
Theranos adds qualified medical experts and scientists to advisory board - kqr2
http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/07/theranos-adds-a-bunch-of-qualified-medical-experts-and-scientists-to-the-board/
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zaidf
Who writes these articles? This is their Scientific board. "The board" almost
always implies the company's corporate board which among other things can fire
the CEO. Advisory boards just offer advice.

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bbgm
I am almost certain Theranos has always had an SAB (I don't know of a single
company in this space that doesn't). Even my tiny startup 16 years ago had
one. I've served on a couple myself and the role is very different.

I do wonder how involved the SAB has been given all the questions.

Edit: looking at the page I am now uncertain they had one, which would be very
unusual for a life sciences company.

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nxzero
In regards to if they already had the SAB - pretty sure before this there was
no scientific and medical advisory board, otherwise, why would they be adding
so many members to it at once; meaning if that's the case, seems really,
really fishy.

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bgribble
At this point, I think the burden of proof is on Theranos to demonstrate that
they weren't designed from the beginning to be a scam, initially aimed at the
military but now just looking for any way to survive as a company.

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nostrademons
I doubt they were designed from the beginning to be a scam. I do suspect
they've been "looking for any way to survive as a company" since about 2006,
and some of those ways include various scams.

Most folks, when faced with the reality that their original idea won't work
and they don't have any idea how to make it work, fold up the company and go
back to school or get a job. Some raise $800M, stack the board of directors
with politicians and generals, and try to sell to the military.

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BinaryIdiot
> Some raise $800M, stack the board of directors with politicians and
> generals, and try to sell to the military.

Apply HN here I come...

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danso
What a shame for this to happen so late in the game. I don't know enough about
medicine or medical engineering to know if Theranos' core goal is reasonably
attainable...but having medical practitioners experienced in research and
regulations would seem to have almost certainly prevented the shitshow that
Theranos now has to dig itself out of...and their knowledge and experience of
how much you can or can't fuck with regulators is probably something that
Henry Kissinger, despite all of his authority and fame, does not have as much
practical guidance on.

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WalterSear
It's not even their actual board. This is more shenaniganry. It's all they
know.

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cpeterso
And how many medical and lab experts were on Theranos's scientific and medical
advisory board before they added these eight?

The following press release only mentions two other members (one of whom is
the CEO). It also uses the future tense to say "Theranos’ Scientific and
Medical Advisory Board _will_ meet quarterly."

[http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160407006056/en/Ther...](http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160407006056/en/Theranos-
Announces-Leading-Medical-Laboratory-Experts-Join)

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nxzero
Pretty sure before this there was no scientific and medical advisory board,
otherwise, why would they be adding so many members to it at once; meaning if
that's the case, seems really, really fishy.

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WalterSear
This company is already Andrea Rossi sketchy.

Is is appropriate to flag stories about Theranos? I doesn't seem appropriate
to let them have an unfettered voice.

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nxzero
How is this giving Theranos a "unfettered voice" \- seems like the opposite
given that there's no one from the company to my knowledge in this thread of
comments; yes, I realize the post is a direct link to an article on them.

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WalterSear
It's a link to an article that has a very misleading headline. It's the kind
of 'accident' I've come to expect from Theranos and Theranos's PR.

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prdonahue
Probably should have done this, before, you know, (fraudulently?) claiming
they had this amazing breakthrough.

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ceejayoz
Well, it's a step up from Henry Kissinger and Bill Frist, but it mainly still
just proves they've got good connections. Doesn't say much about the tech.

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aaronbrethorst
This is just their medical and science advisory board, not their board of
directors. Frist and Kissinger (ugh) are still on the BoD.

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toufka
It's also not really a _science_ advisory board and more of a medical/clinical
board. This would be great for making sure the tech is working in the hands of
its clients, but that seems to me to be putting the cart before the horse
maybe. Is not the tech itself something that needs advising? Maybe not - maybe
the tech is so basic, not particularly novel, or so well completed that there
is no further technology push to be made. Or maybe these people are actually
really capable with respect to basic research in addition to their medical
focus - hard to tell without more detailed biographies.

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disposeofnick9
Theranos had their shot... Walgreens pulled all their in-store advertising.

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paulpauper
I wonder what Theranos is worth now?

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umanwizard
Wild guess: negative money

