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 | No Comments

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!)

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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!)

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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.