One drop of blood for the full picture: Elizabeth Holmes named European Inventor Award 2015 finalist

• US "prodigy" dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to develop a revolutionary procedure for blood tests and analyses
• A painless prick in the patient's fingertip does away with the need for large blood samples
• Thanks to her invention, only one drop of blood is needed to run most tests and analyse them within a few hours
• Holmes' company Theranos has a market value of around USD 9 billion and more than 800 employees
• EPO President Battistelli: "Elizabeth Holmes' innovation has the potential to fundamentally change the healthcare market. Painless, cost-efficient and fast - a revolution based on a drop of blood."

Munich, 21 April 2015 - A drop of blood changing the world of healthcare: Elizabeth Holmes is fundamentally revolutionising blood testing and analyses. The conventional blood test scenario more often than not looks like this: A doctor or nurse desperately trying to find a vein in the patient's arm, only to then withdraw several vials of blood in a cumbersome procedure. The sample is then sent to a lab where its analysis takes a number of days. With Elizabeth Holmes' ground-breaking invention this scenario improves: Only a small pinprick in the finger is needed; and a minuscule amount of blood is sufficient to run a wide range of tests within just a few hours. Her invention is nothing less than a diagnostic quantum leap. The procedure, which Holmes has brought to a mass market in the US, not only requires a fraction of the blood compared with conventional methods, it is also by far cheaper. For her outstanding innovation, Elizabeth Holmes has been named a European Inventor Award 2015 finalist in the category "Non-European Countries". The European Patent Office (EPO) will present the 10^th edition of the annual award in Paris on 11 June.

"Elizabeth Holmes' is a truly exceptional inventor," said EPO President Battistelli, announcing the 2015 European Inventor Award finalists. "Her invention has the potential to fundamentally change the healthcare market. Virtually painless, cost-efficient and providing fast results - her test is a revolution literally based on a drop of blood. Her career also shows that being inventive, believing in an idea and sometimes going off the beaten path can be the basis for moving the world forward."

As an 18-year-old freshman in chemical engineering at Stanford University, Elizabeth Holmes already developed ground-breaking ideas about a wearable patch that would help administer a drug, monitor the variables in the patient's blood, and adjust the dosage to achieve the desired effect. In 2003, she filed a patent application for the patch and founded her own company Theranos at age 19, with the mission to make actionable health information accessible to everyone.

Blood test and analyses revolution takes ten years

Elizabeth Holmes took the money her parents had saved for her education, left university and raised further funds. As early as in the company's start-up phase she developed the prototype of what is now creating a stir in the US as a medical sensation. Theranos (the company name being an amalgam of the words "therapy" and "diagnosis") developed a software that can comprehensively and precisely test from a few drops of blood for all common values and anomalies. Previously this had only been possible using comparatively large amounts of blood and after lengthy analysis. Now, within only a few hours, reliable results can be delivered, for example testing cancer markers, sugar and cholesterol values, or mineral deficiencies. On the recommendation of their doctors, patients can get their blood tested in 41 small labs in the South-West of the US, called Theranos^TM Wellness Centers that are integrated in branches of US drugstore chain Walgreens. Theranos's proprietary infrastructure allows it to perform its test analysis with unprecedented speed and at a much lower cost. Customers also experience less pain and having one's blood taken becomes a far less daunting prospect for people with a fear of blood.

Nationwide coverage in the US

Elizabeth Holmes' long-term aim is to make the test procedure available for every US citizen within a five-mile radius of their homes. One reason for developing the technology has always been her belief that access to health information is a basic human right; hence her focus on making a contribution to preventive healthcare. She founded her company with a mission to make actionable health information accessible to people everywhere at the time it matters, enabling early detection and intervention of disease.  She was motivated to take up research by the early death of her uncle, whose skin cancer was diagnosed too late to be treated effectively. This painful personal experience left a lasting impression on Holmes.

Her ambitious plans are to become reality by extending the company's cooperation with the Walgreens drugstore chain. Many more of Holmes' Centers are scheduled to open in the 8 200 Walgreens branches in the US. Furthermore, Theranos cooperates with hospital groups and pharma companies in the US. The latter use Holmes' diagnostic systems in the context of drug trials. Today, Theranos is growing rapidly and now has about 800 employees and a market value of around USD 9 billion.

Famous patrons

In further developing her business, Elizabeth Holmes can rely on the support of individuals such as Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, both former US Secretaries of State, who are members of her company's Board of Directors. Holmes has also fully integrated her invention into her own life. The staunch vegan regularly checks her blood after meals. By her own account, she has already had her blood tested thousands of times.

Additional resources

• Read more about the inventor
• View the patents: EP2205968,  EP1662987, EP2018188
• Ten years of the European Inventor Award: a retrospective look at the inventors and ideas that have changed our lives
• About the European Patent Office (EPO)
• Study on the economic impact of patents and other IP rights

Contacts:

Rainer Osterwalder
Director Media Relations
European Patent Office
Phone +49 (0)89 2399 1820
[email protected]

Jeremy Philpott
Project Manager
European Patent Office
Phone +49 89 2399 1805
[email protected]

Maria Diviney
Shepard Fox Communications
Phone +44 2033 184491
[email protected]