San Diego, CA | May 13, 2025 – In a landmark move to protect and uphold individual rights over their personal biological data, the newly formed Global BioData Trust has submitted a formal bid to acquire the assets of 23andMe, now up for auction as part of the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

“More than 15 million Americans entrusted 23andMe with their most personal data — their DNA. The idea that this could be auctioned off to an unknown highest bidder is ethically unsettling,” said Elizabeth Dreicer, CEO of Consuli and cofounder of the Global BioData Trust. “This is not just a transaction. It’s a turning point — a chance to model a new stewardship approach and restore this biomaterial and related data to their rightful individual owners.”

The Trust is being established to acquire and steward the biobank, genetic data, and research infrastructure of 23andMe as a public good — governed ethically and transparently on behalf of the individuals from whom the biodata originates and thereby accelerate participation, discovery and ultimately cures.

Nicole Boice, Founder of Global Genes, said, “At Global Genes, we’ve long championed the power of patient data to accelerate discoveries—especially for rare diseases. The transition of 23andMe’s assets into a Trust is a pivotal step toward.”

The 23andMe dataset is one of the largest genetic databases in the world — larger than the UK Biobank and All of Us — and represents a generational opportunity to establish a new global precedent in how sensitive health data is governed, used, and protected.

“The patient community has a significant stake in the evolving framework for the collection, analysis, and use of biodata in advancing personal health, population health, and research,” said Randall Rutta, CEO of the National Health Council. “Individuals, especially patients, look to organizations like Global BioData Trust to honor their rights, privacy, and consent in relation to their personal information and genetic data. Creating that trust fosters a virtuous cycle: greater participation leads to richer, more diverse datasets, which in turn drive better diagnostics, treatments, and cures — not just for patients, but for society as a whole.”

The Trust model is designed to serve both “me” and “we” — honoring personal agency while enabling breakthroughs in public health, disease prevention, and therapeutic innovation. When data is held in trust, governed transparently, and directed toward the common good, we can finally align individual dignity with collective discovery.

This initiative is backed by a growing alliance of civic, philanthropic, and academic partners, including:

• The Conrad Prebys Foundation
• The John and Elizabeth Leonard Family Foundation
• National Health Council
• Global Genes
• University of California San Diego (UCSD) Research Center for Optimal Digital Ethics – Health
  (ReCODE.Health)
• University of California Santa Cruz Center for Applied Values and Ethics in Advancing Technologies
• University of California San Diego (UCSD), Supercomputer Center
• Consuli

Additional philanthropic and impact funders are joining this effort, united by a shared commitment to the ethical stewardship of health data and infrastructure. Learn more at www.GlobalBioDataTrust.org

The Trust’s mission is rooted in the principles of the emerging BioData Ownership and Dignity Act, which affirms personal biodata as the property of the individual as follows:

1. Your body, your data, your property. Biological materials and health data originate from individuals and must be under their ownership and control.
2. Consent must be explicit, revocable, and freely given. No one should be coerced into relinquishing their biodata in exchange for access to services.
3. Preserve data for ethical innovation. As biodata becomes central to AI, biotech, and precision health, it must be protected for research integrity, patient direction, and long-term public benefit.

The Global BioData Trust represents a long-overdue shift in the handling of personal data toward dignity, transparency, and individual rights.

23andMe customers and the public can learn more, add their voice, or get involved at GlobalBioDataTrust.org.

The sale is being overseen by a Special Committee of 23andMe’s Board of Directors and supervised by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Final bids are being evaluated now and the auction is due to take place this Wednesday, May 14, 2025, subject to court approval presently scheduled for June 17, 2025.

About the Global BioData Trust

The Global BioData Trust is a nonprofit trust created to secure and ethically govern personal biological data. It brings together interdisciplinary leaders in health, law, data, ethics, and patient rights with a mission to protect and preserve the dignity, privacy, and ownership rights of individuals in their biometric and health data.

The Trust plans to steward 23andMe — one of the world’s largest known genetic data assets — exceeding the scale of public biobanks (bio material and bio data) like the UK Biobank and National Institute of Health (NIH) All of Us — and is committed to ensuring that this unprecedented dataset remains protected, governed transparently, and used to advance science in ways that honor individual rights and public trust.

Press Contact:
Lauren Gaydos
PublicRelations@GlobalBioDataTrust.org
+1 (630) 743-1177