Blood-testing startup Theranos to lay off 41% of staff

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Blood-testing startup Theranos Inc. announced plans to lay off 41 percent of its staff.

The Silicon Valley company said it will eliminate 155 positions, leaving 220 employees to work on a new tabletop blood-testing device called the miniLab. In October, it fired 340 workers and announced it would close its clinical labs and consumer outlets in Arizona, California and Pennsylvania.

"These are always the most difficult decisions; however, this move allows Theranos to marshal its resources most efficiently and effectively," the company said in a statement Friday.

Theranos, formed in 2003 as a maker of cheaper, more efficient alternatives to traditional medical tests, has been troubled in recent years.

In 2016, U.S. inspectors determined the company had marketed inaccurate blood tests, endangering patients, and banned Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Holmes from owning or running a clinical lab for two years.

Holmes, who started Theranos when she was 19, is appealing the ban.

Investors and Walgreens, once the company's biggest partner, are suing Theranos.

Theranos had signed a partnership agreement to put its testing centers in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. stores, mainly in Arizona.