HealthSpot Station’s assets to Rite Aid, minus the ‘froth’. On Monday, drug store chain Rite Aid won the US Bankruptcy Court in Columbus, Ohio’s mandated auction for the inventory, most assets and IP for its entry bid of $1.15 million. According to Columbus Business First (subscription only), a touted second bid by a central Ohio investor group was $1 million–and stayed right there with no second bid. This group had invested $650,000 before HealthSpot entered Chapter 7. A dark horse third bidder, which came in at the last minute, never put money on the line.
The Ohio business group leader, local assisted living facility owner Paul Gross, interestingly maintained his faith in the kiosk concept to Columbus Business First in an earlier interview, rapping the prior management for squandering approximately $47 million (more, given Xerox‘s never-disclosed investment) on office furniture, lavish executive salaries and misbegotten marketing (quoted in MedCityNews). 25 of the kiosks were in Rite Aid locations in Ohio and others with Cleveland Clinic, but there are 137 still ‘in the box’. Perhaps ‘misbegotten’ should be applied to the concept (kiosks too big, expensive) and not the marketing communications, which in this Editor’s professional judgment were strong and appealing, but ran into the ‘lipstick on a pig’ wall.
One wonders what Rite Aid, in the throes of its own difficult merger with Walgreen Boots Alliance, will do with the assets. TTA’s earlier stories on HealthSpot.
Theranos the Movie, starring Jennifer Lawrence. Co-starring Walgreens? ‘Hunger Games’ star Jennifer Lawrence has reportedly agreed to star in ‘The Big Short’ director Adam McKay’s adaptation of the story. (Fortune) Certainly there is a resemblance to CEO Elizabeth Holmes Frogeyed Sprite (‘Bugeyed’ to us Yanks–Ed.) crossed with Steve Jobs. Ms Lawrence has already played a young, aggressive, come-from-nada inventor of household gadgets in ‘Joy’. The Theranos story is appearing to be the ‘Joy’ story in reverse. Suggested title: ‘The Royal Scam’? (credit Steely Dan, circa 1974). ‘Less Than Zero’ (Bret Easton Ellis) is taken, now describing Ms Holmes’ net worth according to Forbes.
Mr McKay will be ripping from the headlines in progress, should the movie actually be made. Monday’s non-surprising development was that Walgreens formally ended its three-year-old marketing agreement. Theranos was retailed at Walgreens in 40 Arizona locations; these locations will be shut down effective immediately and customers transitioned, according to their release, losing Theranos its only DTC outlet. According to the Wall Street Journal, “In recent days, some Walgreens officials became more convinced that Theranos would face painful CMS sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter” to be decided in approximately two weeks according to another WSJ source. One awaits a new retail partnership or perhaps their own stores. (Search on ‘Walgreen Terminates Partnership With Blood-Testing Firm Theranos’ if paywalled) Also Forbes on why this makes any Theranos recovery even less likely. Will the Big Bad Drugstore Execs be the ‘black hats’ of Mr McKay’s story? Stay tuned…. TTA’s earlier Theranos stories.
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