A scathing report says that blood-work trailblazer Theranos's comprehensive one-prick test scheme is too good to be true. Walgreens has halted plans to work with the startup in-store until it can grasp the truth.
After installing some of Theranos' FDA approved labs in its Phoenix stores, Walgreens stated that it is having discussions about how to move forward. "We're trying to figure out where we are and what we do going forward," a Walgreens representative told the Wall Street Journal. "We need to understand the truth."
What Is Theranos?
Fueled by at least $400 million in investments and propelled by a partnership with Walgreens and the Cleveland Clinic, the 12-year-old Theranos rose to prominence after making a promise that it could perform a comprehensive battery of tests with blood drawn from a single prick of the finger.
Through its proprietary lab-on-chip technology, the company claims it can analyse just a few droplets of blood and offer a much more efficient experience - one with a lot less pain than venipuncture, the old-fashioned blood-drawing technique in which a vein is punctured by a needle.
Along with its one-prick solution to provide samples for more than 200 different blood tests, Theranos' founder helped make the startup stand out among the countless other twinkling stars in Silicon Valley.
Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes is a Stanford dropout with a background in chemical engineering. At the age of 19, she founded Theranos. But in two stories published last week, the Wall Street Journal has called into question just about everything Holmes has built.
Boiling Blood: The Controversy
According to the Wall Street Journal, most of Theranos laboratory test have been conducted on mainstream equipment, not using the company's highly-touted techniques and systems. The reports also indicated that only 15 to 20 of its over 200 lab tests were done with the finger-prick technique alone.
On top of that, about 60 of the company's microfluidics tests were found to be mixed with larger samples in an attempt to cover up outside scrutiny while approximately 130 of the remaining tests were done the old-fashioned way.
Theranos struck back against the Journal, asserting that some of the tests performed at Wellness Centers employ venous draw, partially due to the company being in the process of "becoming a full-service laboratory."
"In December 2014, Theranos offered more than 80 of the tests on our online test menu via finger-stick," the company said. "Also, of the finger-stick tests that Theranos offered, all ran using proprietary technologies-technologies that are not commercially available-except a few routinely used point-of-care tests."
The company still offers lab work at rock bottom prices, but it has more explaining to do to retain the confidence of investors and partners. For now, Walgreens and other interested parties await more information.
"Plans to open more Theranos Wellness Centers are dependent upon both companies' ability to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement," stated a Walgreens official.
