4 ms·

Elizabeth Holmes is finally presenting Theranos data as company collapses

24 points by Aelinsaar 10y ago

Aelinsaar 10y ago
At this point, I think this is a show, mainly with an eye to avoiding or overcoming any future criminal liability.
icegreentea 10y ago
So my company is sending me to this conference (too bad, I don't get there till tomorrow, so I'll miss this talk). My coworker and I were really surprised when we looked at the sessions last week and found that she was still presenting. Any other HNers going?
- joezydeco 10y ago
  Probably don't need any HNers in the room when there are 1,000 scientists with twitter accounts. Should be covered pretty well. =)
  - icegreentea 10y ago
    =P of course. Would sure be nice to hear it er, second hand in person though.
zck 10y ago
I wonder what the chances are that Theranos has invented something valuable. Maybe not worth 9 billion dollars, but if they had any scientists doing research, they might've invented something useful.
- icegreentea 10y ago
  Theranos' original big PR splash was when they got FDA 510k clearance on their finger stick test for a herpes (one of the herpes) test. This was a splash for several reasons. One of them was that it technically wasn't needed. At the time of the release, the finger stick test was classified as a 'lab developed test', and FDA rules at that time is that lab developed tests do not have to go through the same approval process of say of standalone diagnostic device or test that would be sold. Essentially under old FDA rules, selling devices and tests were held to a higher level of scrutiny than selling testing as a service. This obvious loophole is in the process of being closed. So assuming that they haven't completely fudged their original 510k submission, what Theranos does have is a finger prick test for herpes. Detection of infectious agents from human samples is typically (not always) an essentially binary process. Many of the issues that we've been hearing about Theranos' tech is an inability to properly quantify (that is provide a number on a continuum) whatever they've been testing for. It is possible that Theranos' tech as is is sufficient for certain types of infectious agents tests beyond herpes simplex. However, it's not at all certain. It'll be a very careful balance of what the sampling error (the fingerstick), the actual limit of detection (of the testing device), and what the clinically relevant threshold is (what concentration of virus/bacteria/antibody) matters.
spaceflunky 10y ago
is it just me or does that woman always look like she just downed a bottle adderall?
joezydeco 10y ago
Looks like a careful P/R rework is underway. It's all about the "tabletop lab" now, and Holmes has shed the black turtleneck. We're scientists now! http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/health/theranos-table-top-laboratory/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/health/theranos-table-top-labo...
- xkcd-sucks 10y ago
  That photo evokes Zoolander to a scary degree

24 points by Aelinsaar 10y ago

At this point, I think this is a show, mainly with an eye to avoiding or overcoming any future criminal liability.

So my company is sending me to this conference (too bad, I don't get there till tomorrow, so I'll miss this talk). My coworker and I were really surprised when we looked at the sessions last week and found that she was still presenting. Any other HNers going?

joezydeco 10y ago
Probably don't need any HNers in the room when there are 1,000 scientists with twitter accounts. Should be covered pretty well. =)
- icegreentea 10y ago
  =P of course. Would sure be nice to hear it er, second hand in person though.

zck 10y ago

I wonder what the chances are that Theranos has invented something valuable. Maybe not worth 9 billion dollars, but if they had any scientists doing research, they might've invented something useful.

icegreentea 10y ago
Theranos' original big PR splash was when they got FDA 510k clearance on their finger stick test for a herpes (one of the herpes) test. This was a splash for several reasons. One of them was that it technically wasn't needed. At the time of the release, the finger stick test was classified as a 'lab developed test', and FDA rules at that time is that lab developed tests do not have to go through the same approval process of say of standalone diagnostic device or test that would be sold. Essentially under old FDA rules, selling devices and tests were held to a higher level of scrutiny than selling testing as a service. This obvious loophole is in the process of being closed. So assuming that they haven't completely fudged their original 510k submission, what Theranos does have is a finger prick test for herpes. Detection of infectious agents from human samples is typically (not always) an essentially binary process. Many of the issues that we've been hearing about Theranos' tech is an inability to properly quantify (that is provide a number on a continuum) whatever they've been testing for. It is possible that Theranos' tech as is is sufficient for certain types of infectious agents tests beyond herpes simplex. However, it's not at all certain. It'll be a very careful balance of what the sampling error (the fingerstick), the actual limit of detection (of the testing device), and what the clinically relevant threshold is (what concentration of virus/bacteria/antibody) matters.

spaceflunky 10y ago

is it just me or does that woman always look like she just downed a bottle adderall?

joezydeco 10y ago

Looks like a careful P/R rework is underway. It's all about the "tabletop lab" now, and Holmes has shed the black turtleneck. We're scientists now! http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/health/theranos-table-top-laboratory/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/health/theranos-table-top-labo...

xkcd-sucks 10y ago
That photo evokes Zoolander to a scary degree