When the startup Theranos promised to revolutionize the blood testing industry with just a few drops of blood, the end result was disaster: company leaders made false promises that led to multiple prison sentences.
Now, six years after Theranos' spectacular fall, companies are again exploring innovation in blood testing. That includes a company in Austin that’s brought a new type of “finger-prick” blood test to around a dozen pharmacies across the city.
Austin-based Babson Diagnostics launched BetterWay blood testing this summer, billing itself as “an alternative to the big needle.”
With BetterWay’s method, a patient places their hand on a warming device. Then, a pharmacy technician pricks the patient's fingertip and squeezes a pea-size amount of blood into a single small syringe — no long needle or poking around to find a vein required.
Jim Ross was among the early patients to try out this method at Lake Hills Pharmacy in Westlake. He said he learned about BetterWay from his daughter, who has a connection to the company.
“I just like the convenience of it,” he said after having his blood drawn in August. “I went to my annual physical and a doctor made some medication changes, so it's just nice to be able to just drop in and get a test to see if things were working well.”
Before an appointment, patients like Ross choose from an online menu of 11 common blood tests — measurements like cholesterol, kidney function and blood count. Within a day, they receive a text message with an explanation of their results.
BetterWay can be covered through insurance with a doctor referral. It’s also available as an out-of-pocket purchase, with prices beginning at around $15 for an individual test, and running up to more than $200 for a bundle of tests.
Eric Olson, the founder and chief operating officer of BetterWay’s parent lab, Babson Diagnostics, said he expects this on-demand testing to be appealing to so-called “health optimizers,” who want to monitor and fine-tune their health as much as possible. But his primary motivation was to remove barriers that often keep patients from having routine blood work done.
“We get to ask the questions — what would make blood testing more convenient, more accessible and be something that regular people are more likely to get done and stay on top of their health?” Olson said.
Barriers to blood testing
For some, Olson said, it’s the fear of needles or the sight of several vials of their own blood that holds them back. For others, it’s difficult just to make it to an appointment to have blood drawn; maybe they don’t have reliable transportation, or maybe they’re unable to take off work to make it to a doctor’s office that’s only open on weekdays.
Olson launched Babson Diagnostics after a career with medical technology giant Siemens Healthineers, where he oversaw tech used in traditional diagnostic labs. He said BetterWay’s method breaks the mold in that pharmacy techs and all kinds of providers — not just blood draw specialists — can be trained to use it at convenient locations outside the doctor’s office.
So far, that includes independent Austin pharmacies such as Lake Hills Pharmacy and People’s Pharmacy, along with several H-E-B pharmacy locations.
“It's something that becomes easy to fit into your life and more difficult to just skip,” he said.
Coming out from Theranos’ shadow
BetterWay is one of many companies angling to carve out its own niche in the blood testing market using small amounts of blood. All of them have the challenge of answering questions and skepticisms related to Theranos’ crimes. Theranos’ founder, Elizabeth Holmes, is serving an 11-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy at a federal prison in Bryan, Texas.
“It's unfortunate that a lot of us are skeptical because Theranos didn't do it the right way,” said David Koch, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.
Theranos said it could run tests for hundreds of conditions — from HIV to cancer — using just a few drops of blood on a small proprietary device. It didn’t work. Instead, the company was often diluting samples and running them through traditional lab equipment, leading to inaccurate results.
BetterWay’s approach is different. It does use an on-site device that prepares samples for testing. But the actual tests happen back at the Babson Diagnostics lab using relatively traditional laboratory analyzers made by Siemens Healthineers and other manufacturers. However, Olson says the Babson lab has been built from the ground up with small blood samples in mind. Plus, for now, it sticks to the basics, offering only a panel of routine tests.
Meanwhile, a company called Truvian Health is developing a small benchtop analyzer that would complete blood tests at the site of collection, in the vein of Theranos’ signature device. A slew of other companies are pursuing home testing services that use mail-in kits to collect blood samples for allergies, hormone levels and other concerns.
Earning the medical community's trust
Industry experts, including Koch, say they’re excited to see this innovation happening. But that doesn’t mean they don’t approach it with caution.
“We're interested in this new technology, but it's got to work well,” Koch said. “And how do we know that it works well? By testing it, by putting it through its paces.”
Koch said he needs to see data published in peer-reviewed studies that speaks to BetterWay’s performance against traditional venous blood testing methods before he’ll start to feel confident in the service.
He also noted that there are a number of logistical challenges to overcome with fingertip blood collection, which draws from capillaries rather than veins. For instance, when blood is squeezed from the fingertip, red blood cells can get damaged in a process called hemolysis.
Olson says BetterWay’s method minimizes the risk of hemolysis, particularly in comparison to home collection methods. BetterWay shares some clinical trial data on its website, and Olson said several submissions to medical journals are currently pending.
The Food and Drug Administration is also set to ramp up its oversight of tests developed by independent labs like Babson Diagnostics over the next few years, thanks to a new rule aimed at preventing tests from entering the market “with unfounded claims of innovation.”
Olson said he knows fighting through the medical community’s skepticism will be challenging, largely thanks to Theranos. But he does also give Theranos some credit for one thing: trying to shake up a static industry.
“For as much of a fraud and a disaster as it was for public trust, it was inspiring in that it opened minds to the potential that blood testing could be different from how it is today,” he said.
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