Theranos 2.0: The fingertip blood test that may actually work

David Stein tells a familiar story. His start-up has invented a device that, with blood from a single finger prick, can run dozens of blood tests and free millions of people from their terror of needles. The $50 billion medical diagnostics business, and, by extension, healthcare itself, is set to be revolutionised.

Heard this one before? This was the narrative, of course, spun by Elizabeth Holmes, the Silicon Valley star turned convict. She was jailed this year after a court found that she had lied to investors about the blood-testing device invented by her start-up, Theranos.

Holmes’s downfall turned into one of the most salacious business stories of the century, spawning films, books and podcasts. While the drama unfolded, Stein, an engineering PhD who previously