A witness testified Wednesday in the Theranos trial that Elizabeth Holmes knew the tech company's blood testers weren't as effective as their competitor's a decade ago.
Scientist Dr. Victoria Sung worked at Celgene, a pharmaceutical company, that in 2011 was developing a new drug to treat anemia and kidney disease, according to reporting by KPIX.
The company thought Theranos could be useful in testing how the medication was working on patients because their machines were supposedly more efficient and required very little blood. But when comparing Theranos' machine to other devices, Celgene discovered that their results weren't accurate, making it unsafe to use on patients.
During her testimony on Wednesday, Sung said Celgene alerted Holmes via email, even sending a PowerPoint presentation, before canceling their arrangement.
Sung's testimony contradicts the strategy the defense has been mounting.
"The defense is clearly trying to show that Elizabeth Holmes either didn't know about these problems or if she knew, she took whatever steps or delegated it to another person to take the steps," said Santa Clara Law Professor Ellen Kreitzberg, who sat in on the trial Wednesday.
That same day, defense attorney Lance Wade cross-examined ex-Theranos lab director Dr. Adam Rosendorff for the second straight day. Rosendorff conceded that in 2014, many validation tests on the Theranos device were successful and he himself signed off on the results.
Wade emphasized that as Lab Director, Rosendorff was responsible for fixing any problems with the machines.
Rosendorff will have to return to the witness stand on Friday for further cross-examination by the defense.
Related
