The CMO of Verily Life Sciences, formerly known as Google Life Sciences, is fielding criticisms that have the media drawing comparisons between the Google spinoff and embattled blood testing startup Theranos.
The criticisms, brought by STAT, the life sciences newsroom of The Boston Globe, came in a series of articles that outline morale problems, leadership departures and potentially overstated claims of the company's technologies. In particular, the articles doubt claims from Verily CEO Andrew Conrad that the company was close to creating a device similar to Star Trek's "Tricorder," a handheld scanner that can detect disease and patient data. Other projects that have been scrutinized include a five-year study to define "healthy" and find early markers of disease, as well as a contact lens that can sense blood glucose levels.
Directly responding to those doubts at the BIO International Convention, Verily CMO Jessica Mega, MD, said, "The freedom to think big … it's a real gift," STAT reported. She said the company was trying to foster a "creative environment," that is inspirational and encouraging for both successes and failures, according to the report.
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