By Jody Godoy
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Reuters) – Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is expected to face further cross-examination on Tuesday at her trial on charges of defrauding patients and investors in the blood-testing startup.
Holmes rose to fame in Silicon Valley for her ambitious play to reinvent diagnostic testing. But she has been on trial for three months in a San Jose, California, court, accused of exaggerating Theranos’ technology.
Once valued at $9 billion, Theranos collapsed after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles, starting in 2015, that suggested its devices were flawed and inaccurate.
On the stand, Holmes has testified that she believed Theranos could have achieved its goal of a miniaturized device that would make testing cheaper and more accessible.
Holmes has explained some of her actions, such as attempts to quash a Wall Street Journal story on Theranos, saying they were aimed at protecting the company’s trade secrets.
Prosecutor Robert Leach has said he will question Holmes on the claim, which she also used to justify withholding Theranos’ use of third-party blood testing machines from Walgreens.
The pharmacy chain had a partnership with Theranos to offer blood tests in some of its stores.
Holmes’ attorney has said her defense case is expected to conclude this week.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in San Jose; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Dan Grebler)
