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Calif.-based Cue Health, once worth $2.3B lays off every remaining worker

9 points by Jimmc414 2y ago

nikolay 2y ago
I used them for COVID-19 testing, still have their reader, but they are expensive, device warming up takes forever, the battery drains pretty quickly, it charges slowly, and sometimes the kits just fails, and you have to throw them away, and contact them to request a replacement. The discounted price requires a monthly subscription. Meanwhile, after a few months of a pause, Lucira launched a revamped product, which is similarly priced, you don't need a reader, and it also tests for Flu type A and B.
Rebelgecko 2y ago
They had a cool product with a lot of potential. It seems like they had trouble expanding beyond COVID tests, despite the ambitions of having a whole stable of at home tests. Screwing up their core product was the nail in the coffin.
- nikolay 2y ago
  People are still testing. They just had to make this more affordable and fix the firmware. They were selling their reader for $200, and it didn't even have a normal-capacity battery!
ctchocula 2y ago
The most anti-consumer part of this company is each overpriced covid test has an expiry date. For a cheap $5 test you can find in a grocery store, even if it's past expiry you can still use the test and the ones I've tried have been accurate even when expired. For Cue, the DRM prevents you from using the expired tests and you have to throw it away. Good riddance.
- nikolay 2y ago
  Oh, you're right - for some weird reason, their expiration was really short. And there was no way around as the hardware blocked - I had a bunch of tests I needed, and realized they expired the day before - I couldn't override and still use them!
- Rebelgecko 2y ago
  If you initiated the test directly on the device and didn't open the app until it was done, you could use expired tests
thedrbrian 2y ago
is this not the most VC company ever. Take something simple like a rona test , complicate it and add unnecessary electronics, then sell for 10 times what the simple one goes for. Bonus points for leveraging the one "working" product you have with a promise for multiple products in the future. hell if they'd have added AI and blockchain to the mix we'd have a bingo! the juicero of medical equipment

9 points by Jimmc414 2y ago

I used them for COVID-19 testing, still have their reader, but they are expensive, device warming up takes forever, the battery drains pretty quickly, it charges slowly, and sometimes the kits just fails, and you have to throw them away, and contact them to request a replacement. The discounted price requires a monthly subscription. Meanwhile, after a few months of a pause, Lucira launched a revamped product, which is similarly priced, you don't need a reader, and it also tests for Flu type A and B.

Rebelgecko 2y ago

They had a cool product with a lot of potential. It seems like they had trouble expanding beyond COVID tests, despite the ambitions of having a whole stable of at home tests. Screwing up their core product was the nail in the coffin.

nikolay 2y ago
People are still testing. They just had to make this more affordable and fix the firmware. They were selling their reader for $200, and it didn't even have a normal-capacity battery!

ctchocula 2y ago

The most anti-consumer part of this company is each overpriced covid test has an expiry date. For a cheap $5 test you can find in a grocery store, even if it's past expiry you can still use the test and the ones I've tried have been accurate even when expired. For Cue, the DRM prevents you from using the expired tests and you have to throw it away. Good riddance.

nikolay 2y ago
Oh, you're right - for some weird reason, their expiration was really short. And there was no way around as the hardware blocked - I had a bunch of tests I needed, and realized they expired the day before - I couldn't override and still use them!
Rebelgecko 2y ago
If you initiated the test directly on the device and didn't open the app until it was done, you could use expired tests

thedrbrian 2y ago

is this not the most VC company ever. Take something simple like a rona test , complicate it and add unnecessary electronics, then sell for 10 times what the simple one goes for. Bonus points for leveraging the one "working" product you have with a promise for multiple products in the future. hell if they'd have added AI and blockchain to the mix we'd have a bingo! the juicero of medical equipment