Theranos used its scientific-conference presentation to unveil new products, but people didn't love it
Lydia Ramsey
At Theranos' first presentation at a scientific conference, the information that was shared felt more like a product reveal than a discussion of the data that would help validate the company's blood-testing system.
The presentation, part of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry conference, took place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center's ballroom, which was packed to capacity.
In it, Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes demonstrated the company's new blood-testing products in development, including a new processor called the miniLab (the technology that can run small amounts of blood — past versions were referred to as "Edison") and the Theranos Virtual Analyzer.
They're Theranos' latest attempt to do what Holmes calls a "decentralized" lab, meaning that you can process the test without necessarily shipping it off to a brick-and-mortar lab.
Here's what the miniLab looks like:
Lydia Ramsey
But those expecting to see large sets of independently reviewed data were sorely disappointed by the product reveal.
Regarding Theranos' broad claims of being able to run 70-plus tests on a single drop of blood, moderator Stephen Master told Holmes, "The evidence you presented fell far short of that."
The comment was met with applause from the audience. A few other critical questions of Theranos' blood-testing data also garnered applause.
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/760228577656832000
@lydiaramsey125 @ddiamond I'm in the back of the room & I'm glad my kids weren't here to hear what the first wave of departures had to say.
Those live-tweeting during the event didn't seem too pleased, either:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/760235297120452608
Liz Holmes basically used #AACC2016 as WWDC to announce her new product.#Theranos
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/760243720981716992
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - all I can think after Elizabeth Holmes #Theranos presentation at #AACC2016
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/760225751492882432
Now that I've seen the tech, it's hard for me to believe testing would actually be affordable. #AACC2016
Some on Twitter, however, did seem to be a bit more willing to be patient:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/760257699900645376
@lydiaramsey125 @megtirrell with a given situation, you can't expect all the answers at once! Time&their efforts may offer hopeful answers!
Now that the new technology has been unveiled, the next step appears to be to wait until there can be full data to back it up. Holmes said in the presentation that the company plans to submit data for peer review and FDA approval on this new technology, but didn't give a firm timeline for when that would all come to fruition.
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