Theranos to close its labs and blood-testing centers and lose 340 staff

Embattled founder Elizabeth Holmes once boasted her $9bn business would change the world, but Theranos's decline is now a cautionary tale

Elizabeth Holmes, the embattled founder and chief executive of Theranos, said late on Wednesday that the company will close its clinical labs and Walgreens testing centers in the US.

In an open letter posted on the company's website, Holmes praised the consumer-facing business that she once boasted would change the world with its inexpensive pinprick blood test, and was once the toast of Silicon Valley.