As CEO & founder of RedC Biotech, Ari Gargir, 57, is tackling worldwide blood shortages via an innovative technology that creates universal red blood cells without donors.
PhD in microbiology from Tel Aviv University Medical School
Second Israeli alumnus of the International Space University
Won first place in the Startup of Israel contest in 2020 and the Aviram Foundation Tech for Humanity Awards in 2022
Our mission at RedC Biotech is to produce donor-free universal red blood cells, for lifesaving transfusions and advanced therapies, with the goal of making red blood cell treatments an off-the-shelf pharmaceutical product, reducing and eventually eliminating dependence on blood donors worldwide.
In low-income regions, there are chronic shortages in blood supply, and many suffer or die from inadequate or insufficient blood supply. Blood shortages occur from time to time in Israel and in high-income countries. We are going to change this, making blood always available everywhere, saving the lives of millions.
There are many technological and financial, regulatory, and commercial challenges on this journey, but so far, the biggest challenge seems to be convincing investors to see beyond the short term to the impact their investment could have on human lives and the immense commercial potential for this product in an annual market of $50 billion.
“I envision a very bright future in which we wake up and learn how to use technology for good.”
I am motivated by the opportunity to save lives, to do good, to make a positive change in the world and to contribute to the establishment of a strong industry that is bringing a brighter future to Israel and the world. My children motivate me as well — I want to provide them with a good future and be a positive role model.
I envision a very bright future, a utopian sci-fi-like humanity, in which we wake up and learn how to use technology for good — to make resources abundant for all humans, reduce conflicts and suffering, to restore the environment slowly to where it was years ago — while humanity reaches higher levels of tolerance and dignity.
