IN ARIZONA, Independence Day will come a day early this year. On July 3rd a new law will allow anyone to order a laboratory test, with no need to see a doctor. Tests for sexually transmitted diseases, pre-diabetes, vitamin levels and fertility will be on the menu. A cholesterol test can be had for $2.99. The company that lobbied for the legal change, and hopes to benefit most from it, is Theranos, a young and ambitious blood-analytics company from Palo Alto in Silicon Valley.
Theranos is already providing cheap, quick and easy tests—some with a three-hour turnaround—at clinics it is opening inside branches of Walgreens, a big pharmacy chain. The first clinics are in Phoenix, Arizona and in its Californian home town. Many tests can be done on just a spot of blood from a finger prick. The rest use only a tiny paediatric needle and, again, require only a small amount of blood. Theranos, led by Elizabeth Holmes, a charismatic young university drop-out (see article), believes its technology can...
from The Economist: Business http://ift.tt/1Jlszkb
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