Health and Healthcare

Can Theranos Make It Through 2017?

Thinkstock

Troubled drug test start-up Theranos announced it had “re-engineered” its operations, another way to say it cut 40% of its workers and would have 221 left. The company’s last capital raise was in March 2015, for $349 million. Nearly two years later, the balance sheet cash line has to have dwindled significantly, and legal fees may be the largest portion of the cash attrition.

Theranos barely has a business left. Management says it continues to work on a product called miniLab. However, after all the company’s trouble, what are the odds that any distributors or medical industry partners would take a partnership seriously? Zero.

Theranos has to overcome the shuttering of lab facilities, the ban of its founder Elizabeth Holmes from some of its most critical businesses and a torrent of suits, led by former supporter and investor Walgreens, which put in $50 million in September 2013.

Theranos has moved quickly into the column its venture capital investments keep for companies in which they will invest no more money, almost certainly. No other source of capital will put money into something so risky. The company’s woes are a nearly perfect storm of loss of faith in its products, loss of faith in management, soured partnerships, angry investors and lawsuits.

There is no reason for Theranos to be in business any longer. It lacks a single element of its business that will allow it to become a viable company, even if it does create a product. There will be no buyers, just as there are no investors.

The Average American Is Losing Their Savings Every Day (Sponsor)

If you’re like many Americans and keep your money ‘safe’ in a checking or savings account, think again. The average yield on a savings account is a paltry .4% today, and inflation is much higher. Checking accounts are even worse.

Every day you don’t move to a high-yield savings account that beats inflation, you lose more and more value.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying 9-10x this national average. That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe, and get paid at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other one time cash bonuses, and is FDIC insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes and your money could be working for you.

 

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.