Dallas-based HemoBioTech, which I profiled more than a year and a half ago, reported some encouraging news this week from a pre-clinical study of its human blood substitute product.
The company found that its HemoTech blood reduces the clotting and narrowing of the artery that often occur in patients who have been treated for coronary artery disease.
The company is still awhile off from getting HemoTech fully tested and approved for regular use, but the quest for a non-toxic substitute for human blood has a surprisingly long (and expensive and so far fruitless) history.
To quote, well, myself from my original article:
Synthetic blood has been sought after because it would be cheaper to produce and easier to store than regular blood, free of infectious diseases that occasionally slip into the human blood supply and compatible with all human blood types.
HemoTech could also be quite the moneymaker for HemoBioTech, as chairman and CEO Arthur Bollon told me for my original article:
“The market is unbelievable,” Mr. Bollon said. “The amount of human blood used worldwide is 100 million units a year. The cost of blood is $500 to $1,000 per unit. So the global market for blood is $50 billion to $100 billion.”
He said if his company can capture half the U.S. market, that would equal anywhere from $3 billion to $7 billion a year.
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