Elizabeth Holmes says she ‘personally was shocked’

Elizabeth Holmes, chief executive of Theranos. Everything is being done by the company voluntarily.

She noted those Journal sources who didn’t talk with Theranos either do business with LabCorp or demanded $2,500 to speak to Theranos regarding what they told the Journal reporter.

Theranos was founded in 2003 after Holmes dropped out of Stanford University and is valued at $9 billion. “Disappointingly, the Journal chose to publish this article without even mentioning the facts Theranos shared that disproved the many falsehoods in the article”. Theranos told the newspaper it made those changes for marketing accuracy.

An earlier report  said the company doesn’t use its proprietary technology much anyway.

Theranos, which closely holds its Edison technology, obtained its first approval for a test from the FDA for a herpes test in July.

We’ll be watching tonight to see what else Holmes has to say. But King said that “Theranos has never been asked to stop using its finger stick technology” and that the company “remains deeply engaged with regulators, including FDA”, she told the WSJ.

For now, most blood tests going through Theranos are being run on non-Theranos devices. As a result, only a small fraction of the 240 tests Theranos offers for diagnosing a range of medical conditions are conducted using the device, with the company doing the “vast majority” of blood testing using traditional clinical equipment, the paper said. “As an insurance company, it is important for us to partner with companies that have the commitment not only to the highest standards, but also to constant innovation”, the spokesman said. Holmes said she was given a three-day window. “Every time you do something innovative, people want to knock you down because they built you up”.

“Stories like this come along when you threaten to change things, seeded by entrenched interests that will do anything to prevent change”, Theranos said.

Theranos also has a partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., the biggest drugstore chain in the U.S.

Theranos strongly rebutted the Journal’s assertions. The WSJ turned down that opportunity, the statement said, though the newspaper’s most recent piece said it’s been trying to get permission to visit the Theranos laboratory since April.

“We are in the initial stages of reviewing the framework to deploy our strategy”, Knapp wrote in an e-mail. “We are committed to ensuring our members have access to quality health care and services and our service providers meet regulatory requirements”, said the AmeriHealth Caritas spokeswoman.

There are some limited data on the company’s tests of its products available on the site, but it lacks needed detail to draw any meaningful conclusions.