Elizabeth Holmes' boyfriend launches biotech company startup
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Elizabeth Holmes is still locked up in prison for defrauding investors who believed in her biotech startup company, Theranos. The disgraced entrepreneur pitched her company's technology with promises of revolutionizing blood testing in America. Theranos' rapid demise rocked Silicon Valley.
'This is a fraud case where an exciting venture went forward with great expectations and hope only to be dashed by untruth, misrepresentations, hubris, and plain lies,' a federal judge who sentenced Holmes said.
Holmes' ex-boyfriend, Sunny Balwani, is serving a 13-year sentence for his role in the Theranos conspiracy scandal, while Holmes is serving 11 years.
Billy Evans, Holmes' current boyfriend who attended every day of Holmes' months-long trial in San Jose, recently stepped back into national news headlines. In additional to raising their two young children, Evans is busy these days serving as CEO of a new biotech startup company, named Haemanthus.
Haemanthus revealed on X May 11, 'Yes, our CEO, Billy Evans, is Elizabeth Holmes' partner. This is not Theranos 2.0. Theranos attempted to miniaturize existing tests. Our approach is fundamentally different. We use light to read the complete molecular story in biological fluids, seeing patterns current tests can't detect. Skepticism is rational. We must clear a higher bar. The science, when ready, will stand on its own merits.'
Haemanthus' X post continued, 'Elizabeth Holmes has zero involvement in Haemanthus. We've learned from her company's mistakes, but she has no role, now or future.'
Holmes is incarcerated at Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas. Haemanthus is based in Austin, Texas, about a two-hour drive west from the famous inmate's prison cell. Before she was sent to prison, 41-year-old Holmes lived in Woodside with Evans.
Evans' new company claims to be developing 'the world's first AI-native sensors for health. Our technology captures thousands of biomarkers simultaneously. We use Raman spectroscopy, which researchers use to detect cancers, Parkinson's, and COVID. We're making lab technology accessible through modern lasers and AI.'
Investors who were approached by Haemanthus told the New York Times that Evans' startup is trying to raise more than $50 million.
A jury found Holmes guilty in 2022 of defrauding wealthy and sophisticated investors who poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Theranos before it imploded.
Meanwhile, Holmes is earning 31 cents an hour working as a law clerk for her fellow inmates in Federal Prison Camp Bryan. In her only interview from behind bars, Holmes told People magazine, 'So many of these women don't have anyone, and once they're in there, they're forgotten. Human beings are not made to be in cells.'
Elizabeth Holmes reveals her new goals from behind bars
Holmes passes the time by reading books, attending therapy sessions, and writing patents for new inventions. She also hasn't given up on her dream of getting back to her career in biotech, People magazine reported.
'There is not a day I have not continued to work on my research and inventions. I remain completely committed to my dream of making affordable healthcare solutions available to everyone,' Holmes said in the interview.
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