Theranos will be retiring its board of counselors next year, Business Insider reports.
The board, which includes big names in government, acted as advisors to the now-embattled CEO Elizabeth Holmes. According to Business Insider, among those leaving are Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, both former US secretaries of state.
One of the criticisms about Theranos as it struggled with questions regarding its technology and proficiency testing was that its board of directors had little experience in the sciences, Business Insider notes. To counter that, the firm established scientific and medical advisory board and moved many members of its board of directors to a board of counselors. The firm is facing regulatory sanctions, including the barring of Holmes from running a clinical lab, following an inspection by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulators that uncovered "condition-level deficiencies." Theranos has since closed its labs and has said it will be shifting away from blood testing to technology development.
Business Insider adds that Riley Bechtel from the construction firm Bechtel Group is leaving the board of directors immediately due to health concerns. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Bechtel had invested in Theranos. But, Business Insider says that James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, is to remain on the board. The current board of directors also includes William Foege, a director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Fabrizio Bonanni, a former executive vice president at Amgen, among others, along with Holmes herself.