...our CEO, Billy Evans, is Elizabeth Holmes’ partner. Skepticism is rational. We must clear a higher bar. When @nytimes contacted us, we invited them: see our lab, tech, and team. They declined. The headline was already written. Our reality inconvenient. 2/This is not Theranos 2.0. Theranos attempted to miniaturize existing tests. Our approach is fundamentally different. We use light to read the complete molecular story in biological fluids, seeing patterns current tests can’t detect. Not an improvement. A different paradigm. 3/ Setting the record straight. Elizabeth Holmes has zero involvement in Haemanthus. We’ve learned from her company’s mistakes, but she... Continue Reading
Search Results for theranos
The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business
...that SoftBank invested in Theranos and WeWork. Another tell–the NY Times and The Information estimated that Open AI lost $5 billion in 2024, it loses money on every copy of ChatGPT, and its revenue projections are near-absurd at $11.6 billion in 2025 and $100 billion by 2029. It totally ignores that every major player has an AI program, from Microsoft to Google. If you’re a fan of ChatGPT or need your eyes cleared around this type of AI, grab your cuppa and a bottle of your favorite pain reliever for Ed Zitron’s article, OpenAI Is A Bad Business. (Ed is... Continue Reading
Weekend reading: 23andMe updates, a view at variance from the former co-founder, and a deeper historical analysis
...TTA summary of the bankruptcy 24-26 March This Editor likened the 23andMe implosion to that of Theranos–a watershed event that forces a rethinking of how we treat the privacy of customer medical data not covered by HIPAA, such as genetic data, as we approach (or try to approach) the mountain called ‘personalized medicine’. 23andMe’s co-founder, Linda Avey, essayed in LinkedIn yesterday that 23andMe was a missed opportunity to create a grand genomic dataset that would combine blood work, deeper gene sequencing, and wearable date culminating into actionable insights. The data is now fragmented among many holders. In her conclusion, she... Continue Reading
Breaking: 23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy–whither customer data and security? An impact similar to Theranos?
...our article here with previous articles linked within it) but blamed by their management on members reusing passwords, was symptomatic of a certain arrogance and attitude. By 2023, the company was already in trouble. Why would anyone believe that they’d be any less cavalier about personal genetic information? Will this be another ‘watershed’ event like Theranos? The level of mainstream consumer media coverage the 23andMe bankruptcy has received reminds this Editor of the demise of Theranos. But here, there is no glamorous young founder in a black turtleneck jetting about and working in a Silicon Valley high-tech lab perpetrating a... Continue Reading
News roundup: MSK is ‘it’ with Hinge Health’s IPO filing, Vori Health’s $53M raise, Dario Health’s 33% revenue increase; CoachCare buys VitalTech, ModMed investor sells majority stake, Health NZ uses Excel–only; Holmes gets rehearing extension
...a single Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. HNZ spends NZ $28 billion and replaced 20 district health boards to consolidate their efforts, increase efficiencies, and reduce costs. According to their health minister, HNZ operates an estimated 6,000 applications and 100 digital networks. The Deloitte survey found at least five major issues, from hard-coded financial data making updating and sourcing difficult to do and trace, to simple human errors. Is that all? So if you need a chuckle… TechRadar And even more head-shaking is Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes challenging the courts, yet again. A report through Reddit, posted by legal maven mattschwink, tells us... Continue Reading
The $10 billion Walgreens take-private deal with Sycamore: what you need to know
...CityMD. This Editor estimated, based on public information, that Walgreens sank north of $10 billion into VillageMD since their initial investment of $1 billion in 2020 [TTA 22 Feb 2024]. WBA wrote down in their Q2 2024 $5.8 billion of the investment. Retail context: They not only bought Duane Reade in 2010, but also they bought 1,932 Rite Aid stores in March 2018 for $4.38 billion. It got caught in the Theranos fraud, investing $140 million but able to claw back about $44 million before the collapse. Pulling a fast one on PWN/Everly Health on their Covid testing contract that... Continue Reading
Theranos’ denouement: Holmes and Balwani lose their appeals
It’s been two years since Theranos was in the news. In April 2023, both Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani started serving their lengthy sentences for multiple charges of fraud (11 years, 3 months and 12 years, 9 months respectively, generally reduced to 85% of sentence). Last week, the three judges of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled to uphold both trials on investor fraud and the award of $452 million in restitution. The original verdicts were made in separate trials in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by... Continue Reading
Breaking: Federal agents seize Steward Health’s CEO, international head’s mobile phones in widening US fraud investigations
...its tight-knit and inexpert board, drawing parallels with Theranos. Board members also enjoyed de la Torre’s considerable largesse, unlike Theranos. Investigations by the Boston Globe’s reporters also reported that additional Steward funds were diverted to de la Torre’s personal pursuits, such as a private jet for friends, a donation to his children’s school, and a Madrid apartment. The last is interesting to this Editor as Spanish courts do not extradite easily for crimes not committed or charged in Spain, requiring review and approval of all requests by the National Court. de la Torre also has reported residences in Costa Rica... Continue Reading
Short takes: fundings for Huma, Truvian, Headway, ThymeCare, Freshpaint; Headspace’s new CEO; UK M&A RLDatix-Carebeans; Elevance earnings news, another Steward shocker; Meta’s Reality Labs AR unit sinking–is Meta?
...last year on an onsite evaluation versus standard lab testing. Echoes of Theranos, except that it may work? Release, Mobihealthnews Behavioral health platforms are still getting financing, with Headway benefiting from a $100 million unlettered venture round. Spark Capital led the round with previous investors participating including Thrive Capital, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz and Global Founders Capital for a total funding of $325 million and a $2.3 billion valuation. Their last round was a $125 million Series C in October 2023 which was pretty impressive in the middle of a funding drought. Reports are a little scarce including no mention on... Continue Reading
Theranos’ Holmes and Balwani appeal fraud convictions, $450M investor restitution
...serving her time to mid-August 2032 in Bryan, Texas. Representing her for the defense was Amy Saharia of Williams & Connolly LLP, considered to be one of the US’ top appellant litigators. Favorable to the prosecution was Theranos’ chief scientist Kingshuk Das, MD’s testimony. Dr. Das was the final Theranos lab director who worked there March 2016 to June 2018–and voided two years of Edison Lab tests. Saharia is claiming that the prosecution was improper in putting him on the stand since he was not qualified by the court as an ‘expert witness’ and was allowed to express his opinion,... Continue Reading
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