¶ Theranos
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Theranos was an American biotechnology company based in Palo Alto, California.
¶ History
Theranos was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes. The company raised its first round of seed funding in June 2004 led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson (since renamed to Threshold).[1]
¶ Development
In July 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved one of the company's blood tests.[2] Then-Vice President Joe Biden visited the company's lab, which had been staged for a photo op.[3][4]
¶ Controversy
On October 16, 2015, Wall Street Journal writer John Carreyrou published an exposé titled “Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology”, raising questions about the effectiveness of Theranos' products.[5]
According to company whistleblower Erika Cheung, the machines were unable to provide accurate and consistent results, therefore data was often manipulated.[6]
¶ Organization
The company's board of directors included some very high profile names.[2:1]
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Holmes | Founder | - |
| Sunny Balwani | President and COO[1:1] | - |
| Riley Bechtel | Board member | - |
| William Foerge | Board member | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
| William Frist | Board member | United States Senate |
| Henry Kissinger | Board member | United States Department of State |
| Richard Kovacevich | Board member | Wells Fargo |
| James Mattis | Board member | United States Department of Defense |
| Sam Nunn | Board member | Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) |
| William Perry | Board member | United States Department of State |
| Gary Roughead | Board member | United States Navy |
| George Shultz | Board member | United States Department of State |
¶ Investors
Funding for Theranos came from investments from the following people and organizations:[1:2]
- Draper Fisher Jurvetson (now called Threshold)
- Larry Ellison
- Rupert Murdoch
- Tim Draper
- Walgreens
¶ Products
Theranos promised the ability for people to receive blood tests quickly from a small finger-prick worth of blood. The blood would enter a cartridge, those cartridges would be put in a machine that would send data over the internet to perform on-the-spot testing.
¶ External links
¶ Further reading
- May 21, 2018: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
Kunthara, S. (2021, September 14). A Closer Look At Theranos’ Big-Name Investors, Partners And Board As Elizabeth Holmes’ Criminal Trial Begins. Crunchbase News. https://web.archive.org/web/20230311190624/https://news.crunchbase.com/health-wellness-biotech/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-trial-investors-board/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Pflanzer, L. R. (2019, March 19). Controversial health startup Theranos has barely any medical experts on its board of directors. Business Insider. http://archive.today/2019.09.02-030512/https://www.businessinsider.com/theranos-former-board-members-henry-kissinger-george-shultz-james-mattis-2019-3 ↩︎ ↩︎
Theranos [@Theranos]. (2015, July 23). “The @VP’s visit highlights our commitment to manufacturing in the U.S. and pioneering a new era of preventive health.” [Tweet]. Twitter. http://archive.today/2023.03.11-184319/https://twitter.com/theranos/status/624383223884197888 ↩︎
Harnes, A. (2022, July 30). The Wild Way Elizabeth Holmes And Theranos Tricked Joe Biden. MSN. http://archive.today/2023.03.11-184606/https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/the-wild-way-elizabeth-holmes-and-theranos-tricked-joe-biden/ar-AA108JxP ↩︎
Carreyrou, J. (2015, October 15). Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology. Wall Street Journal. http://archive.today/2023.02.10-044718/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901 ↩︎
Khorram, Y. (2021, September 15). Theranos whistleblower testifies blood-test machines were about as accurate as a coin toss. CNBC. https://web.archive.org/web/20230308214335/https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/former-theranos-employee-erika-cheung-edison-machines-failed-tests.html ↩︎