Sept 5 (Reuters) - The genetics testing company 23andMe

asked a federal bankruptcy judge to approve a $50 million

settlement to resolve claims from a 2023 data breach that

exposed genetic and other personal information of about 6.4

million U.S. customers.

A preliminary settlement was filed late Thursday night in

St. Louis bankruptcy court, where 23andMe filed for Chapter 11

protection from creditors in March.

Lawyers for the company said the settlement would set up a

$30 million to $50 million fund and resolve a "substantial

majority" of U.S. claims from the data breach, which began in

April 2023 and lasted about five months.

More than 250,000 claimants, mostly in the United States,

submitted proofs of claim, the lawyers said. The settlement also

lets class members enroll for five years in a program known as

Privacy & Medical Shield + Genetic Monitoring.

A $30 million settlement had been reached last September, before

the bankruptcy, and won conditional approval from a San

Francisco federal judge in December.

According to court papers, the revised settlement "closely

tracks" that accord, but adds $20 million after a nonprofit

controlled by founder Anne Wojcicki bought 23andMe's assets for

$305 million in July, resulting in more assets.

Proceeds from the sale "remain the only source of monetary

recovery" for data breach victims, a factor weighing "heavily"

in favor of settlement approval, 23andMe's lawyers said.

The settlement also resolved accusations that 23andMe did

not tell customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry

that the hacker appeared to have targeted them, and posted their

information for sale on the dark web.

The case is In re 23andMe Holding Co, U.S. Bankruptcy Court,

Eastern District of Missouri, No. 25-bk-40976.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)