Theranos Loses Its Biggest Revenue Source as Walgreens Ends Partnership and Shuts Down Blood-Collections for Clinical Laboratory Tests
The decision means Walgreens will no longer offer Theranos blood-collection services at any of its stores, a move that is expected to cut Theranos’ income sharply because the lab testing company would no longer have a significant source of medical laboratory test volume
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) is ending its relationship with Theranos Inc. and closing all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers at its stores in Arizona, effective immediately, the national pharmacy chain store company announced on Sunday, June 12. It means that Theranos will no longer be able to collect medical laboratory specimens at pharmacies owned by Walgreens.
This move follows a decision by Walgreens in January that Theranos could no longer send clinical laboratory tests collected at Walgreen’s Wellness Centers to the Theranos lab in Newark, Calif. In the fall, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cited the Newark lab as the source of serious deficiencies that risked patient harm, CMS said. (See Dark Daily, “CMS Notifies Theranos of CLIA Sanctions That Include Revoking Clinical Laboratory’s CLIA License and a Two-Year Ban on Holmes, Balwani, and Dhawan,” April 14, 2016.) (more…)
