RIP Theranos – Embattled Blood-Testing Startup to Shut Down 1

The once-hot startup, Theranos, that was trying to revolutionize bood-testing industry in the US is finally shutting down. Theranos’ solution was once heralded as a revolutionary new way to conduct a blood test to detect myriad diseases  with a single finger prick.

According to a letter sent to shareholders, the company is making preparations to close its operations. “We are now out of time,” David Taylor, the company’s CEO and general counsel, informed investors in an email that was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. “Because the company’s cash is not nearly sufficient to pay all of the creditors in full, there will be no distribution to shareholders” under the plan, Taylor added .

Elizabeth Holmes, then a 19-year-old Stanford University dropout, founded Theranos in 2003. The startup was attempting to shake up the entire lab industry, making blood tests less expensive than traditional methods. For a while, Ms Holmes was a media darling. At its peak, the privately held company was valued at $9 billion, and Holmes was promoted as one of the nation’s most successful female entrepreneurs.