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personpersonWade MiquelonWade MiquelonFormer Walgreens chief financial officer involved in the company's Theranos partnership.← All People
WitnessWalgreens

Wade Miquelon

Former Walgreens chief financial officer involved in the company's Theranos partnership.

AppearedFederal Criminal Trial
861 lines·8 proceedings·4 mentions

About

Wade Miquelon testified for the prosecution as Walgreens's former chief financial officer, describing the company's evaluation of Theranos and the assumptions behind a proposed laboratory-services partnership. He said Walgreens understood that Theranos would offer broader access to rapid, lower-cost testing, using predominantly fingerstick samples analyzed on Theranos devices with less reliance on conventional laboratory infrastructure.

Miquelon connected those anticipated capabilities to Walgreens's economic and operational assessment. He testified that conventional analyzers, venous draws, or slower processing would eliminate particular expected benefits. He described a national rollout conditioned on successful pilots and successive performance criteria, and recalled an innovation fee, a possible convertible note, and an equity investment while qualifying some financial details as matters of recollection.

On cross-examination, Miquelon agreed that moving testing from stores to an offsite location eliminated the expected 15-to-30-minute in-store result and introduced transportation and refrigeration costs, though he described regulatory and operational reasons for the change. He also acknowledged that Johns Hopkins evaluators relied on information and demonstrations supplied by Theranos rather than independently operating an Edison. His answers repeatedly noted limits in his health-care and legal expertise, the passage of time, and uncertainty about some agreement terms, but he did not accept that the earlier representations had necessarily become irrelevant after the operating model changed.

On redirect, Miquelon said his enthusiasm depended on assurances from Holmes and Balwani that the technology worked and that most testing would use fingersticks. He did not recall being told that device limitations caused the phased rollout or the later predominance of venous draws. He contrasted Walgreens's expectation of about 90 percent fingerstick testing with a period when fingerstick use fell almost to zero, and said his later supportive communications reflected his favorable experience and desire to believe the technology worked, while recognizing that he did not have all the facts.

Trial Record (8)

FederalFederal Criminal TrialAug 31, 2021 – Jan 3, 2022Called by prosecution

Wade Miquelon testified as Walgreens's former chief financial officer about the technological claims, financial commitments, and conditional rollout expectations underlying its Theranos partnership. Cross-examination examined the changed operating model and limits of independent diligence, while redirect linked his enthusiasm and later support to assurances about working technology and predominantly fingerstick testing.

Day 17

Day 18

RedirectWade Miquelon — RedirectWade MiquelonJeff Schenk8highlights64lines spoken

Summary

Miquelon linked his confidence in Theranos to assurances that its technology worked and would support predominantly fingerstick testing, while qualifying his later supportive communications as based only on what had been represented to him.

Highlights (8)

testimony highlightMiquelon said regulatory uncertainty and practical economics contributed to the phased rollout, and he did not recall being told that device limitations prevented placement of Theranos devices in Walgreens stores.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightUsing Exhibit 617, Miquelon explained that the nationwide objective contemplated the vast majority of testing by fingerstick rather than venipuncture.Open in transcript →
admissionMiquelon testified that his enthusiasm depended on representations that the technology worked and that most blood tests would use fingersticks; if those representations were untrue, he said that would affect both the value proposition and Theranos's credibility.Open in transcript →
Quote“WELL, IT WOULD GO TO THE HEART OF A FEW THINGS. IT WOULD GO TO THE HEART OF THE VALUE PROPOSITION, CAN YOU DO IT BETTER, FASTER, CHEAPER, OR ONLY ONE OR ONLY TWO OF THE ABOVE? IT WOULD ALSO PROBABLY GO TO THE HEART OF JUST CREDIBILITY IN TERMS OF WHAT HAD BEEN REPRESENTED TO ME.”— Wade MiquelonMiquelon connected the truth of Theranos's technology representations to both the proposed service's value and the company's credibility.Open in transcript →
Show all 8 highlights
testimony highlightMiquelon explained that his later supportive emails reflected his favorable experience and desire to believe the technology worked, while emphasizing that he lacked all the facts and knew only what had been represented to him.Open in transcript →
Quote“I THINK I DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE THERE WERE THINGS THAT I BELIEVED WEREN'T TRUE IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY BEING ABLE TO WORK THEY WAY THAT IT WAS REPRESENTED TO US.”— Wade MiquelonMiquelon explained why he retained a favorable impression despite later negative reporting, qualifying the significance of his supportive communications.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightMiquelon recalled that an initial expectation of roughly 90 percent fingerstick testing fell to almost zero for a period. He attributed Holmes's explanations to collection technique and unexpectedly frequent orders for obscure tests, not to device limitations.Open in transcript →
Quote“WHAT I RECALL IS THAT IN THE EARLY PILOTS WE, I THINK, INITIALLY THOUGHT 90 PERCENT OF A TEST WOULD BE DONE VIA A FINGERSTICK, BUT IT ENDED UP BEING VERY LOW FOR A WHILE, ALMOST CLOSE TO ZERO, AND JUST HAVING A CONVERSATION TO UNDERSTAND WHY VENOUS PUNCTURE WAS THE PREDOMINANT METHOD VERSUS FINGERSTICKS.”— Wade MiquelonMiquelon described the substantial difference between Walgreens's initial fingerstick expectation and what occurred during part of the early pilots.Open in transcript →

Day 33

Day 34

CrossBrian Grossman — CrossBrian GrossmanLance A. WadeMentioned

Summary

Grossman acknowledged that PFM knew of technical, regulatory, execution, venous-draw, and patient-experience risks before investing, while maintaining that PFM conducted extensive diligence, viewed many risks as limited or manageable, and relied partly on Theranos representations when access to company-specific outside review was restricted.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Day 38

DirectElizabeth A. Holmes — DirectElizabeth A. HolmesKevin M. DowneyMentioned

Summary

Holmes described Theranos's 4 Series development, Walgreens and Safeway partnerships, clinical validation, FDA disclosures, marketing, investor communications, and financial projections. She admitted adding pharmaceutical logos to Theranos reports and regretted how that was handled, while attributing limited disclosure of modified commercial analyzers to trade-secret advice.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Day 43

RecrossElizabeth A. Holmes — RecrossElizabeth A. HolmesRobert S. LeachMentioned

Summary

Holmes agreed that Theranos's trade-secret policy permitted confidential disclosures to partners protected by agreements, including Walgreens and pharmaceutical companies. She also confirmed the limited Walgreens rollout, the timing of its $75 million payment, and investors' entitlement to truthful information about current capabilities before leaving the stand.

Mentioned in this proceeding.