jolt through the room.
“We’ve called the FBI to assist us with the case.”
Ed and Shaunak figured Gary Frenzel was probably freaked out by
this turn of events. He was good friends with Chris Todd, Ed’s
predecessor. Gary had worked with Todd for five years at two previous
companies before following him to Theranos. After Todd had left
Theranos in July 2006, he and Gary had remained in frequent contact,
talking often on the phone and exchanging emails. Elizabeth and
Esquivel must have found out and read Gary the riot act. He looked
spooked.
Shaunak had been friendly with Todd too and was able to quietly
piece together what had happened.
O’Connell, who had a postdoctorate in nanotechnology from
Stanford, thought he had solved the microfluidic problems that
hampered the Theranos system and had talked Todd into forming a
company with him. They’d called it Avidnostics. O’Connell also held
discussions with Howard, who’d provided some help and advice but
declined to join their venture. Avidnostics was very similar to
Theranos, except they planned on marketing their machine to
veterinarians on the theory that regulatory approvals would be easier
to obtain for a device that performed blood tests on animals rather
than humans.
They’d pitched a few VCs, unsuccessfully, at which point O’Connell
had lost patience and emailed Elizabeth to ask her if she wanted to
license their technology.
Big mistake.
Elizabeth had always worried about proprietary company
information leaking out, to an extent that sometimes felt overblown.
She required not just employees to sign nondisclosure agreements, but
anyone else who entered Theranos’s offices or did business with it.
Even within the company, she kept tight control over the flow of
information.
O’Connell’s actions confirmed her worst suspicions. Within days,
she was laying the groundwork for a lawsuit. Theranos filed its