TTA’s Summer #1: Hims buys Zava for EU/UK, Omada’s IPO, Wojcicki tries harder to buy 23andMe, UnitedHealth’s miseries explored, Centene sued on AZ network, more!

June 5, 2025 | by

5 June 2025

Warmer temps, warmer news, a little earlier this week. We lead with Hims & Hers buying with their free cash UK/Europe’s similar Zava. Omada rumored to go public on Friday or shortly thereafter, while Anne Wojcicki takes a last-ditch run at buying her bankrupt company with an unnamed backer. UnitedHealth’s miseries remain very much in the news, with other opinions at variance, but all agree it’s a deep hole they’ve dug. Nonetheless, UHG shareholders seem to have some confidence in their new CEO, but aren’t yet giving him combat pay. And a lawsuit against Centene in AZ uncovers inaccurate provider ‘ghost networks’.

This just in: Hims acquires Zava, adds 1.3 million European/UK telemed customers (A way to grow and defy the bears?)

Need to knows: Omada’s $158M IPO at flat valuation, AZ lawsuit on Centene plan’s ‘ghost network’ fatality, UHG shareholders OK reduced package for CEO Hemsley, new ASTP/HIT-ONC leader, NJ’s Cooper Health patient data breach, Net Health buys Limber Health (Omada listing up on Friday, possibly)

Anne Wojcicki asks 23andMe bankruptcy court to reopen bidding on 12 June with fresh offer (Why, Anne, why??)

Two other views on UnitedHealth Group’s annus horribilis, for your consideration (Going inside the black box)

From last week: Our big article this week is your Editor’s think-piece on breaking up UnitedHealth Group in order to save it–and healthcare. We also look at post-GLP-1 weight gain–and what it means for providers, in-person and telehealth, ‘soft’ robotics out of Scotland, NZ’s telehealth war with GPs, and what’s doing at companies like Midi Health, AssistIQ, Ambience, Auxira, and Yosi Health. And plenty of weekend reading and viewing!

Weekend reading/viewing (for me too): Rural telehealth blackouts and value-based care’s ‘utopia’ (Set aside the time)

Short takes: Midi Health’s longevity care for women covered by (some) insurance, NZ government 24/7 telehealth scored by GPs, Auxira tele-cardiology follow-up launches (Two disappointments that look like advances)

News roundup: GLP-1 weight regain real, soft robots walk off 3D printer, Ambience’s AI coding beats doctors by 27%, Get a Second Opinion debuts, $11.5M for AssistIQ (Reality bites GLP-1s and a soft robot wee bairn)

Job Posting: Yosi Health seeks Demand Generation Manager and Manager, Data Analytics & Reporting

Should free-falling UnitedHealth Group be broken up? Or break itself up to survive, before it becomes another GE? (updated) (Not a rant, more a ‘get going’ to avoid disaster!)

* * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

Anne Wojcicki asks 23andMe bankruptcy court to reopen bidding on 12 June with fresh offer (updated with $305M bid)

June 3, 2025 | by

Anne Wojcicki still wants her 23andMe. This time, she is requesting that the auction be reopened for more bids–hers, along with a new backer. The unnamed “Fortune 500 company with a current market capitalization of more than $400bn and $17bn in cash” is interested in participating only with her TTAM Research Institute, described as a “California non-profit public benefit corporation” (PBC).  The 12 June date would allow TTAM plus the unknown backer to offer additional bids, as well as Regeneron, as requested in the filing.

The filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri was made this past Saturday, 31 May. No date was revealed for the approval, which would have to be fast.

Regeneron, a $66 billion company, won the three-day auction on 16 May with an all-cash bid of $256 million. It included the Personal Genome Service (PGS) and Total Health and Research Services business lines–but not Lemonaid, which will be shut down. As is usual, it requires final approval by the court, approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act, and customary closing conditions. The bankruptcy court was scheduled to hold the approval hearing on 17 June, which would be after any reopened bidding. TTA 21 May

During the 14-16 May auction, TTAM’s formal bid was $150 million. Legal and financial advisers to 23andMe had reservations about the financial resources of TTAM and both the value and liquidity of its portfolio assets. The Wojcicki filing states that the 23andMe advisers had improperly and unfairly capped TTAM’s highest bid to $250 million. TTAM claimed that their bid would have exceeded $280 million.

According to the Financial Times, if the court permits a reopening of bids for 23andMe, Ms. Wojcicki’s bid would compete with any  Regeneron offer, but offer a “last look” to them to top any offer from TTAM along with a $10 million termination fee. FierceBiotech

One wonders where the egos shake out. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has sound reasons for acquiring 23andMe’s genomic data to add to its developing genomics research. The price, based on our own estimate of over 10.85 million users left providing consent, was generous on a per-user basis. But you really do have to wonder why Anne Wojcicki cannot let go and say ‘enough’. 

This Editor, while not a mindreader nor an attorney, believes that the Missouri court may look upon Ms. Wojcicki’s new filing with a severely jaundiced eye.

  • There was plenty of time for Anne Wojcicki to line up a fully backed bid for 23andMe to best any rival. Buyers were in the pipeline in early April, though not a single bidder rumored in the April ‘early line’ made it anywhere near the finals.
  • 23andMe advisers, who would have access to 23andMe’s board and debtors, would also have access to information about Ms. Wojcicki’s resources. She made multiple lowball bids for 23andMe prior to the bankruptcy, including a bid with New Mountain Capital that disappeared in a week before even being presented to the board. 
  • The court, which could have stopped the bidding process, evidently agreed with the advisers.
  • The court’s purpose is to work through the bankruptcy and make the best out of what is available to satisfy the company’s debtors and a potential buyer.  
  • Finally, there is Anne Wojcicki. She was the CEO from the founding to the bankruptcy, including an astronomical public offering via a SPAC. She was not a CEO in name only, with tight control over management and the board, backed by effective full control over the public company via her special class of shares. Moreover, she has not taken any responsibility for mistakes, including the 2023 coverup of their database hacking that the company blamed upon users reusing passwords. Au contraire.

Considering the above, it’s hard to believe that at this point that Anne Wojcicki and her bid, backed by an undisclosed company, would have any credibility with the court. But let’s see what the court says. We won’t have long to wait.

Updated 5 June: Wojcicki has presented a $305 million bid to the court. Yahoo Finance

TTA’s Blooming Spring 5: Hinge Health’s IPO, 23andMe bought by Regeneron, sans Lemonaid, WeightWatchers’ future, debuts of Smarter Technologies and Fuze Health, VA EHR update, more!

May 23, 2025 | by

 

23 May 2025

The major news this week was the Hinge Health IPO, the first for digital health in two years–but the downside was that it was at a lower valuation. Denouements abounded with most 23andMe genetic assets bought by Regeneron, without a drink of Lemonaid. WeightWatchers’ time may have passed, new heads for Calibrate and Oak Street, and two more ‘arranged marriages’, Smarter Technologies and Fuze Health. An update on the VA EHRM in the budget. Masimo’s recovering, as is Ted of Strata-gee. 

Remember our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who have passed on this Memorial Day. Our Monday newsletter will be on Tuesday.

News roundup 22 May: an inflight ‘save’ and AliveCor’s KardiaMobile, rolling out the VA/Oracle EHR in ‘waves’, Fuze Health formed from LetsGetChecked/Truepill, hacking and ransomware 92% of PHI data breaches (A renaming of a 2024 ‘arranged marriage’–can it be saved?)

News roundup: Hinge Health public @$32/share, lower valuation. Is WeightWatchers game over? Calibrate replaces CEO, new prez for Oak Street, NMC gets ‘Smarter’ rolling up 3 portfolio companies, another splash of investor ‘cold water’ (The first health tech IPO in 2 years and ‘smushing’ when they can’t)

Update: Masimo’s website status and an analysis of the Sound United sale (Getting up and running post-attack, but what happened?)

23andMe sold to Regeneron for $256M in court-supervised bankruptcy, sans Lemonaid. And is it worth it? (We come up with a number, it’s likely)

From last week: UnitedHealth Group changed out CEOs suddenly. The new one is a surprising ‘blast from the profitable past’ but that didn’t stop Mr. Market from taking the stock down down down. Another blast involves Elizabeth Holmes’ partner Billy Evans fronting a diagnostic testing- in-a-box startup.”Surprise, surprise!” No surprise that Holmes lost her appeal of an appeal–nor Omada Health filing for an IPO. Unfortunately, our investigator on all things Masimo met his own surprise walking on a sunny day–fortunately, Ted’s on the mend. More about BCIs with Apple integration, a chronic pain management startup, Parkinson’s data, two good raises, and what payers pay to keep their execs safe.

Short takes: Synchron BCI integrates with Apple devices, Shields Health partners with Duke on specialty pharmacy, raises for Cohere Health, Olio (More BCI action with Apple getting into it)

Theranos’ revenge? Holmes’ partner Billy Evans founds a startup for diagnostic testing, denies it is ‘Theranos 2.0’; Holmes loses Federal rehearing appeal. (Is Holmes advising long distance? Letters from a Texas Jail?)

News roundup: Omada Health files for IPO, UPMC-Redesign partner on chronic pain management, OK and PA AGs warn 23andMe users to delete data, Verily to build Parkinson’s dataset, what payers paid for exec security (Omada follows Hinge. But the last is surprising–between a lot and a little)

This just in: UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty steps down immediately, replaced by former CEO Stephen Hemsley (updated 15 May) (UHG may change out CEOs, but continues to be hammered by Mr. Market)

Best wishes to Strata-gee’s Ted Green on a fast recovery! (Ted, our ace Masimo investigator, was put rather suddenly in a bad place…use your eyes when you drive!)

* * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

To leave the email alerts mailing list either use the ‘Unsubscribe Here’ link at the bottom of this email (if you can see it) or email Editor Donna.

23andMe sold to Regeneron for $256M in court-supervised bankruptcy, sans Lemonaid. And is it worth it? (Updated 27 May for delisting)

May 21, 2025 | by

Most of 23andMe bought for a lot more than one could have thought–and why? Yesterday, the board of 23andMe confirmed that they have a court-approved definitive agreement for the sale of their core genomics units to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded (Nasdaq) biotech company based in Tarrytown, New York. The purchase price of $256 million includes the Personal Genome Service (PGS) and Total Health and Research Services business lines–but not Lemonaid. 23andMe will be operated as a wholly owned direct or indirect subsidiary.

The asset auction was completed on 16 May. The acquisition by Regeneron remains subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act, and customary closing conditions. The bankruptcy court will hold the approval hearing on 17 June. With the court’s and HSR approvals, the closing is anticipated to be sometime in Q3 this year, which is fairly rapid.

What didn’t sell to Regeneron or anyone else was Lemonaid, their DTC telehealth/prescribing business. It will be wound down “in an orderly manner, subject to and in accordance with the agreement” according to 23andMe’s press release. The lack of an approved bid for Lemonaid is puzzling, given the popularity of DTC telediagnosis and teleprescribing of various remedies stimulated by GLP-1 based weight loss. Perhaps Lemonaid’s business (or lack thereof), never reported by itself, along with its 2021 acquisition for an inflated $400 million ($100 million cash/$300 million in now-worthless stock), contributed. According to early April reports, Nucleus Genomics was interested in Lemonaid, to combine it with their own genetics marketing to add treatment to the ‘one and done’ of genetics testing, roughly along the lines of 23andMe’s original vision.  Nucleus had made a pass at 23andMe in 2024 but never got beyond the talking stage. [TTA 3 Apr]

Required in the Regeneron sale and otherwise agreed are:

  • Adherence to data privacy policies both under 23andMe’s privacy policy and ‘applicable law’. Presumably that also adheres to FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson’s statement re privacy and data security.
  • A court-appointed, independent Consumer Privacy Ombudsman. The CPO is responsible for examining the transition and the impact, if any, on consumer privacy once it is approved. Regeneron, a large and long established company, has a track record and programs in genetics research. The report is due to the court by 10 June, one week prior to the approval hearing.
  • Regeneron is offering employment to 23andMe’s remaining employees within the purchased business units. This promise may be less charitable than it seems. Two weeks ago, 23andMe filed a WARN notice with the California Employment Development Department that it plans to terminate 250 employees and close its San Francisco office by 17 June. Whether the successful sale will halt the layoffs in part or totally is not yet known. Preceding layoffs and operational closures had whittled down the employee group to an undetermined number.  SF Chronicle

Regeneron’s Aris Bara, MD, senior vice president and head of the Regeneron Genetics Center, commented on security in their statement:  “As a world leader in human genetics, Regeneron Genetics Center is committed to and has a proven track record of safeguarding the genetic data of people across the globe, and, with their consent, using this data to pursue discoveries that benefit science and society. We assure 23andMe customers that we are committed to protecting the 23andMe dataset with our high standards of data privacy, security and ethical oversight and will advance its full potential to improve human health.” Their Genetics Center has used in research deidentified data from nearly 3 million people.

Debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing continues. At the time of the Chapter 11, JMB Capital Partners had provided DIP financing of up to $35 million [TTA 28 Mar]. This continues with a second tranche of financing for an unknown amount.

Why did Regeneron make such a generous offer? What did they see? 23andMe was a company with essentially zero value, where assets and liabilities canceled each other out possibly as early as 2018 (Sergei Polevikov), three years before it went public. The only bids prior to the Chapter 11 were made by co-founder and then CEO Anne Wojcicki, with two take-private offers estimated at $12 million from her with the highest but short-lived bid of $71 million (Wojcicki with New Mountain Capital) [TTA 4 Mar]. Wojcicki, like other shareholders, has no chance of reward from this sale, unless some arrangement was made on her class of stock (purely speculative by this Editor).

The value to Regeneron is 1) more genetic data on 15 million users, minus the unknown number that deleted their data and samples as advised by multiple states or never provided consent, 2) research from terminated operations (e.g. drug discovery), and 3) survey data. 85% of 15 million users consented at the time to individual de-identified data being used for research. That research included an optional survey which added to their profiles. Once you consented to answering surveys, every time you visited the research page, you’d get questions to answer until they were all answered. How many of close to 13 million research-consenting users took the surveys? Reports deduced that deleting data and samples didn’t delete voluntary survey information.

The bottom line:  To start, Regeneron is a $66 billion company. $256 million is, basically, pocket lint. But what makes 23andMe a smart buy for them, at least on the surface?

  • 85% of 15 million users consented to have their data used for research–12.75 million. (We will leave aside the question that this was ‘meaningful consent’, as the Electronic Privacy Information Center termed it in Recorded Future News.)
  • Let’s assume that 15% took the advice of their attorneys general and deleted (or will delete) their data, or that data is somehow compromised. Subtract 1.9 million.
  • That is data on 10.85 million users–not counting the unknown amount of deidentified survey information from the data deleters that may or may not be accessible.
  • Regeneron is acquiring genetic data and some research at $23.60 per user. That raw number does not count the value of other information and research, nor of talent being acquired in the company. This Editor does not know the going rate for genetic data, but it seems inexpensive to me. 

Given that Dr. Bara and the Genetics Center have been doing research using a database of only 3 million or less, Regeneron hit a jackpot of pre-consented data. That may make Ms. Wojcicki’s prediction back in December 2024 in a CBS interview that the company would be thriving in a year and ‘transforming healthcare’ in five. It just won’t be hers anymore.

Update 27 May: 23andMe announced that will be voluntarily delisting from Nasdaq on or about 6 June. The stock was suspended from trading on 31 March, a week after it filed for bankruptcy. Oddly, Nasdaq usually files the Form 25 Notification of Delisting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but in this case it has not, so 23andMe is filing. CNBC, 23andMe release

This story is developing.

TTA’s Blooming Spring 4: UnitedHealth’s CEO change doesn’t stop market pummeling, Omada’s IPO, Theranos redux, Holmes loses appeal, Synchron BCI and Apple, exec security cost, raises, more!

May 16, 2025 | by

 

16 May 2025

One after another surprise this week. UnitedHealth Group changed out CEOs suddenly. The new one is a surprising ‘blast from the profitable past’ but that didn’t stop Mr. Market from taking the stock down down down. Another blast involves Elizabeth Holmes’ partner Billy Evans fronting a diagnostic testing-in-a-box startup. “Surprise, surprise!” No surprise that Holmes lost her appeal of an appeal–nor Omada Health filing for an IPO. Unfortunately, our investigator on all things Masimo met his own surprise walking on a sunny day–fortunately, Ted’s on the mend. More about BCIs with Apple integration, a chronic pain management startup, Parkinson’s data, two good raises, and what payers pay to keep their execs safe.

Short takes: Synchron BCI integrates with Apple devices, Shields Health partners with Duke on specialty pharmacy, raises for Cohere Health, Olio (More BCI action with Apple getting into it)

Theranos’ revenge? Holmes’ partner Billy Evans founds a startup for diagnostic testing, denies it is ‘Theranos 2.0’; Holmes loses Federal rehearing appeal. (Is Holmes advising long distance? Letters from a Texas Jail?)

News roundup: Omada Health files for IPO, UPMC-Redesign partner on chronic pain management, OK and PA AGs warn 23andMe users to delete data, Verily to build Parkinson’s dataset, what payers paid for exec security (Omada follows Hinge. But the last is surprising–between a lot and a little)

This just in: UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty steps down immediately, replaced by former CEO Stephen Hemsley (updated 15 May) (UHG may change out CEOs, but continues to be hammered by Mr. Market)

Best wishes to Strata-gee’s Ted Green on a fast recovery! (Ted, our ace Masimo investigator, was put rather suddenly in a bad place…use your eyes when you drive!)

From last week: This week’s drama was all about Masimo, developing literally as this Editor was writing. Their website outage was revealed to be from a cyberattack that took down nearly all their systems. Not good for a monitoring/tech company. But their good news was that they sold Sound United to Samsung–2/3rds off. The others deserving of more attention are Neuralink’s successful BCI implant in an ALS subject and UHG’s 1,000 app bet on AI. Not so dramatic: WeightWatchers’ prepackaged, quick bankruptcy, the NIH/CMS autism data project, and Amedisys divesting to salvage their UHG sale. 

Short takes: HHS forms NIH/CMS autism data project; Oscar Health beats Street w/Q1 $275M net; Centene’s $1.3B earnings; UHG has class action suit on earnings, 1K AI apps in production; Cedars-Sinai and Redesign Health partner on development; FDA, Lilly, Novo Nordisk win vs. compounders (Big step forward for autism research)

News roundup: WeightWatchers in 45-day prepackaged Ch. 11, Neuralink BCI successful in ALS subject, telehealth VR reduced TMD pain–study, AliveCor maxes up KardiaMobile 6L, TytoCare-Allina Health partnership, UHG-Amedisys divest some more (WW losing runway, a Neuralink win, Amedisys divesting to save their two-year-old UHG deal)

Breaking–Masimo Mystery SOLVED–cyberattack, website down for days, new websites up–and where’s the public explanations? Sound United sold. (Another cleanup on Aisle 10–the Sound United albatross flies off)

Holding this over: The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business (Grab the cuppa and lunch for a good read and podcast. Updated–Also Tecco’s blog post on why she quit being an angel investor.) 

* * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

News roundup: Omada Health files for IPO, UPMC-Redesign partner on chronic pain management, OK and PA AGs warn 23andMe users to delete data, Verily to build Parkinson’s dataset, what payers paid for exec security

May 13, 2025 | by

Omada Health’s IPO filing kicked off the week’s news. The chronic condition care management company is the second with a major IPO this year, stirring a dormant healthcare market. There aren’t a lot of offering details in the 9 May SEC Form S-1 registration and preliminary prospectus, but the IPO will launch on Nasdaq Global Markets under the symbol OMDA. There is no disclosure of timing, number of shares to be offered, or pricing. Their prior funding since 2011 is over $528 million through a Series E and debt financing, with lead investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Norwest Venture Partners, Wellington Management, New Enterprise Associates, and Founder Collective (Crunchbase).

Omada’s focus on ‘bending the disease’ curve via a ‘between-visit care model’ for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and MSK patients has met with success. With a listing of 2,000+ customers and over 679,000 total members enrolled in one or more programs, their 2024 revenue grew 38% from $122.8 million to $169.8 million in 2023, with Q1 2025 by 57% to $55.0 million from 2024’s $35.1 million. Revenue does not mean profit, with net losses of $67.5 million in 2024 and $47.1 million in 2023, with $9.4 million in losses during Q1 2025 reduced from $19 million in Q1 2024. CNBC, Mobihealthnews, FierceHealthcare

Larger and MSK-focused competitor Hinge Health announced its own IPO back in mid-March [TTA 14 Mar] via a SEC S-1 filing and preliminary prospectus, but sent out word that it was postponing by April [TTA 8 April]. With markets doing much better, it’s anticipated that their debut on the NYSE will be this summer. Their funders which have invested over $826 million since 2012 are undoubtedly eager for ROI.

The Redesign Health-UPMC Enterprises partnership launches Glimmer Health. The new company supports primary care physicians to manage their patients’ chronic pain. Chronic pain affects 25% of, or 70 million, US adults. It addresses the lack of resources that primary care practices generally lack to manage the chronic pain of their patients. The Glimmer Health platform integrates advanced medical expertise, behavioral health support, and seamless care coordination via specialized nurse-practitioners, care managers, and social workers to coordinate care plans and guide patients. The company grows out of UPMC’s pain clinics and 12 years of experience in comprehensive assessment and multimodal treatment approaches. Ajay Wasan, M.D., M.Sc., professor of anesthesiology and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and vice chair for pain medicine at Pitt and UPMC, who leads the clinics, is now medical director of Glimmer Health. CEO is Alissa Meade, previously CEO of Together Senior Health, sold last year to Linus Health according to her LinkedIn profile. UPMC release

“Delete Your 23andMe Data!” say Oklahoma’s and Pennsylvania’s Attorneys General. Oklahoma’s AG Gentner Drummond finally got the news (via the wind whistling down the plains?) along with Pennsylvania’s AG Dave Sunday that 23andMe went bankrupt in March and it, or parts, are up for sale. The two AGs advise citizens of their respective states to delete their data, instruct 23andMe to destroy their test sample, and revoke research consent for their data. Well, the rush is over at least…it’s better late than never. The instructions are clear, though their efficacy with 23andMe in actually removing it, including survey data, versus following FTC policies on securing the data, is in reasonable doubt [TTA 3 April]. After all, user genetic data and information is all that 23andMe has to sell.  Oklahoma AG’s release, The Oklahoman, Levittown (PA) Now

Alphabet/Google’s Verily health data/AI unit to build a Parkinson’s molecular research dataset. With a $14.7 million grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF), Verily will be building what they term is a comprehensive molecular dataset to advance Parkinson’s disease research. The dataset is based on data previously collected as part of the Personalized Parkinson’s Project (PPP), a collaboration with the Radboud University Medical Center, in a two-year longitudinal study of 520 people with Parkinson’s. It included detailed clinical histories, data from the Verily Study Watch, imaging data, and matched biospecimens such as blood and cerebrospinal fluid. It will be made publicly available to researchers through Verily’s Workbench solution. According to Verily’s release, the molecular data includes:

  • A comprehensive, high-resolution immunogenomic data resource to fuel research on the immune system’s association with Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis.
  • Whole genome sequences for those that have consented to enable discovery of genetic factors associated with different aspects of Parkinson’s disease.
  • Metabolomic and alpha-Synuclein data, which have shown promise for assessing and predicting disease activity and stages.

No deadline was disclosed. Mobihealthnews

How much does it cost to protect healthcare corporate executives? Executive security is one of those hidden costs that is not always easy to determine. Some receive it, others do not, at least for public consumption or paid for by the company.

  • UnitedHealth Group in 2024 totaled $1.7 million in security costs.  The largest cost was for executive protection for Optum CEO Heather Cianfrocco, $926,989. CEO Andrew Witty’s security costs, not included in the $1.7 million, totaled $150,951. He was also required to use the company’s corporate aircraft for business travel (cost not itemized) and was encouraged to do so for personal travel, should the plane be available. Witty did not use it for the latter in 2024. Brian Thompson unfortunately received no security.
  • CVS Health did not itemize direct security costs for CEO David Joyner in 2024. His disclosed expenses from October on were $15,787 on personal use of the company plane; $7,713 for the use of a company car and driver; and $82,603 on home security. Personal travel expenses using company resources must be reimbursed over $250,000 (!). Previous CEO Karen Lynch racked up expenses of $242,051 on personal aircraft use; $95,199 on the use of a company car and driver; and $44,645 on personal protection. Security totaling $56,610 was extended to her for six months after she was replaced by David Joyner.
  • Cigna’s CEO David Cordani is required to use the company aircraft for business and personal travel. The latter totaled $231,008 in 2024. Spending for executive protection was not disclosed. Cigna does not consider security a perquisite for executive compensation purposes. There is no further information about executive security.
  • Elevance Health lists executive security as “other perquisites” and apparently it is modest. For CEO Gail Boudreaux, they spent $93,387 and for Peter Haytaian, president of Elevance’s Carelon unit, $36,213. Boudreaux also was permitted limited use of corporate aircraft for up to 50 hours of personal flight time each year not to exceed a total of $199,000 in costs. 
  • Centene Corporation discloses few costs around executive security, only providing it to CEO Sarah London until December 2024. Her 2024 security totaled $69,133. Interestingly, CFO Drew Asher received $98,358 in protection services and COO Susan Smith $33,244. London also had $143,854 in expenses for personal aircraft usage. Centene policy is that the aircraft is available for security reasons but did not disclose whether London or other executives were required to use the plane for business use.
  • Finally, Humana’s only disclosures around security was for the perquisite of personal corporate plane usage, and it’s limited. CEO Jim Rechtin incurred $36,166, with former CEO Bruce Broussard spending $37,434 .

FierceHealthcare’s Paige Minemeyer did the dig.

TTA Where *Is* Spring? 3: SPACs–why they cracked, Hinge Health and FTC-PBM delays, Transcarent’s tune change, UK’s pivot on NHS research data, why OpenAI is losing its way, more!

April 11, 2025 | by

 

11 April 2025

It’s still a chilly Spring in your Editor’s whereabouts, but we have, fresh out of the hothouse, a bumper crop of news and opinion. The big read for the weekend is Halle Tecco’s quantifying of the Cracked SPAC phenomenon and what’s happened with OpenAI. Transcarent closes its Accolade buy and changes its tune to ‘one place’, Walgreens doing a bit better. In touting, Keir Starmer’s bet on NHS data research and Elon Musk on human trials for Neuralink Blindsight. Hinge Health may postpone its long-awaited IPO and FTC pauses its long-awaited toss of the book at PBMs. Plus a new Perspectives on rural healthcare and telehealth.

The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business (Grab the cuppa and lunch for a good read and podcast) 

Extra, extra!: ATA Action forms Virtual Foodcare Coalition, Ophelia and Spring Health partner on opioid treatment, ISfTeH renews NSA status with WHO (More action from ATA Action and a partnership to watch in telementalhealth)

Midweek roundup: Transcarent closes Accolade; Walgreens beats Street; New Mountain Capital’s Office Ally buy-in; Neuralink Blindsight human trial coming up; PM Keir Starmer touts NHS data research; FTC’s PBM litigation break (Transcarent’s pivot?)

Rock Health’s digital health Q1: more money, fewer deals, more additions and partnerships in ‘leapfrogging’ (Still in a minor key this year)

News roundup: Hinge Health may postpone IPO, Rite Aid may enter 2nd bankruptcy, Veterans Affairs committees want new EHR costs & timeline, fired Texas health plan head hired private eyes to spy on members, providers, lawmakers (The last one is shocking)

Perspectives: Bridging the Gap in Rural Healthcare Through Telehealth (From Yosi Health)

Last week: A relatively light news week in a so-far chilly, stormy Spring. Our top article is not one, but two dives into the Unicorn Known as Hippocratic AI. 23andMe’s sale isn’t attracting a lot of buyers (deliberate?) but presents even more problems for the users who took their surveys. Dr. Oz confirmed for CMS as HHS goes on a GLP-1 diet and then some. VA adds to their Oracle 2026 rollout, ATA Action enlarges, and DOJ seeks execution for Brian Thompson’s assassin.

News roundup: 9 additional VA centers named for Oracle 2026 EHR rollout; ATA Action acquiring, expanding with DTA; Dr. Oz to lead CMS while HHS cuts; DOJ seeks death penalty for Mangione  (VA creeps forward, ATA Action enlarges, HHS chops, justice awaits)
Are Hippocratic AI and AI “nurses” the wave of the future–or just another tide of hype? Two articles question. (A needed discussion on this particular unicorn and whether its AI capabilities are all they’re pitched to be)
23andMe’s slim list of prospective buyers–who must uphold privacy policies, according to the FTC. But what about that survey information? *Updated* (More problems with 23andMe’s sale–and if you took their surveys, they have more data on you)

* * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business

April 10, 2025 | by

Let us now hold the formal memorial service for the SPAC–the special purpose acquisition company, at least for digital health. Halle Tecco, whom many of us know as the founder and past CEO of Rock Health, plus angel investor, plus adjunct professor in digital health at Columbia, now has an opinion blog on Substack. As our Readers know, this Editor, who is none of the above, has been shoveling dirt on SPACs here on TTA since they became an Easy Way To Avoid the cumbersome, oh-so-tiresome preparation for a public IPO during the Digital Health Boom of 2020-22 (RIP). She has been covering their Trouble Every Day and demise ever since. Having not kept quantitative track of Cracked SPACs, only the news as they floated, declined, and failed, this Editor enjoyed Ms. Tecco’s quantitative analysis of the overall picture. She puts it into a readable business context. 

Shockingly, SPACs across all IPOs are still going on. In 2023 and 2024, total SPACs as a percent of IPOs neared 40%. Their high was reached in 2022 at 73%. The attractiveness of SPACs was obvious: an investor sets up a publicly traded company and goes through the hassle of an IPO. It raises money on public markets and from investors to acquire another company. Then it hunts for a company to acquire. The target is landed, is acquired, symbols change, and the deal is done, all in three to six months. The acquired company doesn’t have to go through the investor pitches, the due diligence, the incessant filing…less fuss and muss, but missing the rigor of a traditional IPO. For the SPACs, especially those focusing on digital health, 2020-22 became FOMO Fever–the fear of missing out.

For digital health companies, the boom became a race to the bottom. 

  • 30.4% went bankrupt, some spectacularly, others with a whimper as they’ve failed, one after the other: 23andMe, Cano Health, Babylon Health, Nuvo, Pear, others
  • 26.1% were acquired well below their SPAC entry price: Sharecare, SOC Telemed, Akili and others. The only exception: Augmedix, with a $40 million SPAC valuation, was bought for $139 million by Commure. (Commure is backed by General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz; Commure/Athelas itself is an interesting and complex story.)
  • 39.1% are still in business but trading below their SPAC entry price. A number flirted with the Devil of Demise and are recovering: Clover Health, Owlet (baby monitors), Butterfly (ultrasound POC), Talkspace. DocGo became a Covid play and then got into political trouble and is nearing $2/share from their late 2022 high of just below $11. And others.
  • There is exactly one success story: hims & hers (4.3%)

Enjoy this read on her blog. If you prefer a podcast, here’s Ms. Tecco on her ‘Heart of Healthcare’ with Mohamad Makhzoumi (link is to Spotify), co-CEO of New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a VC in healthcare and technology (33 minutes), discussing healthcare’s evolution, so to speak, from “the trailer park of venture investing” and the hilarious ‘healthcare hokey-pokey’. And here’s a Gimlety View of SPACs from 26 June 2024.

Another Big and Disastrous Fail in the making may be OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. It is converting from a non-profit to a for-profit company, losing its founder group, fundraising like crazy, and generally has ditched its Mission. “OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company. Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.”  OpenAI has raised the largest venture-backed fundraise of all time, $6.6 billion, and is now valued at $157 billion. Why overvalued? A tell is that SoftBank has invested $500 million into this megillah–this Editor recalls that SoftBank invested in Theranos and WeWork. Another tell–the NY Times and The Information estimated that Open AI lost $5 billion in 2024, it loses money on every copy of ChatGPT, and its revenue projections are near-absurd at $11.6 billion in 2025 and $100 billion by 2029. It totally ignores that every major player has an AI program, from Microsoft to Google. If you’re a fan of ChatGPT or need your eyes cleared around this type of AI, grab your cuppa and a bottle of your favorite pain reliever for Ed Zitron’s article, OpenAI Is A Bad Business. (Ed is an English tech writer, podcaster, and PR specialist)

Rock Health’s digital health Q1: more money, fewer deals, more additions and partnerships in ‘leapfrogging’

April 8, 2025 | by

There’s a small uptick and some optimism in the air for US digital health deals after all. After a 2024 that realistically was a ‘down round’ or Back To 2019, 2025 is picking its way through the New Reality of Global 52-Card Pickup, powered by a new US government and still-defining AI technology. Let’s unpack what Q1 was like in Rock Health’s view:

  • Funding was $3.8 billion across 122 deals, with an average deal size of $24.4 million. Compared to Q1 2024, total investment was up ($2.7 billion) as was the average size ($20.6 million) but number of deals were down (133).
  • Q1 funding also exceeded Q4 2024 funding in a pattern typical of the past few years.
  • 83% of deals were seed, Series A, and Series B rounds, not much different than 2024’s 86%. There were a few exceptions listed by Rock Health. By far the largest was Hippocratic AI’s $141M Series B but also Achira’s $33M seed, and Open Evidence’s $75M Series A. MSK player Vori Health sported a $53 million Series B in March
  • There were only 5 Series D or larger deals but three were jumbo sized: Innovaccer ($275M), Abridge ($250M), and Qventus ($105M), which pulled the average up to $105 million, nearly double that of FY 2024.

Rock Health is mum on unlabeled or funding not disclosed deals, such as the ones TTA noted through the quarter: Summer Health -Caraway, Neuroflow-Quartet Health, Iris Telehealth-InnovaTel, Dispatch Health-Medically Home, and Wysa-April Health.  It also doesn’t provide its usual analysis of healthcare value propositions and clinical indicators.

An interesting analysis in the shorter-than-usual announcement breaks down an approach they’ve dubbed ‘leapfrogging’, defined as ways companies can acquire knowledge or shift to respond to market dynamics:

  1. Tapestry Weaving. It’s a quaint way of saying that capabilities can be bought through M&A. (Business can be bought that way too–Transcarent closed its $621 million buy of enterprise care navigator Accolade today.) 
  2. Modular Tech Stacks. This type of tech design allows companies to switch out or add in tech as the market changes or better tech emerges.
  3. Channel Partnerships. Companies, by adding partners, add capability at low cost and reach, though the logistics of partnering, the integration cost and quality of service aren’t easy lifts.
  4. Engaging Disruptors. Companies invested in certain standard processes can expand by allying with their disruptors, versus viewing them as competitors. 

What’s not mentioned in the report are the high profile failures this quarter: 23andMe’s bankruptcy, Walgreens’ sale to Sycamore Partners, and Veradigm’s failure to sell itself.  Given the past few months, we’ll be doing a lot of ’embracing uncertainty’ this year!  Also FierceHealthcare

23andMe’s slim list of prospective buyers–who must uphold privacy policies, according to the FTC. But what about that survey information? *Updated*

April 3, 2025 | by

Barely a week later, but only a few buyers are lining up for 23andMe’s parts. The future of the bits and pieces of 23andMe and their 15 million customers apparently are in the Magic 8 Ball’s response class: “reply hazy, try again” and “cannot predict now”. Not entirely surprising is the lack of vigorous and financially competitive interest in them. Fortune counted the interested parties at only three, plus unsurprisingly, their controlling shareholder Anne Wojcicki.

Here’s their rundown:

Nucleus Genomics. This isn’t a surprise as their founder, Kian Sadeghi, had posted an article about their pass at 23andMe on Substack last September. [TTA 12 March, Editor’s comments] Sadeghi has often likened Nucleus to Netflix versus 23andMe’s Blockbuster, where the second generation survives while the first generation dies off. Nucleus’ consumer offering are $400 tests that it claims can identify health risks for more than 900 conditions. Like 23andMe, Nucleus got in trouble with an early offering, a genetic test for IQ. Supposedly, Mr. Sadeghi is not all that interested in the genetic database, but in Lemonaid, the telehealth remedy site that 23andMe bought for $400 million ($100 million cash, $300 million in now worthless stock). The objective is to integrate telehealth and remedies with Nucleus’ tests, broadening the ‘one and done’ nature of most genetic testing–the original reason why 23andMe bought it. Nucleus has some cash on hand and resources to call in, having closed a $14 million Series A in January and backed by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.

The Sei Foundation. A blockchain developer and advocate for decentralized science (DeSci), it’s proposed a unique use case for the 23andMe database. Their X posting states that they can plug 23andMe genomics information into their blockchain, return data ownership to users through encrypted, confidential transfers, and then allow users to choose how their data is monetized and share in the revenue. They maintain that this would be compliant with existing healthcare and data privacy laws. Gerald Gallagher, general counsel for the foundation, said that “The legal issues involved are not specific to whether or not the data is stored on chain, and the current policy requires notice and new approvals from customers in the event of a sale of assets or change in control.”

Pinnacle Reliability. CEO/founder Ryan Sitton of this complex systems data analytics company for industrial reliability expressed interest in 23andMe before the Chapter 11 via this LinkedIn posting that offered $100 million four weeks ago. The social post did not lead to a real and properly financed offer to the board. According to Fortune, he has renewed his interest.

Anne Wojcicki stated her intent to buy the company when the Chapter 11 was announced and she stepped down from the CEO position. Neither she nor her spokesperson has had any further comment. 

23andMe and buyers better keep the data privacy promises. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman Andrew Ferguson has already notified representatives of the US Trustee Program, a Justice Department division that oversees administration of bankruptcy proceedings, that 23andMe currently, as well as any future owners, must retain the data privacy policies put into place by 23andMe, such as they are. “The FTC believes that, consistent with Section 363(b)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code, these types of promises to consumers must be kept. This means that any bankruptcy-related sale or transfer involving 23andMe users’ personal information and biological samples will be subject to the representations the Company has made to users about both privacy and data security, and which users relied upon in providing their sensitive data to the Company,” he wrote. “Moreover, as promised by 23andMe, any purchaser should expressly agree to be bound by and adhere to the terms of 23andMe’s privacy policies and applicable law, including as to any changes it subsequently makes to those policies.” This seems to be a straight-up reading of current law, even if the current administration’s policy is to bring FTC and other agencies under closer control by the executive branch, a tangent which occupies the last two paragraphs of the Ars Technica article.

Guess what other information 23andMe has on its 15 million users? Survey data! 85% of 15 million users consented to have their individual data used for research. As part of that research, 23andMe requested that users complete an optional survey which added to their profiles. These extensive questions were not available for prior review, but the FAQs made it clear that once you consented to answering them, every time you visited the research page, you’d get questions to answer until they were all answered. In other words, endless continuing research. The rationale presented to users was to “help drive scientific and medical discoveries”. So, when you request to delete your data, will the survey data associated with the user profile be withdrawn as well? The lengthy article in The Conversation seems to conclude, no.

If it remains identifiable, this trove of data could be matched up with other data for law enforcement or to discriminate against someone at high risk for developing a genetic disorder. That type of discrimination is banned for employment and health insurance, but not life insurance or long-term care. Or it could be used to compile a more personal profile for marketing purposes. This needs to be cleared up. Despite this, every person with a 23andMe account should request that their personal data and anything else associated with it be deleted, immediately, before this information finds its way to a new buyer.

Weekend reading: 23andMe updates, a view at variance from the former co-founder, and a deeper historical analysis

March 28, 2025 | by

23andMe passes the ‘First Day Motions’ test in Federal bankruptcy court. On Wednesday, 23andMe received permission from the court to, during their Chapter 11:

  • Pay employee wages and benefits
  • Compensate certain vendors and suppliers in the ordinary course of business for goods and services
  • Enter into the term sheet of the $35 million debtor-in-possession financing agreement (DIP Facility) with JMB Capital Partners
  • Begin the process of selling substantially all of its assets* through a Chapter 11 plan or pursuant to Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

The court also approved the bidding procedures that take place over the 45-day clock that started with the bankruptcy petition on 23 March. Bidding is conducted by the company and Moelis, their independent investment banker.

  • Qualified bids must agree to comply with 23andMe’s consumer privacy policy and laws regarding treatment of customer data.
  • Any sale transaction involving the transfer of customer data requires court oversight and regulatory approvals.

Additional first day orders on the Kroll (claims agent) website are the retention of two law firms, Goodwin Procter LLP and Lewis Rice LLP by the Special Committee of the board of directors, and the continued use of cash management systems, intercompany transactions, honoring certain prepetition obligations, and priority on administrative expense to postpetition intercompany claims against debtors.

The next step is the ‘Second Day’ hearing that follows up on financing, with the entry of an order approving the DIP Facility and ‘additional requested relief’ that isn’t specified in the 23andMe release. 

*Given that thousands, perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of a reported 14 million users, are deleting as much data as they can from the 23andMe database, what will the value of that genetic database be? Regarding that database, will there be a third-party ‘guard’ on that database appointed by the Court?

The TTA summary of the bankruptcy 24-26 March  This Editor likened the 23andMe implosion to that of Theranos–a watershed event that forces a rethinking of how we treat the privacy of customer medical data not covered by HIPAA, such as genetic data, as we approach (or try to approach) the mountain called ‘personalized medicine’.

23andMe’s co-founder, Linda Avey, essayed in LinkedIn yesterday that 23andMe was a missed opportunity to create a grand genomic dataset that would combine blood work, deeper gene sequencing, and wearable date culminating into actionable insights. The data is now fragmented among many holders.  In her conclusion, she was polite but unsparing: “Without continued consumer-focused product development, and without proper governance, 23andMe lost its way, and society missed a key opportunity in furthering the idea of personalized health. The 14+ million people who bought into the concept deserve to see their data moved to a secure platform with new leadership and vision. Consumers, however, should be careful sharing their data if they don’t trust its secure and ethical use”.Ms. Avey, a scientist and venture investor, was forced out of the company in 2009.

23andMe’s failure is more significant than Theranos as an example of reality versus the hype. Theranos was a near-straight up fraud with blood labs that didn’t work. 23andMe had a technology that worked and could with accuracy your ancestry and genetic risk factors, though the latter got them into trouble with the FDA with a cease-and-desist in 2013 [TTA 2 April 2014] that they didn’t emerge from till late 2015. But ancestry and genetic risk are ‘one and done’ readings. It’s not an ongoing business model. How do you get members to return and pay for more tests, even if they lose money? How do you get investors? Pivot to research and ‘therapeutic development’. The reality, as Anne Wojcicki herself admitted, is that there’s no money in diagnosis and prevention. “No one makes money in healthcare by keeping you healthy” and  “There’s no profit motive for people to get this information. A doctor does not make money if they give a diagnostic”–and this was said by her in 2019.

So how did the company become valued at $6 billion by 2021? Work the story, work the hype around preventative healthcare to get more venture rounds and then a SPAC facilitated IPO. “Personalized healthcare”.  A “research platform powered by engaged customers”.  While the real money was in selling the data to Pfizer, Genentech, and GSK–and that started back in 2015. All couched in ‘personalized healthcare’ and research.

Far, far more on this is over at AI Health Uncut, Sergei Polevikov’s Substack site. Grab your cuppa and/or lunch. It has more financial facts, particularly around 23andMe’s early years, and the botched opportunity of the Lemonaid acquisition. Everyone is a loser when it comes to 23andMe, except the Lemonaid founders who walked away with $100 million in cash (but lost $300 million in stock). It comes to the sad and numerically relentless conclusion that 23andMe was actually bankrupt since 2018. It was chasing ‘an impossible dream’ and was dishonest about its business model. The end result was that public trust in health tech erodes again–and that investors and founders trust each other a lot less. (And Mr. Polevikov also dubbed 23andMe another Theranos.)

Editor’s note: AI Health Uncut may be paywalled. I encourage our Readers to support Sergei’s work on Substack–for a modest annual subscription amount, you gain full access to his work, past and present, charts, videos, and articles.

Breaking: 23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy–whither customer data and security? An impact similar to Theranos?

March 24, 2025 | by

The exploding plastic inevitable comes to its inevitable end. 23andMe’s board filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the Eastern District of Missouri (!) Federal bankruptcy court on Sunday night (Case 25-40976). Anne Wojcicki, CEO, 49% controlling shareholder, and board member, stepped down from the CEO position, but remains on the board. Interim CEO is Joseph Selsavage, 23andMe’s chief financial and accounting officer,  according to their SEC Form 8-K filing.

In their announcement, 23andMe will, with court approval, actively solicit asset sales over a 45 day period.

Anne Wojcicki’s final non-binding proposals on 10 and 11 March were rejected by the Special Committee of the board of directors evaluating asset sales and now the bankruptcy.

Anne Wojcicki’s statement on X early on Monday morning was of a piece with her statements as 23andMe entered its death spiral starting in 2023. “We have had many successes but I equally take accountability for the challenges we have today. There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and its future is unwavering.” In her post, she also said that she would bid for assets sold by the company. 23andMe has not issued any further statement or response to their former CEO’s comments.

The Chapter 11 versus 7 filing means that 23andMe will continue to operate as it sells assets and eventually shuts. It will be up to the board–including Ms. Wojcicki–and the bankruptcy judge regarding the disposition of the company’s assets, which include teleprescriber Lemonade and the large 23andMe genetic database. Those assets and liabilities essentially cancel each other out: $100-500 million in assets and the same in liabilities, according to the filing.

And about that large genetic database–the California attorney general Rob Bonta has already advised California 23andMe registered users to delete their data and request their samples to be destroyed. However, as previous articles have discussed, your data remains–de-identified, which the AG’s statement doesn’t go into in its “reminder” (more like a press opportunity for a 2026 reelection bid?). Mercury News  See today’s update for how-tos–and experiences in deletion.

23andMe has stated that it will not change the way that consumer data is stored or safeguarded, and will continue to operate as usual through the Chapter 11 process. They published an ‘open letter’ blog for customers that positions them as finding “a partner (Editor’s emphasis) who shares our commitment to customer data privacy and allows our mission of helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome to live on.” which is frankly, misleading.

Perhaps the Chapter 11 is saving Ms. Wojcicki from a tremendous financial mistake in buying out the rest of the common shareholders, though the filing wipes out her investment in the company. It will be interesting to see the court’s comments on the ownership of what at its peak was a $6 billion-valued public company. CNBC  

This story is developing, but has developed ‘legs’ like Theranos in terms of mainstream impact. When YouTube tarot card readers are covering it….   

Updates 25-26 March   

MedCityNews yesterday recapped the various Wojcicki-led efforts to take the company private as Readers have been following, with the interesting addition that by 10 March, at least one minority shareholder, Zentree Investments, felt slighted. Zentree then bought more Class A stock to boost its ownership stake to 13%. (I wonder how they woke up on Monday.) Unfortunately, there were no further insights on why New Mountain Capital retreated from its short-lived offer to buy 23andMe with Ms. Wojcicki that went sideways by 28 February.  (Perhaps someone found something that led to the mutual conclusion of ‘Are we crazy?’)

The first hearing before the bankruptcy court, the Debtors’ First Day Motions, will be tomorrow, Wednesday 26 March, in St. Louis before the Honorable Brian C. Walsh. 

There is no hint of a pre-packaged bankruptcy leading to a reorganization of the business in any of the materials linked below.

From the Form 8-K and the Kroll case summary (Kroll is the claims agent for the company):

  • 23andMe has agreed with a lender, JMB Capital Partners Lending, LLC, to obtain up to $35 million in a senior secured term loan credit facility (DIP Facility). The debtor-in-possession financing from JMB is to pay for the Chapter 11 administrative costs and for working capital. This is subject to the bankruptcy court’s approval.
  • Subsidiaries of 23andMe (such as Lemonaid) will continue to operate. Lemonaid Health and two pharmacy operations are listed as  debtors in the filing.
  • On 21 March, Joseph Selsalvage was paid a retention cash bonus of $500,000 for his services through 31 December this year or 23andMe’s emergence from bankruptcy, whichever is earliest. If he leaves before the end of the retention period or is terminated for cause, the entire amount will be clawed back. The only exceptions are death, disability, or departure for ‘good reason’ as defined in the retention agreement.
  • The board was increased to five members, adding Thomas B. Walper as a non-employee member of the board and the Special Committee (formed for buyers) through the 2027 shareholders meeting. He will be paid $35,000 per month. Mr. Walper is a partner at Los Angeles’ Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and specializes in bankruptcy law.
  • Any transaction will be subject to customary regulatory approvals, including, as applicable, the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

From the 23andMe release:

  • The Special Committee rejected Anne Wojcicki’s final bids in the amended Schedule 13D made on 10 and 11 March.  
  • The company in the Chapter 11 will sell substantially all of its assets in a Section 363 sale.
  • Matt Kvarda, a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, was appointed as chief restructuring officer.
  • First day motions (tomorrow) include requesting from the court authority to pay employees and certain vendors, reducing operating expenses such as real estate leases, and resolving all outstanding legal liabilities stemming from their October 2023 cyber incident.

Since 23andMe’s database includes personally identifiable information and Lemonaid stores medical information as a prescriber of various remedies, it is possible, but to be confirmed, whether Federal entities such as HHS will be involved in approvals of asset sales that have patient information. Those who submitted their tests for genetic analysis are not covered by HIPAA and in fact signed away many of their privacy rights in their submission. 

Information on deleting your user records if you used 23andMe, or you know someone who needs to know how:

Contrary to what many would like to have or to believe, 23andMe retains parts of user information after user deletion, such as: genetic information, date of birth, and gender “as required for compliance”; deletion request information “including but not limited to, your email address, account deletion request identifier, communications related to inquiries or complaints and legal agreements.”

Despite this, deleting your account is the wisest move, according to every expert this Editor has read.

Basically, you are deleting your account, revoking any research consent, and destroying any samples they may have retained. Simple, eh? Not quite! Step-by-step how-to guides are available on ZDNet (simplest) and TechCrunch (scroll to the end). This Editor cannot test as she never used 23andMe. Arundhati Parmar of MedCityNews‘ experience in attempting this process is chronicled in a LinkedIn video and on TikTok.  Expect website crashes, slow responses at best, and more than a few hitches.

New  FierceHealthcare’s Dave Muoio riffs on the data privacy issues which can be summarized as a “data stewardship crisis”. The few protections that members/users have are based on consumer protection laws. 23andMe’s privacy policy, as noted above, was explicit about the minimal protection they offered and that they had the right to access, disclose to others, and sell your genetic information:  “your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction and this Privacy Statement will apply to your Personal Information as transferred to the new entity. We may also disclose Personal Information about you to our corporate affiliates to help operate our services and our affiliates’ services.” Mr. Muoio reached out to experts at SOCRadar, QuantHealth, the Future of Privacy Forum, the Holland & Knight law firm, Pixel Privacy, and others. The consensus is that state and Federal safeguards are wholly inadequate.

Editor’s opinion:

23andMe’s cavalier attitude during their 2023 data breach, caused by their sloppy security (well documented by others and analyzed in our article here with previous articles linked within it) but blamed by their management on members reusing passwords, was symptomatic of a certain arrogance and attitude. By 2023, the company was already in trouble. Why would anyone believe that they’d be any less cavalier about personal genetic information?

Will this be another ‘watershed’ event like Theranos? The level of mainstream consumer media coverage the 23andMe bankruptcy has received reminds this Editor of the demise of Theranos. But here, there is no glamorous young founder in a black turtleneck jetting about and working in a Silicon Valley high-tech lab perpetrating a fraud. Here, the founder and key shareholder is a mature wealthy woman who kept a fairly low profile, the technology worked, the consumer business broke fresh consumer ground and, for its time, getting your genetic information and ancestry was a popular concept. GSK’s five year deal was completed–not renewed, but no lawsuits ensued. What was way off was its $6 billion valuation in 2021 after its SPAC and IPO.

Its faltering wasn’t news like Theranos or (for that matter) Walgreens either. The concatenation of failures along the way, save for the 2023-24 data breach/hacking which was news and drove away customers by the carload, was hardly noted at all. Yet suddenly. every one who ever dealt with 23andMe is anxious about their DNA being sold, with rumors of nefarious buyers like Bill Gates and from China popping up with notorious frequency.

We’ll see if this leads to change in genetic privacy laws and policies.

Update: Wojcicki increases 23andMe per share offer to $2.94 from $0.41–but there’s three contingency ‘catches’, and more

March 12, 2025 | by | 1 Comment

Will the 23andMe board go for this offer? Can this bulb be relit? There are two additional SEC Schedule D amended filings (#11 and #12) made on 10 and 11 March that sweeten the $0.41 per share all-cash deal just rejected by the 23andMe board [TTA 4 Mar]. The total value is now increased to a total of $2.94–but the additional $2.53 per share is made up of ‘catches’ called ‘contingent value rights’ or CVRs. These payments to shareholders are not immediate, but dependent on future performance and revenue milestones. In addition, and going unmentioned, are $50 million in operational financings, both pre and post-closing.

On 6 March, Ms. Wojcicki updated her offer as follows (see Item Number 4, ‘Purpose of Transaction’, on page 5 of both filings):

  • The original $0.41 cash for current outstanding shares not owned by Ms. Wojcicki (or not rolled over by current shareholders)
  • Plus three contingent value rights (CVRs) representing the potential (Editor’s emphasis) to receive an additional $2.53 per share total, based on specified revenue milestones for fiscal years 2026, 2027, and 2028.

The CVRs and milestones are contained in Exhibit 4, an email dated 6 March on pages 8-9, attached to Amendment #11. The CVRs would be payable in cash upon the achievement of the following milestones out to calendar 2028:

  • One CVR for $0.67 per share, payable if the Company’s revenue in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026 exceeds $224 million;
  • One CVR for $0.84 per share, payable if the Company’s revenue in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027 exceeds $295 million; and
  • One CVR for $1.01 per share, payable if the Company’s revenue in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2028 exceeds $367 million.

There’s more. Also in Amendment #11’s Exhibit 4, Ms. Wojcicki would provide an additional $30 million in unsecured financing for operations through the closing of the transaction, at a 7% interest rate and a maturity date after the closing. This was apparently part of the earlier offer but not viewable in the Schedule 13D, Amendment #10. This will be capitalized by $117 million in equity, new capital, the CVRs, and loans detailed in Appendix A, page 11.  

This is further sweetened in Amendment #12, pages 8-9. In an email marked Exhibit 5 responding to board requests, reiterating the cash offer, the CVRs, and the $30 million in pre-closing financing, Ms. Wojcicki adds that the $30 million loan “will not require immediate payments by the Company”. She then adds an additional $20 million to fund 23andMe operations, with the caveat that it will “be offset dollar-for-dollar by any future financing I am able to raise” which this Editor interprets as that she’ll be paid back by future raises. One last flourish: she commits to $15 million of “annual operating expense reductions to focus on the core business and increase the likelihood of returning future value to shareholders.” There is also an increase in capitalization to $137 million detailed in Appendix A, page 11, deleting $75 million in CVRs, substituting the same amount from ‘cash from operations’, and adding $20 million in additional equity commitments.

Will this be enough for the three-person board? Or will this be rejected, again? Stay tuned!   SeekingAlpha, Yahoo Finance/GuruFocus

Is this a smart deal for a smart woman? It seems to this Editor, who is not even remotely a sophisticated VC nor plays one on TV or YouTube, that Ms. Wojcicki is doing backflips to save a company that even she admits (in Exhibit 5) is near to bankruptcy.  Because she is the controlling shareholder, it’s likely that the strategy of letting the company go into Chapter 7 and buying up the desired assets (a lá Pear and its CEO/founder Corey McCann) is unattractive, possibly impermissible by the bankruptcy court–and humiliating. It also may not be workable, as the company’s major asset is a database of personal genomic information that users cannot claw back or provably deidentify [TTA 8 Nov 2024] but would be attractive to other buyers–even if litigated. As to 23andMe’s future, the whole area of genomics now has multiple competitors including Big Pharma. There were reasons why GSK walked away from their foundational deal with the company. AI can work with current data, there’s no consumer hook to capture additional data, and the whole shebang is incredibly capital intensive. Are these revenue projections even feasible? 

23andMe may have used up all its future–and Anne Wojcicki could be throwing away what remains of her fortune.

Breaking: 23andMe sale bids slide from $2.53 per share to $0.41 to none in 11 days, as board rejects CEO’s offer

March 4, 2025 | by

23andMe’s future growing dimmer by the day. Last week before Friday, 23andMe seemed to have a fighting chance. The 20 February Schedule 13D filing proposed a take-private offer for $2.53 per share, or $74.7 million, a small premium above their Nasdaq CM trading price, with CEO and controlling shareholder Anne Wojcicki joined by investor New Mountain Capital (NMC) [TTA 27 Feb]. Evidently that offer went sideways before the board of directors’ Special Committee could even consider it. By Friday 28 February, a week later, New Mountain withdrew from the acquisition bid for unspecified reasons. On Sunday 2 March, Ms. Wojcicki offered instead to the board her non-binding all cash bid of $0.41, or about $12 million. This would acquire the current outstanding shares not owned by Ms. Wojcicki (or not rolled over by current shareholders).  Amended Schedule 13D 

It took about “24 little hours” for the 23andMe board and their advisers to unanimously reject that offer, stating that at $0.41, it represented an 84% decrease to the prior $2.53 offer made with New Mountain Capital. Release.  It is one cent above Anne Wojcicki’s offer made back on 31 July 2024, which matched the price of the shares at that time. No one involved had any comments. (Share price today: $1.37)

So the genetic data/testing/telemedicine company returns to Square Zero. One can only speculate why NMC withdrew so quickly, on what they saw after a bid that made them run, not walk, to the exit. One wonders how Anne Wojcicki would offer not only a misfire of a bid, but also counter with a ridiculously low bid that she had to know would be rejected. Then again, one wonders what the board’s options really are, given the parlous state of their cash reserves. Will this be the second board that throws up their six hands and resigns? CNBC, Business Insider

These just in: drug compounders sue FDA over semaglutide scarcity removal; Sycamore’s Walgreens buy plans begin to show

February 27, 2025 | by

What the telehealth prescribers can’t do, the compounders are. A major drug compounder association, the Outsourcing Facilities Association, along with member North American Custom Laboratories, LLC, both based in Texas, filed suit yesterday (24 February) against the FDA to vacate the final action removing semaglutide, the active ingredient in GLP-1 drugs, from the shortage list. The FDA announced that it was being removed from the shortage list effective April-May, after months of compounders legally creating semaglutide-based weight loss drugs as permitted during the shortage. This was certainly good news for Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that developed and markets Ozempic and Wegovy [TTA 25 Feb].

The compounding was a boon for telehealth providers such as Hims and Hers, Ro, 23andMe (Lemonaid), Future Health, Weight Watchers, Lark, and many others. It allowed them to customize injectable formulations for customers on weight loss programs at a far lower cost than standard branded products. The FDA allows this only during times of shortage (compounded by Section 503A pharmacies and Section 503B outsourcing facilities as “essential copies” of FDA-approved drugs). Exceptions are also made if the standard drug is in some way inappropriate for the patient who then medically requires a customized version, e.g. with adjusted dosage, method of dosing, or added/deleted ingredients, but these are not ‘mass’ circumstances or situations. 

Among the grounds presented in the suit against the FDA are that the shortage is still going on with delays in prescription filling, leading to patient harm; that FDA’s delisting was arbitrary without the required notice with public comment nor was it published in the Federal Register; and that it is ‘arbitrary and capricious’. Novo Nordisk has admitted publicly that supply constraints could still exists. 

Continued ‘customization’ is vital to telehealth prescribers’ revenue, while branding is vital to the pharmaceutical developers undercut by compounding. In 2024, Hims alone earned $225 million in revenue from compounded semaglutide and other GLP-1 type drugs. Both Novo Nordisk and Lilly (Zepbound) have pushed back on the compounders on safety and risk, along with lower prices in new delivery types such as vials versus autoinjectors.

The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Biopharma Dive

More intriguing details if Sycamore Partners takes Walgreens Boots Alliance private. Financial Times reported via Reuters that according to the usual “people familiar with the matter”, Sycamore’s plan is to separate WBA into three parts, like Gaul: US retail pharmacy, Boots UK, and US Healthcare (VillageMD, CareCentrix, and Shields Health Solutions). They would have distinct capital structures. There’s minimal information beyond that. Sycamore is not expected to have difficulty financing the take-private, and WBA chairman Stefano Pessina is expected to have an ownership stake. The news drove WBA shares up today about 5% and 10% in the last five days. But the news seems to be moving along. VillageMD’s on the market is assumed but it is not certain any sale would complete in time. Crain’s Chicago Business

23andMe gets a $74.7M offer from Wojcicki and New Mountain Capital–this time for real?

February 27, 2025 | by | 2 Comments

If at first you don’t succeed, make another take-private offer, as the company is sinking. Anne Wojcicki, CEO of the terminally beleaguered 23andMe, has with little fanfare placed on the table a take-private offer for $2.53 per share, or $74.7 million, a small premium above their Friday close on Nasdaq CM at $2.42. (Wednesday’s close was $2.23.) With a market cap today of $65 million, it is a far cry from their post-SPAC days in 2021 where their valuation hit a peak of $4.8 billion by October. The news was revealed in their filing of a Schedule 13D with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ms. Wojcicki, or more exactly the Anne Wojcicki Revocable Trust, is backed in this take-private transaction by New Mountain Capital, with her legal advice from heavyweight law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP. New Mountain Capital is being advised by Ropes & Gray LLP. Dechert LLP is reportedly on the company’s side although in January Goodwin Procter LLP was listed.

This is a far cry from her seemingly off-the-cuff offer of $0.40 on 31 July to the previous board’s Special Committee, which this Editor estimates at a $11-12 million offer. The 23andMe seven-person board rejected it a few days later, then departed in frustration on 17 September 2024. They were replaced by a three-person board–plus Ms. Wojcicki, the controlling shareholder. After their 28 January Q3 report that simply confirmed their sinking liquidity and revenue despite shedding/closing lines of business, the new Special Committee, consisting of the three outside directors, opened up 23andMe to ‘strategic alternatives’ on 31 January. 

The consumer/research genetics company’s cash on hand is an anemic $79.4 million as of 31 December–barely above, and likely currently below the $74.7 million Wojcicki/NMC offer. There is nothing left to sell other than Lemonaid [TTA 22 Jan]–but why no one is stepping up to buy a company with a foothold in telehealth remedies including GLP-1 drugs, even with FDA’s change away from compounded drugs, is a mystery

Assume this is a best offer? Whether this non-binding proposal will be countered by others is not known, but a safe assumption is that this will be the only one on the table. Ms. Wojcicki has effective majority control, confirmed in the Schedule 13D filing as 20% of Class A common stock and 69.4% of Class B common stock. Reportedly this gives her 49.99% of the voting power. Both Ms. Wojcicki and New Mountain are offering secured debt financing to fund 23andMe’s operations through the transaction’s closing, As a result, other offers are not likely in this Editor’s estimation.

No timing is reported or comment available from 23andMe.   CNBC, Lawyer Monthly