Elizabeth Holmes's partner Billy Evans reportedly raising millions for a blood-testing start-up — and it's not Theranos
The partner of disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has reportedly raised millions of dollars in order to start a new blood-testing company that can make diagnoses from blood, saliva and urine, according to a report from the New York Times.
The company has been pitched as "the future of diagnostics", according to two potential investors, who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Times.
Sound familiar?
His partner — and the mother of his two children — is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for her role in overseeing a blood-testing scam that rocked the Silicon Valley.
Throughout Theranos' turbulent 15-year history, Holmes claimed her start-up had developed a revolutionary medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood.
But the technology never worked, and the claims were false.
Now, her partner, Billy Evans, who met Holmes as Theranos was collapsing in 2017, looks to be pitching his new company, named Haemanthus, to potential investors.
The start-up, which is named after a flower also known as the blood lily, plans to begin testing with pets before progressing to humans.
The report claims that Haemanthus' marketing materials, which were reviewed by the Times, include a photo of the start-up's prototype which features a laser that will scan blood, saliva or urine from pets.
The prototype bears "more than a passing physical resemblance" to Theranos' blood-testing machine, which was known as the Edison or the miniLab, the Times reported.
According to the Times, Haemanthus began by raising $US3.5 million in funding from friends and family, and despite several investors passing on the pitch, has since raised an additional $US15 million.
They say that Mr Evans hopes to raise $US50 million.
Holmes, a former tech billionaire once hailed as a visionary, is now two years into her 11-year sentence at a federal women's prison camp located in Bryan, Texas.
Holmes, whose company promised to revolutionise blood testing with finger-prick analysis, was found guilty on four charges relating to her conduct as chief executive of the blood testing start-up, and not guilty of another four charges.
Her 2022 trial revolved around allegations that Holmes duped investors, business partners and patients by making false and fabricated claims about Theranos technology.
She repeatedly claimed that the company's testing technology could scan for hundreds of diseases and other problems with a few drops of blood taken with a finger prick instead of a needle stuck in a vein.
Holmes took the stand towards the end of the trial, claiming that she acted in good faith and was influenced by the allegedly abusive behaviour of Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who served in senior positions at Theranos and was romantically linked to her.
The company raised more than $US900 million from a list of renowned investors that included media mogul Rupert Murdoch, software pioneer Larry Ellison and the Walton family behind Walmart.
At Theranos' height, Holmes had amassed a fortune of $US4.5 billion on paper due to her stake in the company, and was being lionised as a visionary in cover stories in business magazines.
ABC/AP
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