REUTERS/Brendan McDermidElizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, attends a panel discussion during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York, September 29, 2015.

Theranos, along with its CEO Elizabeth Holmes and former president Sunny Balwani have been charged by the SEC with "massive fraud," the agency said Wednesday.

"Investors are entitled to nothing less than complete truth and candor from companies and their executives," SEC's Enforcement Division co-director Steven Peikin said in a release. "The charges against Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani make clear that there is no exemption from the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws simply because a company is non-public, development-stage, or the subject of exuberant media attention."