Ambrosia Medical (plasma transfusion)
From Kook Science
| Ambrosia Medical | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2016 |
| Purpose/focus | Blood (plasma), transfusion services |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Founder | Jesse Karmazin |
| Website | ambrosiaplasma.com |
Ambrosia Medical is (or was) a San Francisco-based blood services company, founded in 2016 by Jesse Karmazin, a Stanford graduate, that offers "young blood" (the blood of persons aged 16-25) plasma transfusions, promoting such treatments as having anti-aging properties and other health benefits. Participants in a preliminary trial of the treatment paid $8,000 per 1.5 litres of plasma; the first public prices were set at $8,000 per litre, or $12,000 per two litres. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated in February 2019 that "there is no proven clinical benefit of infusion of plasma from young donors to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent these conditions, and there are risks associated with the use of any plasma product." While Ambrosia briefly suspended operations in response, it was reported to have ultimately re-opened its clinic in November 2019 and resumed services, though appears to have since shuttered again.
Reading
- Brodwin, Erin (25 Sep. 2018), A Controversial Startup That Charges $8,000 to Fill Your Veins With Young Blood is Opening Its First Clinic, businessinsider.in, https://www.businessinsider.in/a-controversial-startup-that-charges-8000-to-fill-your-veins-with-young-blood-is-opening-its-first-clinic/articleshow/65941585.cms
- Hatmaker, Taylor (19 Feb. 2019), FDA Warning Brings Controversial Young Blood Transfusion Company to a Halt, techcrunch.com, https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/19/fda-warning-blood-transfusions-ambrosia-medical/
- Statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., and Director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., cautioning consumers against receiving young donor plasma infusions that are promoted as unproven treatment for varying conditions, fda.gov, 19 Feb. 2019, https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/statement-fda-commissioner-scott-gottlieb-md-and-director-fdas-center-biologics-evaluation-and-0
- Mullin, Emily (8 Nov. 2019), Ambrosia, the Young Blood Transfusion Startup, Is Quietly Back in Business, onezero.medium.com, https://onezero.medium.com/exclusive-ambrosia-the-young-blood-transfusion-startup-is-quietly-back-in-business-ee2b7494b417
- Pan, GQ (11 Nov. 2019), A Young Blood Transfusion Company Resumes Services Despite FDA Warning, theepochtimes.com, https://www.theepochtimes.com/a-young-blood-transfusion-company-resumes-services-despite-fda-warning_3143007.html