Dive Brief:
- Theranos, Inc., a lab diagnostics firm, is moving swiftly into the healthcare market. Its tests often cost a half to a quarter of independent labs' charges, and a quarter to a tenth of what hospital labs bill, according to Fortune. It sets prices not to exceed half of Medicare's reimbursement per procedure.
- The Silicon Valley firm, run by a 30-year-old woman who dropped out of Stanford to launch it in 2003, is valued at $9 billion. It has gotten more than $400 million in venture capital from investors including "Silicon Valley legend" Don Lucas Sr. and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
- Its board of directors includes former Cabinet member George Shultz; former Defense Secretary Bill Perry; former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger; and former Sens. Sam Nunn and Bill Frist. (Frist also recently raised a new round of venture capital for Aspire Health, a disease-management startup he co-founded.)
Dive Insight:
In a consolidating market where Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp already handle large shares of clinical lab testing, Theranos is moving quickly. The firm runs a CMS-approved high-complexity laboratory offering 200-plus diagnostic tests, and plans to expand that soon to over 1,000. And CEO Elizabeth Holmes' name is on 18 U.S. and 66 foreign approved patents, according to Fortune.