Hemobiotech Inc. was formed to commercialize HBOC technology originally developed at Texas Tech University. By modifying hemoglobin with ATP, glutathione and adenosine, the company claims it eliminates toxicity and vasoactivity. The company also has evidence that HemoTech may have the added benefit of inducing erythropoiesis.

Despite decades of effort and more than $1 billion dollars invested in commercial blood substitute R&D, no products are approved for use in the US. Can next-generation companies succeed where so many others have failed?

World Blood Inc. is gamely trying to overcome the checkered past of blood substitutes with {Hemospan}, a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier.