38 Facts About Theranos

Theranos was an American privately held corporation that was touted as a breakthrough health technology company.

Theranos claimed that it had devised blood tests that required very small amounts of blood and that could be performed rapidly and accurately, all using compact automated devices which the company had developed.

Theranos faced a string of legal and commercial challenges from medical authorities, investors, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, state attorneys general, former business partners, patients and others.

Theranos started developing lab-on-a-chip technology for blood tests, with the idea to start a company that would make blood tests cheaper, more convenient and accessible to consumers.

Holmes dropped out of Stanford in 2003 and used the education trust from her parents to found the company that would later be called Theranos, derived from a combination of the words "therapy" and "diagnosis".

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In 2013, Theranos partnered with Walgreens to offer in-store blood tests at more than 40 locations.

In June 2017, Theranos reported to investors that the suit, which originally sought $140 million in damages, was settled for less than $30 million.

In July 2015, Theranos became the lab-work provider for Pennsylvania insurers AmeriHealth Caritas and Capital BlueCross.

Theranos was named the 2015 Bioscience Company of the Year by the Arizona BioIndustry Association.

In October 2015, John Carreyrou of The Wall Street Journal reported that Theranos was using traditional blood testing machines instead of the company's Edison devices to run its tests, and that the company's Edison machines might provide inaccurate results.

Tyler Shultz, a Theranos employee from 2013 to 2014 and the grandson of then-Theranos director, former US Secretary of State George P Shultz, was a key source for the WSJ story.

Theranos fought back against the Journal's investigation, sending lawyers after sources in the story, including Shultz, in an effort to stop them from providing information to the press.

Former employees of reputation management firm Status Labs said that Theranos had hired the firm to discreetly erase mentions of the WSJs reporting from its Wikipedia article, despite the activity being a violation of the website's terms of use.

Theranos asserted that the nanotainer was a Class I medical device and therefore not subject to any regulatory requirements.

In January 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a letter to Theranos based on an inspection of its Newark, California lab in 2015, reporting that the facility caused "immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety" due to a test to determine the correct dose of the blood-thinning drug warfarin.

Theranos agreed to stop tests at Capital BlueCross's Enola, Pennsylvania retail store.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce requested information on what Theranos was doing to correct its testing inaccuracies and adherence to federal guidelines in June 2016.

In May 2016, Theranos announced that it had voided two years of results from its Edison device.

In July 2016, Theranos announced that the CMS had revoked its Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments certificate and issued sanctions prohibiting its owners and operators from owning or operating a clinical laboratory for two years, suspension of approval to receive Medicare and Medicaid payments, and a civil monetary penalty.

Theranos discontinued testing at its Newark location while attempting to resolve the issues.

Theranos announced plans to appeal the decision by regulators to revoke its license to operate a lab in California and other sanctions.

Theranos officials said the funds had mischaracterized the exchange offer, which was discussed before the suit was filed.

The suit alleged that Theranos had misled company directors about its practices concerning laboratory testing and that it had secretly bought lab equipment to run fake demonstrations.

On May 1,2017, Theranos announced that it had reached an undisclosed settlement with Partner Fund Management LP.

Theranos had reportedly been on the verge of bankruptcy, with the loan meant to keep the company solvent into 2018.

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Theranos was still being issued patents into 2019 due to the lengthy patent application process.

On September 4,2018, Theranos announced in an email to investors that it would cease operations and release its assets and remaining cash to creditors after all efforts to find a buyer were fruitless.

Theranos claimed to have developed devices to automate and miniaturize blood tests using microscopic blood volumes.

Theranos dubbed its blood collection vessel the "nanotainer" and its analysis machine the "Edison".

Theranos claimed to have data verifying the accuracy and reliability of its tests that would be published.

In February 2016, Theranos announced that it would permit the Cleveland Clinic to complete a validation study of its technology.

Theranos recruited Channing Robertson, a chemical-engineering professor at Stanford, to be a technical advisor and the company's first board member during its early years.

In 2004, Theranos was based in a rented basement near the Stanford campus.

Theranos had about $45 million total fundraising after Series B and Series C funding in 2006.

Theranos raised an additional $45 million in 2010 at a valuation of $1 billion.

Theranos moved to the former headquarters of Facebook in June 2012.

Theranos had significant news coverage starting in September 2013 after profiles in the San Francisco Business Times and The Wall Street Journal.

John Carreyrou, a Wall Street Journal journalist whose work exposed Theranos, published a book-length treatment in May 2018 titled Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.