Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bruised Theranos Shutters Labs To Devote Attention To Research
The Washington Post: Theranos Will Close Labs And Walgreens Testing Sites, Laying Off Hundreds Of Employees
Elizabeth Holmes, the embattled founder and chief executive of Theranos, said late Wednesday that the company will close its clinical labs and Walgreens testing centers. The open letter, posted on the company’s website, was essentially an epitaph for the consumer business that was the focus of the once-celebrated Silicon Valley company that Holmes boasted would change the world with its simple and inexpensive pinprick blood test. In magazine interviews, TV appearances and keynote speeches she gave around the world, Holmes said the innovation would empower consumers by giving them the ability to bypass the gatekeepers — their doctors — to get important information about the health of their own bodies. (Cha, 10/5)
Stat: Theranos To Shut Labs, Lay Off Hundreds As Mission Shifts
The embattled blood-testing company Theranos on Wednesday night announced a major retrenchment, saying it will shut down its clinical labs and blood collection sites. About 340 employees in Arizona, California, and Pennsylvania will be laid off, the company indicated in an open letter signed by CEO Elizabeth Holmes and posted to the company’s website. That’s nearly half of the 790 workers the company said over the summer that it employed. (Robbins, 10/5)
Bloomberg: Theranos Closes Testing Labs And Centers, Fires 340 Workers
Blood-testing company Theranos Inc. will close its testing labs and fire about 340 workers, following months of run-ins with regulators and questions about whether its products work. Instead, the Palo Alto, California-based startup will focus on developing what it says is its next-generation testing device, miniLab, Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Holmes said in a statement posted on the startup’s website. (Chen, 10/5)
USA Today: Embattled Theranos Founder Announces Company Pivot
Embattled Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes announced Wednesday that the once high-flying biotech start-up would close its Wellness Centers and lay off 340 employees. Holmes wrote in a company blog post that Theranos would instead focus on a proprietary blood testing machine that would, in theory, requires mere drops of blood to perform tests that traditionally require vials of blood. (della Cava, 10/5)
The Wall Street Journal: Theranos Retreats From Blood Tests
The shutdowns and layoffs could help the closely held company accelerate its shift to developing products that could be sold to outside laboratories. Ms. 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. (Carreyrou and Weaver, 10/6)
