Technology

Posted on September 5, 2018 by staff

Controversial Silicon Valley health tech firm ‘dissolves’

Technology

A controversial health tech firm which made headlines after fraudulent claims over the accuracy of its blood-testing technology has reportedly closed its doors.

Theranos claimed that it could run a range of physiological tests from a few drops of blood, collected via its portable blood analyser, including testing for conditions including cancer and diabetes.

The firm was one of the darlings of Silicon Valley after raising $700 million from investors.

However the technology was flawed and the company, its CEO Elizabeth Holmes and president Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani were charged with fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

It accused them of orchestrating an “elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance”.

Holmes and the company have since settled these allegations.

The Wall Street Journal, which reported the initial explosive allegations against Theranos, now reports that the firm will dissolve.

It said acting chief and general counsel David Taylor sent an email to shareholders explaining that it has no choice but to shut its doors due to complex terms of a deal with Fortress Investment Group which saved it from bankruptcy last year.