STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about 23andMe bankruptcy filing, the case against ‘global freeloading,’ and more
23andMe plans to file for bankruptcy and CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki will depart
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and messages has returned. But what can you do? There is no pause button to stop the world from spinning. To cope, we are quaffing cups of stimulation. Our choice today is peppermint. Please feel free to join us. And now, the time has come to dig in to the tasks at hand. On that note, we have assembled a menu of tidbits to help you get started. Hope your day is simply smashing and, as always, do keep in touch if something saucy arises. …
23andMe plans to file for bankruptcy and chief executive officer and co-founder Anne Wojcicki will depart, after she repeatedly tried and failed to take the storied but financially troubled DNA-testing startup private, STAT notes. The company will now try to sell itself through a court-supervised sale. Its valuation closed Friday at a hair under $50 million, a calamitous fall from 2021, when it went public and soared to a nearly $6 billion market capitalization. In a statement released on Linkedin, Wojcicki made clear she plans to continue attempting to purchase 23andMe, which said it expects to continue ordinary operations while searching for a buyer. The company did not provide specific promises around the future of consumers’ genetic and medical data, except that it “remains committed to transparency” and that “any buyer will be required to comply with applicable law” around customer data.
Novo Nordisk has secured the global rights to develop, manufacture, and sell a weight loss drug candidate from United Laboratories International, which is based in Hong Kong, in a deal worth up to $2 billion, Reuters writes. The Chinese investment holding company said that as part of the licensing agreement with a United Labs unit, Novo will make an upfront payment of $200 million and up to $1.8 billion upon the completion of certain development and sales milestones. United Biotechnology will retain the rights for the drug candidate in the Chinese mainland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macau Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan. The drug candidate is a triple agonist of the receptors of GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon.
