The he-said, she-said saga continues between The Wall Street Journal and Theranos.
WSJ reported Tuesday the Palo Alto, Calif.-based blood test startup Theranos is negotiating with grocery chain Safeway to terminate a $350 million deal to build more than 800 clinics in Safeway supermarkets.
Former Safeway executives said the deal — which was never publically disclosed, but dates back to 2011 — involved plans to outfit its clinics with Theranos blood analyzers, according to WSJ.
However, the project, dubbed "T-Rex," had trouble getting on its feet, according to the report. During a testing phase, Safeway executives said Theranos conducted blood testing at the headquarters clinic and often drew blood through both a finger prick and the arm, according to the report. They also told WSJ they were concerned that the results of some of the Theranos tests were different than results from other labs. Additionally, WSJ reported Theranos reversed plans to put blood analyzers in the clinics, and instead said the blood samples would have to be shipped to a central lab, according to the report.
The project has been on pause for more than a year, with the clinics in use primarily for vaccines, according to the report.
Theranos, however, was quick to fire back a statement refuting the claims made in The Wall Street Journal. "We were disappointed to see yet another inaccurate WSJ article, entirely relying on anonymous sources. As we relayed to the Journal, the information published in this piece is again inaccurate, misleading and defamatory," the statement reads.
The company has spoken out against WSJ a number of times in the past few weeks in regards to the accuracy of its reporting.
"No amount of cynical and misleading news coverage will stop us from focusing on our mission and our goals. Theranos remains committed to bringing actionable, accessible and affordable health information to those who need it most," the Theranos statement continues. It also says the company will now be open to peer review.
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