Theranos Will Finally Step Up to the Scientific Spotlight Next Week But Doubts Abound
July 29, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Elizabeth Holmes, founder and chief executive officer of beleaguered Theranos, will finally get to make a formal scientific presentation after years of avoiding sharing company information with the public. But, there appears to be a snag in the plan. Holmes does not yet have any peer reviewed data to present, StatNews reported this morning.
Holmes is scheduled to present data at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's annual conference on Aug. 1. This will be the first time that Theranos has publicly shared its own scientific data. The AACC released Theranos’ abstract information which shows the company will be an education presentation and is not attached to any specific study data. There has been some thought that Holmes will present information on how Theranos’ finger-prick tests work and how it stands up in comparison to standard blood-draw tests, as well demonstrate a test to determine the Zika virus.
However, any presentation Holmes will make is likely to be overshadowed by the controversies surrounding Holmes and Theranos, including her recent two-year ban from the blood-testing industry, the criminal probe and congressional investigation of her company and questions surrounding the efficacy of Theranos’ products.
Although her inclusion in the association’s presentation is proving to be somewhat divisive, as StatNews called it, it will likely be one of the most attended given the prominence the company has had in the news cycle. Due to the trouble the company has faced, one pathologist likened a Theranos presentation to noted gangster Al Capone talking about accounting practices, StatNews reported. Geoff Baird, a clinical pathologist at the University of Washington, said the company is viewed as a fraud and called it embarrassing for the association that Holmes is taking the stage.
However, some, like Patricia Jones, president of the AACC, are willing to give Holmes a chance, particularly since the company has made strides in beefing up its scientific advisory board with four former AACC presidents. “The people on her board are people I respect—and if they say [Holmes] has real science, then I am willing to listen and hear her science,” Jones told StatNews.
Holmes’ presentation and participation has proven to be so controversial that the AACC has included a disclaimer with the announcement: “Holmes’s appearance does not reflect an endorsement of Theranos or its technology by AACC, and Theranos has not provided any financial contribution to AACC in exchange for the invitation to speak, nor has it provided any sponsorship monies or other forms of grants to AACC,” StatNews reported.
According to an earlier abstract, the Theranos presentation will describe the company’s lab testing framework and a compact fully-integrated and automated field-deployable diagnostic testing platform. Following her presentation, Holmes will participate in a moderator-led question and answer session, but questions will be limited to Theranos’s science. Questions about company finances, regulatory problems or the company’s broken relationship with Walgreens, will not be permitted, StatNews said.