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Biotech Businesses Medicine Technology

Theranos Is Laying Off 155 People, About 41 Percent Of Its Workforce (cnbc.com) 52

The embattled blood-testing company Theranos is laying off 155 people, about 41 percent of its workforce, as it struggles to recover from the backlash generated when the company failed to provide accurate results to patients using its proprietary blood test technology. The job cuts announced today are similar to the cuts announced last year in October, when the company said it would shut down its blood-testing facilities and shrink its workforce by more than 40%. CNBC reports: The start-up will let go of its workers after months of regulatory setbacks as well as lawsuits and scrutiny. That would leave 220 workers to focus on its business plans, primarily its blood testing product called the miniLab. "These are always the most difficult decisions; however, this move allows Theranos to marshal its resources most efficiently and effectively," Theranos said in a statement.
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Theranos Is Laying Off 155 People, About 41 Percent Of Its Workforce

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  • by Anonymous Coward

    Why are they even keeping their doors open? They are based solely off of fraud.

    • The final step will be patent trolling.

    • Why are they even keeping their doors open? They are based solely off of fraud.

      Fraud is the next big thing.

      • Why are they even keeping their doors open? They are based solely off of fraud.

        Fraud is the next big thing.

        Forget IoT (Internet of Things)! . . . Invest in IoF (Internet of Fraud)!

        • by Alumoi ( 1321661 )

          Is there any difference between IoT and IoF? I mean except the time it takes from the moment the sucker connects the device to the net and the bot army takes it over.

      • Fraud has been the 'big thing' since forever. It's been time tested to be an excellent method separate people and their money.

    • Fraud is the new business. Keep up!
  • not quite (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jodka ( 520060 ) on Friday January 06, 2017 @07:58PM (#53621119)

    From the summary:
    "Theranos... failed to provide accurate results to patients"

    No. They fraudulently claimed to provide accurate results. If they had merely failed it would not be a scandal.

     

    • by mhkohne ( 3854 )

      I think their only hope is to actually make the minilab tech work, then sell the technology to some big medical player who can go through the required testing without the Theranos people being at all involved.

      I suspect that what they'll ACTUALLY do is screw around, run out of money and close the doors. It'll be interesting to see if anyone actually buys their IP - even at fire sale prices, it's somewhat tainted if you want to actually produce a product. I can't imaging anyone who does anything based on this

      • by Anonymous Coward

        Most of the time, they used other competitors products to generate results while they worked on their own bloid test systems.

        But their lead engineering designer committed suicide

        http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3776888/Award-winning-scientist-struggling-make-Theranos-blood-test-machines-work-committed-suicide-amid-fears-Silicon-Valley-firm-s-32-year-old-CEO-fire-claims-wife.html

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      Theranos only mistake according to modern corporate principles, is they did not get the IPO out of the door quick enough. For modern corporations failure to make a profit by a hugely inflated IPO is far and away worse than failure of purpose, how many die, meh, where's the profits for the vulture 'er' venture capitalists.

  • Do they have any legitimate aspirations or are they still planning to fake it 'til they make it?

  • Sure seems like it.

    • I find it amazing that Holmes and others in leadership positions are not being prosecuted under 18 U.S. Code 1035 - False statements relating to health care matters. But IANAL.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    I spent a fair amount of my life as a licensed medical testing professional. Theranos based their technology purely on using the blood sample from a finger stick (puncture). When you puncture skin like that you are also cutting open the cells of the tissue in the finger tip which leaks the cell contents as well as clotting factors into your sample. Most tests are done on circulating blood that are assumed to have a very low concentration of cell contents. An example is that sodium is high concentration

  • by TsuruchiBrian ( 2731979 ) on Friday January 06, 2017 @08:37PM (#53621317)
    The layoffs of it's workforce are about 59% lower than expected considering the whole company is based on a sham.
  • Ok no H1B's for at least 2-3 years unless full rehire 1st.

  • so valuable. >400 employees, $4 billion dollar valuation. There's not a lot of risk there. Sure, 9 out of 10 fail, but the 1 that survives makes up for the 9 that don't. And the 9 that don't are enough "losses" that you don't pay a dime in taxes on the profits from #1. It's a completely screwed up and perverse system created by our lovely tax code and all it's cheats.
    • "Supply and demand" is your answer.
      If people want it they will pay more for it. If it is hard to get they will pay more as well.
      Being that the company mode false promises it appeared they offered a product that a lot of people wanted that was hard to get so the company value is high.

      Value != worth. There is more worth in a healthy avocado compared to say the first Superman comic with a misprint. However the value is much higher. And you can sell that comic for a lot of avocados.

      Most of the prices of thi

  • Holmes First (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sdinfoserv ( 1793266 ) on Friday January 06, 2017 @10:33PM (#53621795)
    The entire company is nothing more than the hubris of a self-absorbed mega-ego maniac. Patient health be damned, she got to be another poster child for women success stories; riding the talk show circuit like a goddess all the while pimping dangerous snake oil that every other researcher and doctor she talked with said the device wasn’t practical.

    It astonishes me that after everything that has come to light, the board doesn’t toss her out first.
    • by Anonymous Coward

      But enabled by millions of mommybloggers, 3rd wave feminists, and dotcom speculators.

      If she hadn't existed, we would have found it necessary to create her.

  • I think Theranos has adopted hope as a strategy.
  • You can bet your house that the cocksuckers who made all the bad decisions are still pulling down major bucks...probably even bonuses.

  • This makes no sense. I would be royally ticked as a defrauded investor that they were spending one more cent. I would demand my money back. The woman running it had better not be getting one of the pennies left over.

"The vast majority of successful major crimes against property are perpetrated by individuals abusing positions of trust." -- Lawrence Dalzell

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