Walgreens cuts ties to blood-testing firm Theranos

New York

WALGREENS said on Sunday that it was terminating its relationship with Theranos, dealing a severe blow to the embattled blood-testing company. Walgreens said that it would immediately close all 40 of the Theranos testing centres in its Arizona drugstores, the source of most of Theranos' customers.

The giant retailer, a part of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, played a critical role in Theranos' early success. Founded by Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford University dropout, the company promised to revolutionise the lab industry by being able to offer blood tests through a simple finger prick at a fraction of the cost of conventional testing.