Lost in Transfusion
The Bloody Tale of Ambrosia, the Startup That Wants to Slow Aging
Jesse Karmazin gave young blood to old people, hoping to work miracles. Then the FDA brought the hammer down.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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In 2016, a tiny startup announced an experiment that seemed equal parts medieval sorcery and science fiction: It would inject older people with the blood plasma of young donors in a bid to slow aging.
For three years, Ambrosia Chief Executive Officer Jesse Karmazin charged patients $8,000 to infuse one liter of plasma as part of an unorthodox, crowd-funded clinical trial. Karmazin promised extraordinary results—going so far as to proclaim in media interviews that his treatment “comes pretty close” to immortality.