Anne Wojcicki on COVID-19 research
From 23andMe Says People With Type O Blood Less Likely Get Covid-19 · · Bloomberg Technology
“We found that the O blood type actually looks like it's protective. It's not a huge increase in protective 'ti but it's 9 to 18 percent less likely to to be infected and be severe.”
On , Anne Wojcicki, Former Co-founder & CEO at 23andMe, spoke about COVID-19 research during 23andMe Says People With Type O Blood Less Likely Get Covid-19 on Bloomberg Technology.
About Anne Wojcicki
Anne Wojcicki, former co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, discussed the company's bankruptcy and its relaunch as a nonprofit in a March 2026 interview on Bloomberg's The Circuit. Wojcicki said she was "devastated" when drugmaker Regeneron initially won the auction for most of 23andMe's assets, but she persuaded the bankruptcy court to reopen the case, arguing that the data should remain with 23andMe rather than be sold to a large pharmaceutical company. Her offer of $305 million was accepted on the second round. Wojcicki stated that the company's prior corporate structure was "too complex" and that it was difficult to change from within, adding that the nonprofit structure allows the organization to focus on mission-driven metrics such as participation and lives saved rather than a bottom line. Wojcicki also addressed a 2023 incident involving user data, saying she has "never called it a data breach because it wasn't actually a breach of our systems." She explained that usernames and passwords from other companies' breaches were released on the dark web, and about 13,000 to 14,000 of those credentials matched 23andMe accounts, leading to notifications to those individuals and their genetic relatives. The company now holds DNA data from approximately 13 million users, and Wojcicki stated a goal of reaching 100 million users.