Young blood in question
We will find out if young blood prolongs life
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
The idea of using the blood of young people as a remedy for aging is becoming increasingly popular. There are many such startups in the USA. And if some companies are ready to carry out transfusions right now, others are using a more scientific approach.
One of the most scandalous startups of 2018 was Ambrosia, which promises its customers to slow down aging by transfusing blood from young donors. There is no evidence that this approach really works. However, this does not prevent a startup from earning and developing.
In September last year, Ambrosia founder Jesse Karmazin announced plans to open a clinic in New York. However, this did not happen. According to the company's updated website, its services can be used in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Omaha and Tampa.
The cost of transfusion of one liter of young blood will be $ 8000, and two liters – $ 12,000. You can pay for the procedure using PayPal.
In addition to the failure with the New York clinic, Ambrosia lost an important employee – David Cavalier. The company's executive director left in January, according to Business Insider.
Ambrosia is far from the only startup that is looking for an anti–aging remedy in young blood. Its competitor, Alkahest, founded in 2014, takes a more scientific approach and is in no hurry to start providing services.
This month, Alkahest researchers published the results of a 2017 experiment in which nine patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease received blood transfusions from young and healthy volunteers.
According to the company's CEO Karol Nikolic, the elderly participants showed noticeable cognitive improvements.
The ultimate goal of Alkahest is to isolate proteins from blood plasma that have a rejuvenating effect, Business Insider reports. In particular, the startup hopes to find among them a cure for age–related macular degeneration - the main cause of vision loss in people over 50 years old. Today, this disease is treated with regular injections of drugs directly into the eye, but the creation of a pill would make life much easier for patients.
One protein candidate for this role has already been found. Based on it, an experimental drug AKST-4290 was created, which is currently in the second stage of clinical trials. A larger study will start at the end of the year.
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