Federal health officials may ban Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of blood-testing start-up Theranos, from owning or running any labs for at least two years, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The move comes after the company failed to fix "major problems" at a California lab, according to a letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) obtained by the Journal. If any sanctions are enacted, a lengthy appeal process would be involved, according to the newspaper.

Theranos spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told CNBC she was hopeful that CMS would not impose sanctions, as the company works on comprehensive corrective measures, including the recent recruitment of an advisory board of scientific and medical experts. "But if they do, we will work with CMS to address all of their concerns," Buchanan confirmed to CNBC.