Difference between revisions of "Theranos"
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=== Partnerships/Investors === | === Partnerships/Investors === | ||
=== Timeline === | === Timeline === | ||
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'''2003: Holmes drops out of Stanford and founds Theranos''' | '''2003: Holmes drops out of Stanford and founds Theranos''' | ||
At the young age of 19, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford’s School of Engineering and started Theranos. Her goal was to create a test that could detect diseases and health problems with the same accuracy as traditional blood tests but with only a few drops from a finger prick (source 3). | At the young age of 19, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford’s School of Engineering and started Theranos. Her goal was to create a test that could detect diseases and health problems with the same accuracy as traditional blood tests but with only a few drops from a finger prick (source 3). | ||
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'''2004-2010: Theranos grows with early funding''' | '''2004-2010: Theranos grows with early funding''' | ||
By 2004, Theranos was valued at $30 million and Holmes had raised at least $6.9 million dollars (source 4). With this strong start, Thernaos continued to gain investors as well as mainstream attention. By 2007, Theranos’s value grew to $197 million and raised another $43.2 million. The startup continued to fundraise for three years and by 2010 the company was valued above $1 billion (source 3). | By 2004, Theranos was valued at $30 million and Holmes had raised at least $6.9 million dollars (source 4). With this strong start, Thernaos continued to gain investors as well as mainstream attention. By 2007, Theranos’s value grew to $197 million and raised another $43.2 million. The startup continued to fundraise for three years and by 2010 the company was valued above $1 billion (source 3). | ||
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'''September 2013: Theranos partners with Walgreens and goes public''' | '''September 2013: Theranos partners with Walgreens and goes public''' | ||
With the initial fundraising and research out of the public eye, Theranos partners with Walgreens and blood tests are offered to the public in Arizona and California (source 4). | With the initial fundraising and research out of the public eye, Theranos partners with Walgreens and blood tests are offered to the public in Arizona and California (source 4). | ||
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'''2014: Theranos values at over $9 billion while doubts surface''' | '''2014: Theranos values at over $9 billion while doubts surface''' | ||
Theranos’s valuation reaches $9 billion dollars, making Holmes worth $4.5 billion with 50% stake in the company and the youngest self-made billionaire (source 4). However, suspicions rose in the medical community about the legitimacy and reliability of the technology developed by Theranos with the lack of public research and peer-reviewed medical journals. A New Yorker profile about Holmes describes her explanations of the technology as “comically vague” (source 3). | Theranos’s valuation reaches $9 billion dollars, making Holmes worth $4.5 billion with 50% stake in the company and the youngest self-made billionaire (source 4). However, suspicions rose in the medical community about the legitimacy and reliability of the technology developed by Theranos with the lack of public research and peer-reviewed medical journals. A New Yorker profile about Holmes describes her explanations of the technology as “comically vague” (source 3). | ||
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'''July 2015: FDA Approves Theranos herpes simplex virus 1 test''' | '''July 2015: FDA Approves Theranos herpes simplex virus 1 test''' | ||
Theranos continues to expand with the FDA approving Theranos’s test for detecting herpes simplex virus 1 and Capital BlueCross choosing Theranos as its main lab work provider. Theranos’s was not value at $10 billion dollars. | Theranos continues to expand with the FDA approving Theranos’s test for detecting herpes simplex virus 1 and Capital BlueCross choosing Theranos as its main lab work provider. Theranos’s was not value at $10 billion dollars. | ||
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'''October 15, 2015: John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal publishes scathing article''' | '''October 15, 2015: John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal publishes scathing article''' | ||
The Wall Street Journal publishes a series of articles exposing the questions surrounding Theranos’s technology. Carreyrou interviewed ex-employees of Theranos and reported that Theranos had drastically overstated the capabilities of its technology. | The Wall Street Journal publishes a series of articles exposing the questions surrounding Theranos’s technology. Carreyrou interviewed ex-employees of Theranos and reported that Theranos had drastically overstated the capabilities of its technology. | ||
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'''November 2015: Safeway partnership ends''' | '''November 2015: Safeway partnership ends''' | ||
The US supermarket conglomerate Safeway worth $350 million dollars falls through when Theranos failed to meet deadlines after Safeway had build testing facilities in over 800 supermarkets. The executives at Safeway did not trust the validity of the Theranos product (source 3). | The US supermarket conglomerate Safeway worth $350 million dollars falls through when Theranos failed to meet deadlines after Safeway had build testing facilities in over 800 supermarkets. The executives at Safeway did not trust the validity of the Theranos product (source 3). | ||
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'''January 2016: CMS letter released warning about patient health threat''' | '''January 2016: CMS letter released warning about patient health threat''' | ||
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announces that after an inspection of Theranos’s California lab deficient practices were uncovered that pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety (source 4). | The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announces that after an inspection of Theranos’s California lab deficient practices were uncovered that pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety (source 4). | ||
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'''October 2016: One of Theranos’s largest investors sues and Theranos closes it medical lab operations''' | '''October 2016: One of Theranos’s largest investors sues and Theranos closes it medical lab operations''' | ||
One of the largest investors Partner Fund Management (PFM) accused the company of securities fraud (source 3). Theranos also closes its medical lab operations with continued scrutiny and shrinks its workforce by more than 40% (source 4). | One of the largest investors Partner Fund Management (PFM) accused the company of securities fraud (source 3). Theranos also closes its medical lab operations with continued scrutiny and shrinks its workforce by more than 40% (source 4). | ||
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'''March 2018: Theranos is charged with massive fraud''' | '''March 2018: Theranos is charged with massive fraud''' | ||
The Securities and Exchange Commission charge Holmes and Balwani with civil-securities fraud; “raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance” (source 3). | The Securities and Exchange Commission charge Holmes and Balwani with civil-securities fraud; “raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance” (source 3). | ||
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'''June 2018: Holmes and Balwani indicted''' | '''June 2018: Holmes and Balwani indicted''' | ||
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A federal grand jury indicted Holmes and Balwani with 11 criminal charges. Holmes stepped down as CEO but remained on the company board. | A federal grand jury indicted Holmes and Balwani with 11 criminal charges. Holmes stepped down as CEO but remained on the company board. | ||
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'''September 2018: The end of Theranos''' | '''September 2018: The end of Theranos''' | ||
Theranos was forced to close as it was unable to find a buyer. The company said they would pay off its creditors with its remaining funds. | Theranos was forced to close as it was unable to find a buyer. The company said they would pay off its creditors with its remaining funds. | ||
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'''July 2020: Trial begins''' | '''July 2020: Trial begins''' | ||
Revision as of 22:04, 25 January 2022
Contents
History
Elizabeth Holmes
Elizabth Holmes, born February 3, 1984, is an American former biotechnology entrepreneur who founded Theranos in 2003 at the age of 19. Holmes was born in Washington, D.C. to her dad Christian Holmes an entrepreneur who started an energy company called Enron then moving to the government agency USAID and her mom Noel, a Congressional committee staffer (source c).
Holmes attended Stanford University in 2002 where she studied chemical engineering and worked in a laboratory as a student researcher in the School of Engineering (source a). At the end of freshman year, she worked in the Genome Institute of Singapore; at the lab she collected samples of blood with syringes to test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-1) (source b). Seeing the great amount of blood needed to test for this diseased prompted Holmes to take action and seek to improve blood testing processes (source b).
Founding
While at Stanford University, Elizabeth Holmes came up with the idea of developing a technology in the form of a patch that could adjust the dosage of a drug delivery and notify doctors of variables in patients’ blood (souce a). Her goal was to build a company that would make blood test available directly to consumers and eliminate the need for large needles and tubes of blood. She started developing lab-on-chip technology for blood tests and claimed to have developed a technology that could run more than 200 tests from just a few drops of blood (source b). In 2003, Holmes dropped out of Stanford and founded the company “Real-Time Cures” which later became Theranos, derived from the words “therapy” and “diagnosis” (source c).
Partnerships/Investors
Timeline
2003: Holmes drops out of Stanford and founds Theranos
At the young age of 19, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford’s School of Engineering and started Theranos. Her goal was to create a test that could detect diseases and health problems with the same accuracy as traditional blood tests but with only a few drops from a finger prick (source 3).
2004-2010: Theranos grows with early funding
By 2004, Theranos was valued at $30 million and Holmes had raised at least $6.9 million dollars (source 4). With this strong start, Thernaos continued to gain investors as well as mainstream attention. By 2007, Theranos’s value grew to $197 million and raised another $43.2 million. The startup continued to fundraise for three years and by 2010 the company was valued above $1 billion (source 3).
September 2013: Theranos partners with Walgreens and goes public
With the initial fundraising and research out of the public eye, Theranos partners with Walgreens and blood tests are offered to the public in Arizona and California (source 4).
2014: Theranos values at over $9 billion while doubts surface
Theranos’s valuation reaches $9 billion dollars, making Holmes worth $4.5 billion with 50% stake in the company and the youngest self-made billionaire (source 4). However, suspicions rose in the medical community about the legitimacy and reliability of the technology developed by Theranos with the lack of public research and peer-reviewed medical journals. A New Yorker profile about Holmes describes her explanations of the technology as “comically vague” (source 3).
July 2015: FDA Approves Theranos herpes simplex virus 1 test
Theranos continues to expand with the FDA approving Theranos’s test for detecting herpes simplex virus 1 and Capital BlueCross choosing Theranos as its main lab work provider. Theranos’s was not value at $10 billion dollars.
October 15, 2015: John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal publishes scathing article
The Wall Street Journal publishes a series of articles exposing the questions surrounding Theranos’s technology. Carreyrou interviewed ex-employees of Theranos and reported that Theranos had drastically overstated the capabilities of its technology.
November 2015: Safeway partnership ends
The US supermarket conglomerate Safeway worth $350 million dollars falls through when Theranos failed to meet deadlines after Safeway had build testing facilities in over 800 supermarkets. The executives at Safeway did not trust the validity of the Theranos product (source 3).
January 2016: CMS letter released warning about patient health threat
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announces that after an inspection of Theranos’s California lab deficient practices were uncovered that pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety (source 4).
October 2016: One of Theranos’s largest investors sues and Theranos closes it medical lab operations
One of the largest investors Partner Fund Management (PFM) accused the company of securities fraud (source 3). Theranos also closes its medical lab operations with continued scrutiny and shrinks its workforce by more than 40% (source 4).
March 2018: Theranos is charged with massive fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission charge Holmes and Balwani with civil-securities fraud; “raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance” (source 3).
June 2018: Holmes and Balwani indicted
A federal grand jury indicted Holmes and Balwani with 11 criminal charges. Holmes stepped down as CEO but remained on the company board.
September 2018: The end of Theranos
Theranos was forced to close as it was unable to find a buyer. The company said they would pay off its creditors with its remaining funds.
July 2020: Trial begins
