Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes leaves after a hearing at a federal court in San Jose, Calif., on July 17, 2019. [Image courtesy of Reuters/Stephen Lam]
Former Safeway CEO Steve Burd testified at the Elizabeth Holmes trial last week, saying the company’s partnership with Theranos failed due to multiple delays of the blood-testing devices.
Burd thought a partnership with Theranos would be an opportunity for the grocery chain to expand into healthcare, he testified. He said he was drawn to Theranos and its technology because of the claims that the tests could perform blood tests faster, cheaper and without a full laboratory. The former CEO of two decades said he imagined that people could get their blood tested and shop while they wait for results.
Safeway spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build clinics in many of its grocery stores in preparation for the Theranos machines.