5 ms·

Isn't this only a small part of the Theranos offering? As I understood their biggest advantage is they can run many tests from one (or a few) blood drops.

aheilbut 11y ago
According to these reports, there is only one test that they are allowed to run on the proprietary system that is supposed to provide that advantage. All the others are being run using conventional methods.
- rokhayakebe 11y ago
  I understand it as they can still ran all the tests they were running before using other methods to get the blood sample. The only advantage of the nanotainer was its ability to be less invasive.
  - aheilbut 11y ago
    I think the other factor was supposed to be the cost of the assays. If they're just using the same machines as everyone else to do the same tests, they have no competitive advantage.
danso 11y ago
I thought the main appeal was the ability to do so many tests, so cheaply, and so quickly -- and that doing it via finger prick was key. It's actually a brilliant concept for a business, the kind of thing that seems like other established players would just ignore since blood testing is already so profitable. But as I understand it, there was a high scientific bar to clear (less blood is, well, less blood to get a stable reading on -- and apparently blood from the fingertip has extra impurities compared to blood drawn from a vein)
URSpider94 11y ago
From yesterday's article, they are currently only capable of performing 15 tests on micro-samples, and leaked documents from employees indicate serious accuracy concerns for some of those tests. For many tests, the report stated that the way they measure micro-samples is to dilute them out and run them through regular lab equipment. Not only is it hard to see how there could be any product or IP behind this approach, it's also going to impact the accuracy and detection threshold of the test. All in all, it's hard to see what they have actually developed. They sure do have a honking huge new HQ on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, though -- that must have cost them $50 million right there!

aheilbut 11y ago

According to these reports, there is only one test that they are allowed to run on the proprietary system that is supposed to provide that advantage. All the others are being run using conventional methods.

rokhayakebe 11y ago
I understand it as they can still ran all the tests they were running before using other methods to get the blood sample. The only advantage of the nanotainer was its ability to be less invasive.
- aheilbut 11y ago
  I think the other factor was supposed to be the cost of the assays. If they're just using the same machines as everyone else to do the same tests, they have no competitive advantage.

danso 11y ago

I thought the main appeal was the ability to do so many tests, so cheaply, and so quickly -- and that doing it via finger prick was key. It's actually a brilliant concept for a business, the kind of thing that seems like other established players would just ignore since blood testing is already so profitable. But as I understand it, there was a high scientific bar to clear (less blood is, well, less blood to get a stable reading on -- and apparently blood from the fingertip has extra impurities compared to blood drawn from a vein)

URSpider94 11y ago

From yesterday's article, they are currently only capable of performing 15 tests on micro-samples, and leaked documents from employees indicate serious accuracy concerns for some of those tests. For many tests, the report stated that the way they measure micro-samples is to dilute them out and run them through regular lab equipment. Not only is it hard to see how there could be any product or IP behind this approach, it's also going to impact the accuracy and detection threshold of the test. All in all, it's hard to see what they have actually developed. They sure do have a honking huge new HQ on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, though -- that must have cost them $50 million right there!