web site states that they “are shaping the following frontier of medication with data-powered insights from the Regeneron Genetics Heart® and pioneering genetic drugs platforms, enabling us to determine progressive targets and complementary approaches to probably deal with or treatment ailments.”
That explains why they’re interested by 23andMe, because it offers a trove of genetic knowledge. Many 23andMe customers had additionally signed as much as present extra of their private medical info for analysis functions (this was a separate factor that you’d have needed to decide in to offer).
Regeneron says they plan to “proceed all client genome companies uninterrupted,” fairly than shut down the corporate. Lemonaid well being, additionally owned by 23andMe, isn’t included within the sale.
What this implies in your knowledge and privateness
Importantly, Regeneron says they’ll respect the corporate’s privateness coverage (“and relevant legal guidelines”) and the 23andMe press launch additionally says that Regeneron won’t be making any adjustments to the privateness coverage.
What do you suppose thus far?
The sale, which nonetheless must be accredited by a chapter court docket, may even embody a court-appointed “client privateness ombudsman” whose job is to be sure that everybody’s knowledge is handled appropriately. Regeneron says that they’re able to work with this ombudsman and can element all their privacy-related plans.
Whereas we don’t but know what the long run holds, this all has me tentatively optimistic. Sure, an organization has your knowledge and intends to revenue from it; however that was additionally true of 23andMe in its heyday. The insurance policies about privateness and consent that you simply agreed to when contributing your knowledge will nonetheless be in impact.
The 23andMe group appears to be cautiously optimistic. In a r/23andme Reddit thread concerning the sale, one redditor, who identifies themselves as an instructional biomedical researcher, says “I might fairly [Regeneron] have my knowledge than an insurance coverage supplier or simply random [venture capitalist].” One other redditor says, “So there actually isn’t [a] greatest case situation right here, there’s simply ‘wait and see’ and unhealthy. And that is extra of a ‘wait and see’ than a nasty.” And one other says “I do know folks facet eye massive pharma (rightfully in most circumstances) however this can be a a lot better final result than many different conditions.”
