Embattled blood-testing start-up Theranos will close all its clinical labs and Wellness Centers, chief executive Elizabeth Holmes revealed in a public letter to "stakeholders." 
 
 The move came after months spent "assessing our strengths and addressing our weaknesses," she said in the letter that outlined a new focus for the former Silicon Valley darling. 
 
 The closures would impact about 340 workers in Arizona, California and Pennsylvania, "many of whom have devoted years to Theranos and our mission," Holmes said. Reuters reported that this was a 44 percent staffing cut, with the company employing about 790 full-time workers. 
 
 Theranos would now focus its "undivided attention" on its miniLab platform, Holmes said, adding, "Our ultimate goal is to commercialize miniaturized, automated laboratories capable of small-volume sample testing, with an emphasis on vulnerable patient populations, including oncology, pediatrics, and intensive care." 
 
 Theranos' miniLab is a self-contained laboratory that allows a robot to run a number of tests on samples. The miniLab contains different modules that allow it to conduct a series of tasks that traditionally would require multiple, separate machines. ||||| Theranos Inc. said it will shut down its blood-testing facilities and shrink its workforce by more than 40%. 
 
 The moves mark a dramatic retreat by the Palo Alto, Calif., company and founder Elizabeth Holmes from their core strategy of offering a long menu of low-price blood tests directly to consumers. Those ambitions already were endangered by crippling regulatory sanctions that followed revelations by The Wall Street Journal of shortcomings in Theranos’s technology and operations. 
 
 ... ||||| For our stakeholders, 
 
 After many months spent assessing our strengths and addressing our weaknesses, we have moved to structure our company around the model best aligned with our core values and mission. 
 
 We have decided to close our clinical labs and Theranos Wellness Centers, which will impact approximately 340 employees in Arizona, California, and Pennsylvania. We are profoundly grateful to these team members, many of whom have devoted years to Theranos and our mission, for their commitment to our company and our guests. 
 
 We will return our undivided attention to our miniLab platform. Our ultimate goal is to commercialize miniaturized, automated laboratories capable of small-volume sample testing, with an emphasis on vulnerable patient populations, including oncology, pediatrics, and intensive care. 
 
 We have a new executive team leading our work toward obtaining FDA clearances, building commercial partnerships, and pursuing publications in scientific journals. 
 
 We are fortunate to have supporters and investors who believe deeply in our mission of affordable, less invasive lab testing, and to have the runway to realize our vision. 
 
 I look forward to sharing more with you as we progress along the way. 
 
 Sincerely, 
 
 Elizabeth Holmes
– After scandal and sanctions, Theranos says it is shutting down all of its blood-testing labs and laying off hundreds of workers. "We have moved to structure our company around the model best aligned with our core values and mission," Elizabeth Holmes, the embattled medical technology firm's founder and CEO, says in an open letter, announcing that the move will cost an estimated 340 jobs. She says the company is going to focus on its miniLab technology to "commercialize miniaturized, automated laboratories capable of small-volume sample testing, with an emphasis on vulnerable patient populations, including oncology, pediatrics, and intensive care." Theranos has lost major partnerships and is the subject of several investigations over its claim of being able to conduct blood tests using just one drop, CNBC notes, Holmes has been banned from owning or operating a lab for two years. The closing of its clinical labs marks a major shift for Theranos, but the new focus on selling equipment to outside labs will make it much easier for Holmes to remain in her position, reports the Wall Street Journal, which notes that the 32-year-old controls a majority voting stake in the firm and insiders say it would be very difficult to remove her from her position. (In August, Theranos withdrew its FDA clearance request for a miniLab Zika blood test.)