Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA)

[bar1080]

"Walgreens made $50 million Theranos deal without testing technology"

"Walgreens was considering a partnership with Theranos Inc. when founder Elizabeth Holmes arrived at Johns Hopkins University in the spring of 2011. She brought with her a machine she said could test tiny samples of blood for dozens of conditions and thick binders of data to show its accuracy.

A Hopkins scientist told her that his researchers needed to put the device in their Baltimore laboratory to verify the technology on Walgreens’ behalf, and Holmes agreed to provide one, say people familiar with the meeting.

It never happened. Walgreens WBA, +0.62% wound up making a deal that included plans to put Theranos blood-testing centers in thousands of its drugstores across the U.S. despite never fully validating the startup’s technology or thoroughly evaluating its capabilities, according to people familiar with the matter. This article is based on interviews with nearly 20 current or former Walgreens officials and advisers, former Theranos employees and government records.


The relationship is now in tatters, making Walgreens an extreme case study of what can go wrong when an established company that craves growth decides to gamble on an exciting and unproven startup...."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/walgreens-made-50-million-theranos-deal-without-testing-its-technology-2016-05-25?siteid=yhoof2