Troubled Theranos Secures $100M Loan With Some Strings Attached
Theranos has faced federal probes and class-action lawsuits after its technology proved faulty. Now the California-based company has has refocused its strategy on commercializing a device called the miniLab that miniaturizes various lab instruments and packs them into one box.
The Wall Street Journal:
Blood-Testing Firm Theranos Gets $100 Million Lifeline From Fortress
The embattled Silicon Valley blood-testing company Theranos Inc. told its investors this week that it has secured a $100 million loan from Fortress Investment Group LLC, averting for now a possible bankruptcy filing as its remaining cash dwindled. The loan is “subject to achieving certain product and operational milestones,” Theranos’s founder and chief executive officer, Elizabeth Holmes, told the company’s shareholders in an email Friday evening that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A spokeswoman for the company didn’t respond to requests for comment. (Carreyrou, 12/24)
In other health industry news —
Ventura County Star:
Ventura Business Allegedly Tied To Healthcare Fraud Scam
Three people were indicted this month in connection with a multi-million dollar health care fraud scam related to a medical supply firm based out of Ventura and Hawthorne, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The operator of Ventura-based Kaja Medical Equipment & Supply "allegedly orchestrated a scheme in which corrupt physicians prescribed medically unnecessary durable medical equipment" such as power wheelchairs and oversaw the submission of fraudulent bills to Medicare, according to a news release. (Diskin, 12/22)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Roche Buying San Diego's Ignyta For $1.7B, Boosts Oncology Portfolio
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche said Friday it is buying San Diego biotech Ignyta for $1.7 billion in cash to expand its portfolio of personalized cancer treatments. Roche will pay $27 per share in cash for Ignyta, a 74 percent premium to the company’s share price prior to the offer. The deal is subject to regulatory approval. (Freeman, 12/22)
Dallas Morning News:
Baylor's White Rock Lake Hospital, Formerly Known As Doctors Hospital, Has Been Sold Again
Baylor Scott & White Health has sold its White Rock Lake hospital to a California-based company after owning the facility for less than two years. The hospital has been serving the Lakewood/East Dallas neighborhood since 1959 and until 2016 was known as Doctors Hospital. (Halkias, 12/26)