Theranos CEO Focuses On Future, Reveals Plans For Blood-Testing ‘MiniLab’
Elizabeth Holmes spoke about the scandal-plagued company's technology on Monday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.
The Wall Street Journal:
Theranos Makes Case To Laboratory Experts
Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes announced a new blood-testing device at an academic conference here Monday but didn’t address problems found with the company’s earlier machines. At the annual meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, a group of laboratory scientists, Ms. Holmes described a device, called miniLab, resembling a computer printer. Theranos says it can run tests accurately on as little as 160 microliters of blood, or a few drops, pricked from a finger. (Carreyrou, 8/1)
Reuters:
Theranos CEO Faces Critics, Presents New Product Plans
The chief executive of embattled Theranos Inc on Monday presented plans for a new product and said the blood testing company was working diligently to rectify all of its outstanding issues involving its product and laboratory operations. CEO Elizabeth Holmes described new technologies that she said were "distinct from the operations of our clinical laboratories" that have come under scrutiny - part of a presentation before some 2,650 scientists at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry meeting in Philadelphia. (Barlyn and Berkrot, 8/1)
The New York Times:
Theranos, Embattled Laboratory, Shifts To Medical Machines
Ms. Holmes said that Theranos, the company she started, was developing a new version of its technology that she called the mini-laboratory, or miniLab. She said the technology would be able to perform multiple types of medical tests in a box that could be placed on a table in a doctor’s office. She said the company was seeking approval of a test to detect infection by the Zika virus. The presentation suggested that Theranos was shifting its business model toward selling medical testing machines, rather than strictly being a laboratory that performs tests by itself. (Pollack, 8/1)
Stat:
Theranos Tries To Quell Doubts With New Blood Test Platform, But Shows Scant Data
Holmes declined to provide any data about the company’s controversial Edison platform for running diagnostic tests based on a single finger prick of blood. The company voided results for thousands of those tests earlier this year, after their accuracy came under fire. Instead, Holmes unveiled a new device called the miniLab, which has been in development for the past five years. It’s meant to condense blood testing technology that would normally require several large machines into a single desktop device. (Keshavan, 8/1)
KQED:
Theranos’ Holmes Avoids Talk Of The Past, Unveils New Device At Conference
Speaking in front of hundreds of laboratory scientists for 45 minutes, Holmes introduced a new device that can fit on a desktop. The machine, called a miniLab, integrates several blood-testing methodologies and, using robots and its proprietary “nanotainer” collection tube, will be able to process small volumes of blood remotely and send data back to a centralized location. Holmes presented internal company data that showed the system worked for a range of tests, including a new assay for Zika. She said the technology known as “Edison,” the subject of so much controversy over the past year, is obsolete. (Brooks, 8/1)
Bloomberg:
Expecting Data From Theranos, Lab Experts Get New Product
Founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is facing a two-year ban by U.S. regulators from running a clinical testing company, used the session at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s annual scientific meeting to introduce the “miniLab” testing device, a 95-pound diagnostic tool that can fit on a tabletop...
Along with the new device came a scaled back vision for the company that not long ago, promised to upend the world of clinical lab testing by running hundreds of tests using a single drop of blood. (Langreth and Chen, 8/1)
