Theranos just unveiled new technology and data in front of scientists for the first time

PHILADELPHIA — Theranos presented data at a scientific conference for the first time this afternoon, in a presentation that mainly focused on the company's new technology.

The presentation at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry's annual conference began at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. 

Here's what was expected going into the presentation:

• Theranos will be displaying the latest version of its blood-testing technology that uses only a finger-prick's worth of blood, including the way the company collects and stores the blood and how it processes that blood sample. The company will also be demonstrating a diagnostic testing platform that's "a compact fully-integrated and automated field-deployable," according to the meeting abstract. 
• Theranos will be presenting data that intends to show how the company's finger-prick blood test stacks up to a typical blood test that draws a few tubes of blood from a vein. But this data won't necessarily be independently peer-reviewed. 
•  There will be a moderated question and answer session after the presentation, in which attendees can ask questions. 

Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, is kicking off the presentation, saying that the presentation will be focused on "key inventions," as well as the science and results associated with them, which she said is separate from the operations in Theranos' clinical laboratories. The presentation ended up focusing on the company's "Theranos Virtual Analyzer" and "Theranos Sample Processing Unit (miniLab)." Holmes said it's on these technologies (miniLab and Theranos Virtual Analyzer) that Theranos plans to submit data for peer review and FDA approval. 

Here's what the miniLab, which processes the small samples of blood, looks like:

Lydia Ramsey

Holmes also compared the results of the miniLab to another blood testing device to measure for potassium levels. The tests were run on venous plasma, meaning the blood came from the arm NOT from a finger-prick test. Lydia Ramsey

Theranos also ran a Zika diagnostic trial in South American and the US. Here's how the study of 180 people was designed (again, these were using blood drawn from the arm, not from a finger):

Lydia Ramsey

Here were the results, as reported by Theranos. 

Lydia Ramsey

We'll be updating the post during the presentation, so check back and refresh or click this link to update.

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