ORIGINAL LINK
The death of Theranos has been long coming ever since the WSJ' John Carreyrou did a phenomenal job, starting about one year ago, of exposing the fraud that is Clinton Global Initiative-darling Elizabeth Holmes, but as of this evening it is largely official. In an "open letter" just posted on the company's website, Holmes said Theranos would shut down its blood-testing clinical labs and fire 340 of approximately 790 full time employees, roughly 40% of its entire workforce.
As the WSJ, whose story this has been from day one writes, "the moves mark a dramatic retreat by the Palo Alto company and founder Elizabeth Holmes from their core strategy of offering a long menu of low-price blood tests directly to consumers. Those ambitions already were endangered by crippling regulatory sanctions that followed revelations by The Wall Street Journal of shortcomings in Theranos’s technology and operations."
Still, while Theranos' official closure, and still long-overdue criminal raid, should have taken place long ago (we wonder if Holmes' proximity to the Clinton Foundation may be a mitigating factor) in a testament to just how much dumb money there really is, the company will still continue to operate, even if under a severely scaled down, "post-pivot" business model. As Holmes writes, "we will return our undivided attention to our miniLab platform. Our ultimate goal is to commercialize miniaturized, automated laboratories capable of small-volume sample testing, with an emphasis on vulnerable patient populations, including oncology, pediatrics, and intensive care."
Holmes announced in August a new blood-testing device called miniLab, which is about the size of a printer but hasn’t been approved by regulators. The shutdowns and layoffs could help the closely held company minimize its cash burn in its attempt to accelerate the development of products that could be sold to outside laboratories, although it is unclear who would want to buy them.
Her full - and perhaps final - letter is below:
For our stakeholders,
After many months spent assessing our strengths and addressing our weaknesses, we have moved to structure our company around the model best aligned with our core values and mission.
We have decided to close our clinical labs and Theranos Wellness Centers, which will impact approximately 340 employees in Arizona, California, and Pennsylvania. We are profoundly grateful to these team members, many of whom have devoted years to Theranos and our mission, for their commitment to our company and our guests.
We will return our undivided attention to our miniLab platform. Our ultimate goal is to commercialize miniaturized, automated laboratories capable of small-volume sample testing, with an emphasis on vulnerable patient populations, including oncology, pediatrics, and intensive care.
We have a new executive team leading our work toward obtaining FDA clearances, building commercial partnerships, and pursuing publications in scientific journals.
We are fortunate to have supporters and investors who believe deeply in our mission of affordable, less invasive lab testing, and to have the runway to realize our vision.
I look forward to sharing more with you as we progress along the way.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Holmes
According to the WSJ, a retreat from the strategy that won the company a valuation of $9 billion in 2014 could make it less complicated for Ms. Holmes, to keep running Theranos as chief executive if the a ban sought by regulators to prevent her from owning any lab for two years is imposed. She also controls a majority voting stake in the company and can’t be easily removed from her position, according to people familiar with the matter.
As for the new product, we doubt it will get a billion, or even a million dollar valuation: "The miniLab was unveiled at a conference of lab scientists, and Ms. Holmes said it could run accurate tests from a few drops of blood. Theranos sought emergency clearance of Zika-virus blood test but then withdrew its request after federal regulators found that the company didn’t include proper patient safeguards in a study of the new test."
Oops.
But while Holmes downfall, while fascinating, was predictable the far bigger question is how she managed to get to the top in the first place. The answer: a relent barrage of sycophants, paving her way from day one, instead of asking probing questions for some reason we hope to uncover one day. Here is a sample of everyone in the press who probably should be fired, courtesy of Bruce Quinn.
August 30, 2013
"Theranos: The Biggest Biotech You've Never Heard of."
San Francisco Business Times. By Ron Leuty. Here.
September 8, 2013
"Elizabeth Holmes: The Breakthrough of Instant Diagnosis."
The pivotal Wall Street Journal article, by Joseph Rago.
HereA Stanford dropout is bidding to make tests more accurate, less painful - and at a fraction of the current price.
September 9, 2013
"Secretive Theranos emerging partly from shadows."
SF BizJournal, SF/Biotech, by Ron Leuty, subtitled, "The biggest biotech you've never heard of."
Here.
October 9, 2013
"Just a Drop Will Do."
Pediatric News. By William Wilkoff. Here.
November 6, 2013
"What Heath Care Needs is a Real Time Snapshot of You."
WIRED, By Daniela Hernandez.
Here.
November 13, 2013.
"One Small Ow-eee."
PediaBlog. By Ned Ketyer MD. Here.
November 18, 2013
"Creative disruption? She's 29 and Set to Reboot Lab Medicine."
MedPageToday. By Eric Topol.
Here.
February 18, 2014
"This Woman Invented a Way to Run 30 Lab Tests on Only One Drop of Blood."
WIRED again, by Caitlin Roper.
Here. WIRED revisits Holmes, with an interview.
February 28, 2014
"Stanford Dropout Revolutionizes Blood Tests"
Take Part, by Liana Aghajanian.
Here.
June, 2014
Hematology Reports (Open Access Journal). Full article PDF: Here.
Chan SM, Chadwick J, Young DL, Holmes E, & Gotlib J (2014). Intensive serial biomarker profiling for the prediction of neutropenic fever with hematologic malignancies undergoing therapy: a pilot study. Hematology Reports 6(2).
June 12, 2014
"This CEO is Out for Blood."
Fortune, by Roger Parloff.
Here. Featured as cover story (
picture).
June 17, 2014
"Elizabeth Holmes, Who Wants To Shake Up The Blood Testing Industry, Is A Billionaire At 30."
Forbes [blog], by - Zina Moukheiber.
Here.
July 2, 2014
"Bloody Amazing."
Forbes [blog 7/2, and Issue, 7/21], by Mathew Herper.
Here.
June 3, 2014
US Patent: "Systems and Methods of Sample Processing and Fluid Control in a Fluidic System."
PDF, Patent 8,742,230 B2, 80 pp..
Here.
"This invention is in the field of medical devices...portable medical devices that allow real-tie detection of analytes from a biological fluid...for providing point-of-care testing for a variety of medical applications."
June 20, 2014
"Theranos: Small Sample, Big Opportunity."
Decibio [Consultancy blog]. By Eric Lakin.
Here.
July 8, 2014
"Nanotainer Revolutionizes Blood Testing." VIDEO
July 15, 2014
"Meet Elizabeth Holmes, Silicon Valley's Latest Phenomenon"
San Jose Mercury News, by Michelle Quinn.
Here.
July 15, 2014
"Theranos bringing 500 new jobs to Scottsdale's SkySong."
Phoenix Business Journal. By Angela Gonzales.
Here. [SkySong is an ASU-affiliated tech park].
July 21, 2014
"Meet Elizabeth Holmes, the Youngest Female Self-made Billionaire Changing the World with Medical Technology."
Women's ILAB, by Katherine Melescuic.
Here.
August 11, 2014
"Ignoring Lab Industry, Theranos Goes Its Way."
"My Visit to Walgreens for Theranos Lab Tests." DARK REPORT (Paper by subscription only). Table of contents
here.
September 8, 2014
TechCrunch / Youtube Interview with John Sheiber. VIDEO.
Here.,For further details, see
here.
September 8, 2014
"Elizabeth Holmes takes Theranos' blood test to tech movers, shakers."
Biotech SF / Bizjournals - by Ron Leuty. Discussion of TechCrunch presentation.
Here.
September 29, 2014
"This Woman's Revolutionary Idea Made Her A Billionaire — And Could Change Medicine."
Business Insider. By Kevin Loria.
Here. See also June 4, 2015.
September 30, 2014
"Queen Elizabeth: Mystique of Theranos founder grows with Forbes' richest ranking."
Biotech SF / Bizjournals - by Ron Leuty.
Here.
October, 2014
"Health Plans Deploy New Systems to Control Use of Lab Tests."
Managed Care. By Joseph Burns.
Here.
Does not directly cite Theranos. Cites contrasting viewpoints on the value of direct easy inexpensive test access:
October 1, 2014
"How One Entrepreneur is Transforming Blood Testing."
Slate - by Kevin Loria.
Here. [Reprint from Business Insider, 9/29, above.]
October 16, 2014
"She's America's Youngest Female Billionaire - And a Dropout."
by Rachel Crane. CNN/Money. Here. [Text & Video.]
October 27, 2014
"Theranos Due Diligence: Company Profile, SWOT Analysis, Market Opportunity."
Decibio. Consulting group profile of Theranos and its valuation and market position (73 pages; $850). Here. Table of Contents, here. Additional description here.
November 7, 2014
TEDMED - Youtube - Elizabeth Holmes at TEDMED. VIDEO.
Here.,For further details, see
here.
November 7, 2014
"Major Upside for Walgreens Stock"
InvestorPlace. By John Divine. Here.
"The single biggest catalyst for WAG stock in the future may be the company’s decision to partner with the privately held health-tech firm Theranos."
December 8, 2014
Fortune/Youtube - Theranos Billionaire Founder Talks Growth. VIDEO.
Video interview with Pattie Sellers. Here.
For further details, see here.
December 8, 2014
"Here's How the World's Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire Shows People She's In Charge."
Business Insider. By Richard Feloni. Here.
December 8, 2014
"The New Yorker on the Promise, the Secrecy, and the Challenges of Super-Startup Theranos."
MedCityNews. by Meghana Keshavan. Here.
December 12, 2014
"Behind the Curtain at Theranos."
NBC News. (Video). Interview with Ken Auletta. Here.
For more detail, see here.
December 14, 2014
"Blood Test Innovation: Less Cost, No Big Needle"
Information Week/Healthcare. By Larry Stofko. Here.
January 28, 2015
"Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos: Transforming Healthcare by Embracing Failure."
Youtube. Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Here.
February, 2015
"Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Health Care, 2015: #7, Theranos"
Fast Company (staff),
here.
February, 2015
"Vetting Theranos"
Laboratory Economics [trade journal, subscription]. By JonDavid Kipp.
Here.
February 2, 2015.
"CEO Q&A: Craig Hall."
Real Estate Daily. By Christina Perez. Hall was early investor in Theranos.
Here.
February 3, 2015
"Breakthrough Branding: Theranos, with Walgreens, Revolutionizes Healthcare."
Brand Channel. By Sheila Shayon.
Here.
February 3, 2015
"Will Theranos Turn the Lab Industry Upside Down?"
February 6, 2015
"Ten Things to Know about America's Youngest Female Billionaire."
Business Insider. By Koa Beck.
Here.
February 5, 2015
"Disruptive Technology Main Focus at Clinton Health Conference."
California Healthline. By Lauren McSherry.
Here.
President Clinton, Fourth Annual Health Matters Activation Summit. "Access to health information is a basic human right," said Elizabeth Holmes, a young Silicon Valley entrepreneur who founded Theranos, a blood analytics and diagnostics company. [President] Clinton, who applauded her work to provide low-cost testing to the general public, said the company is valued at $9 billion. See also at Clinton Foundation.org,
here.
February 10, 2015
"Elizabeth Holmes - Theranos"
Upstart. By Teresa Novellino.
Here.
February 10, 2015
"Theranos CEO: Avoid Backup Plans."
INC (from Stanford Business School.) By Deborah Peterson.
Here.
"I think that the minute that you have a backup plan, you've admitted that you're not going to succeed."
February 17, 2015
"Stealth Research: Is Biomedical Innovation Happening Outside the Peer-reviewed Literature?"
JAMA. By John P.A. Ionnanidis.
Here.
"Theranos is just one example among many for which major efforts and major claims about biomedical progress seem to be happening outside the peer-reviewed scientific literature...stealth research creates total ambiguity about what evidence can be trusted in a mix of possibly brilliant ideas, aggressive corporate announcements, and mass media hype." See comment at Healthnewsreview.org
here (February 23, 2015).
February 27, 2015
"Tech company Theranos pushes consumer lab-testing bill."
Arizona Republic. By Ken Tucker.
Here.
For legislative text,
here. For a blog on the topic,
here. For cloud version of the legislative text,
here. Article in March 2015 Laboratory Economics [subscription,
here.]
February, 2015
"Theranos: Blood Tests that Need Just a Tiny Sample."
Walgreens website, "At the Corner of Happy and Healthy," accessed 2/17/2015.
Here.
March, 2015
"Secret Shoppers Disappointed by Theranos."
Laboratory Economics. By Jondavid Klipp.
Here (subscription).
Summarizes experiences of "secret shoppers" from Piper Jaffray, an Arizona lab, The Dark Report, and a California lab. Most reported 3-day results and many reported standard venipuncture.
March 2, 2015
"Meet the Most Impressive Woman on Forbes' Female Billionaire List."
Identities.Mic. March 2, 2015. By Julie Zeilinger.
Here.
March 5, 2015
"Millennials and Money: New Kids in the Forbes Billionaires Club."
National Center for Business Journalism. By Rian Bosse. Elizabeth Holmes noted.
Here.
March 6, 2015
"Theranos Files Comment In Support Of Food and Drug Administration Oversight Of Laboratory-Developed Tests."
Theranos Press Release.
Here.
The comment letter, dated 3/1/2015, 4 pages,
here.
March 7, 2015.
"Health care in America: Shock treatment. A wasteful and inefficient industry is in the throes of great disruption."
The Economist. Theranos mentioned.
Here. Also
here.
March 9, 2015
"Theranos and Cleveland Clinic Announce Strategic Alliance to Improve Patient Care through Innovation in Testing."
March 9, 2015
"Cleveland Clinic Taps Theranos, Bets on Cheaper Diagnostics."
Healthcare Finance News. Anthony Brio.
Here.
March 9, 2015.
Fox News Cleveland Clinic/Theranos Interview. VIDEO.
Fox News Online.
Here. Additional notes,
here.
March 9, 2015
"Cleveland Clinic Enters 'Long-Term Strategic Alliance' with Theranos, Inc."
Crain's Cleveland Business. By Timothy Magaw.
Here.
March 9, 2015
"Elizabeth Holmes: 2015 Horatio Alger Award Winner."
Horatio Alger Association. Webpage,
here. Press release,
here.
March 13, 2015
"Theranos Seeks FDA Approval for Early-detection Ebola Test: George Schultz."
Silicon Valley Business Journal. By Ben Soriano.
Here.
March 17, 2015
"Mark Cuban Talks Healthcare Investing: Soon Our Bodies Will Be Big Math Equations."
MedCity News. By Stephanie Baum.
Here.
“Sensors are the next opportunity,” Cuban said. He also voiced his enthusiasm for companies like 23andMe and Theranos.
March 23, 2015
"Boies Schiller Set to Open Palo Alto Outpost."
The Recorder. By Patience Haggin.
Here.
April 7, 2015
"Patients Can Soon Get Lab Tests Without Doctors' Orders."
Arizona Republic. By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez & Ken Alltucker.
Here.
April 8, 2015
"Theranos One Step Closer to Consumerizing Health."
Decibio [Blog]. By Eric Lakin.
Here. [Arizona consumer test law.]
April 9, 2015
"Arizona Health Law Could Boost Theranos' Biotech Prospects."
USA Today [America's Markets]. By Marco Della Cava.
Here.
April 16, 2015
"Elizabeth Holmes."
TIME [100 Most Influential People.] By Henry Kissinger.
Here.
April 17, 2015.
"How Elizabeth Holmes became inspired to transform blood testing." VIDEO
April 20, 2015
"The Doctor is Out: LabCorp to Let Consumers Order Own Tests."
Bloomberg. By Cynthia Koons.
Here., Also: In slightly different version, same author, Bloomberg Business Week, 4/27/15.
April 20, 2015
"What News at Theranos? Lab Firm Expands in AZ."
"In Arizona, New Consumer Direct Access Law is a First Win for California-Based Theranos."
"Theranos: Many Questions, but Very Few Answers."
Dark Report (subscription).
Here.
April 27, 2015
"World's Youngest Billionaire - Another Steve Jobs?"
CNBC. By Abigail Stevenson.
Here.
April 27, 2015
"Occam's Razor and the Secrecy of Theranos. A Bunch of Crock? No."
Medcitynews. By Meghana Keshavan.
Here.
April 28, 2015
"Guest List, State Dinner, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan."
Washington Post.
Here. (Including Ms. Holmes.)
May 5, 2015
"Theranos Sticks It to Critics, Plans Expansion of Lab Services."
San Francisco Business Times. By Ron Leuty.
Here.
"Can Theranos Disrupt the Clinical Lab Testing Market? An Objective Look at Advantages, Liabilities, and Challenges That Must Be Addressed."
[Pathology] Executive War College. By Dr. Robert Boorstein. [Deck] Here.
May 7, 2015
"Theranos Jump Starts Consumer Lab Testing."
Fortune. By Ron Parloff.
Here.
"My last routine blood tests, drawn at my physician’s office...cost me $433 out of pocket, even after application of my “gold”-level insurance....Had I not been insured, the lab’s price for those tests would have been $2,411, according to the explanation of benefits sent me. The same tests, according to Theranos’s price menu, would have cost me $75."
May 7, 2015
"New Laboratory Testing Firm Seeks to Shatter Old Diagnostic Testing Model."
May 7, 2015
"Silicon Valley Lab Testing Startup Hires Clinton Advisor."
Bloomberg. By Caroline Chen.
Here. (Similarly:
Here.)
May 11, 2015
"Our Editor Describes Visit to Theranos Test Center."
Dark Report. (Subscription).
Here.
Sidebar: "Comparing Patient Visit with Advertised Benefits."
May 11, 2015
"Airbnb Chesky, Theranos Holmes among presidential entrepreneurs."
USAToday. By Marco della Cava.
Here.
Winners met with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and President Obama.
May 11, 2015
"Elizabeth Holmes on Joining the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship Initiative."
Theranos/news/posts. By Elizabeth Holmes.
Here.
June 2, 2015.
Elizabeth Holmes: Charlie Rose. VIDEO.
Here. Comment, Kevin Loria, June 4, 2015.
June, 2015
"Collecting More Dollars From Patients: Why It’s Time For Clinical Labs and Pathology Groups to Move To The Retail Model."
Dark Report [Trade journal, white paper].
Here.
This white paper does not mention "Theranos" but covers the topic of retail access to laboratory tests.
June 19, 2015
"Personalized Technology Will Upend the Doctor-Patient Relationship."
Harvard Business Review. By Sundar Subramanian et al.
Here.
June 21, 2015
"The Benefits to Your Brain of a Work Uniform."
Providence Journal [Chicago Tribune]. By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz.
Here.
June 22, 2015.
"With Carlos Slim, Billionaire Elizabeth Holmes Brings Innovative Blood Testing Method To Mexico."
Forbes. By Dolia Estevez.
Here.
June 23, 2015
"Theranos' New Deal with Billionair Carlos Slim May Take It to Another Level."
Biz Journal SF. By Ron Leuty.
Here.
July 2, 2015
"Controversial Multibillion-Dollar Health Startup Theranos Just Got a Huge Seal of Approval from the US Government."
Business Insider. By Laren F Friedman.
Here.
July 2, 2015
"Disruptive Diagnostics Firm Theranos Gets Boost from FDA."
Fortune. By Roger Parloff.
Here.
July 3, 2015
"Theranos Blood Test: The Insanely Influential Stanford Professor Who Called the Comapny Out for its 'Stealth Research.' "
Washington Post. By Ariana Eunjung Cha.
Here.
July 24, 2015
"Biden Visits Theranos Lab as Part of Healthcare Innovation Summit"
USAToday. By Marco della Cava.
Here.
Theranos Press Release,
here. The Suffield Times,
here.
July 24, 2015
"Theranos Pushing Direct to Consumer Blood Testing."
Health IT Outcomes. By Christine Kern.
Here.
July 30, 2015
"Theranos’ Holmes Marks 50th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid with Vision for Next 50 Years."
Business Wire [press release].
Here.
August 11, 2015
"Nickles Takes On Theranos."
O'Dwyer PR Inside News,
here. (Nickles is a Washington policy group).
August 17, 2015
"A Good Month for Blood."
Laboratory Equipment. By Michelle Taylor.
Here.
August 19-20, 2015
"Leveraging Pharmacies for Rapid Diagnostics."
7th Annual Next Generation Diagnostics Summit (Two-Day Track on Pharmacies).
While not specific to Theranos, a two-day meeting on lab tests in the pharmacy space.
August 24, 2015
"Labcorp is Reaching Past Doctor's Office to the Patient."
Investors Business Daily. By Gillian Rich.
Here.
October 5, 2015
"Elizabeth Holmes on Using Business to Change the World."
Forbes. By Sarah Hedgecock.
Here.
October 6, 2015
"Self Made Billionaire on Re-inventing Blood Tests: It's Like Cocaine."
Vanity Fair. By Emily Jane Fox.
Here.
October 6, 2015
"How Theranos is Disrupting the Health Care Industry."
Bloomberg. [VIDEO 6:38 min.]
Here.
"A cholesterol test is $2.99, whereas it could cost hundreds in other locations...The response from the lab industry, they have so aggressively seeded false information about us into the press, into journalists, into physicians in the market we are in."
October 7, 2015
"Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes to Deliver Keynote Address at 2015 Medical Innovation Summit."
Craigs Cleveland Business.
Here.
October 12, 2015
"Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes Call on Women to Help Each Other."
Fortune. By Michael Lev-Ram.
Here.
October 12, 2015
"CME Group Announces Elizabeth Holmes as the 2015 Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award Receipient."
* * *
Finally, here is a brief history of the rise and fall of Theranos and Liz Holmes in the only appropriate format for this farce: a
cartoon.
via
IFTTT
