Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes‘ associate Billy Evans has launched a startup in the identical subject — blood testing — the place Holmes failed and ended up in jail.
The corporate is named Haemanthus, the title of a plant referred to as a blood lily, and on Sunday, it denied that Holmes was concerned.
“Yes, our CEO, Billy Evans, is Elizabeth Holmes’ partner,” Haemanthus stated on social media platform X. “Skepticism is rational. Elizabeth Holmes has zero involvement in Haemanthus.
“This is not Theranos 2.0.”
Haemanthus stated would use a know-how referred to as Raman spectroscopy, utilizing lasers and different mild beams, and synthetic intelligence, to investigate samples.
“We’re starting with veterinary medicine,” the corporate stated on X. “It’s sensible and significant. It validates our know-how, helps animals who can’t describe signs, and builds the inspiration for human functions.
Holmes, 37, has two kids with Evans, a resort inheritor with a bachelor’s diploma in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how. Evans was a fixture on the federal courthouse in San Jose throughout Holmes’ four-month trial for felony fraud.
Holmes is serving a federal jail sentence for bilking traders in her now-defunct, Palo Alto-based Theranos out of tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars}. Jurors in her trial heard she made false claims concerning the firm’s blood-testing machines, which have been touted to conduct a full vary of checks utilizing only a few drops of blood from a fingerprick, however in actuality may carry out solely a handful.
Haemanthus claimed its know-how — utilizing lasers and different mild beams to investigate samples, in line with a patent — follows a “different paradigm” from that of Holmes’ failed startup.
“Theranos attempted to miniaturize existing tests,” the corporate stated. “Our approach is fundamentally different. We use light to read the complete molecular story in biological fluids, seeing patterns current tests can’t detect.”
The New York Occasions reported Saturday that it had seen investor-related supplies from Haemanthus — included in Delaware with places of work in Austin — saying the startup had raised $3.5 million from household and associates, and that backers within the Bay Space and Texas had kicked in one other $15 million. The startup intends to “scan blood, saliva or urine from pets and analyze the samples on a molecular level,” the paper reported.
Holmes can have no position at Haemanthus even sooner or later, the startup asserted, however stated it has “learned from her company’s mistakes.”
The fallen Theranos founder stated in a 2023 courtroom submitting that she “continues to work on ideas for patents.”
Evans, requested Monday what involvement, if any, Holmes has with Haemanthus or its know-how, referred this information group to the corporate’s X posts.
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