Parents to be
Amnon Pelz is one of the developers and pioneers in the field of cord blood preservation in Israel, and is considered to be one of the most prominent experts in this field. As someone who connects scientific research, medical application, the insurance aspect and the business interface, Pelz is leading the cord blood preservation revolution to create a service accessible to the entire population and a shelf product available to everybody. Driven by his belief in the potential of stem cell therapy and his commitment to make new therapies based on Israeli scientific research available to the public, he is currently working to recruit investors from Israel and around the world and to connect them with Israeli medical centers.
Amnon Pelz was first introduced to this field – considered today to be one of the most promising fields of medicine – more than a decade ago. He was initially involved in risk management for cord blood banks, in collaboration with senior scientists from the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, who had reached the conclusion that cord blood banks must be established in Israel. This required extensive expertise in risk management, and Pelz was recruited for this task. As the years passed, he became a world-renowned expert in risk management for cord blood banking, and even wrote the first professional handbook in this field. Following this breakthrough, Pelz was appointed by Lloyds – the world’s leading insurance corporation – as a person authorized to sign insurance transactions related to cord blood banking on its behalf.
In addition to his work in risk management for cord blood banks, Pelz has helped biotechnology companies specializing in this field. His work was focused on Gamida Cell, a company currently owned by the Teva group and the businessman Moti Zisser. This company is currently involved in ex-vivo expansion of stem cells and is considered to be the most advanced company of its type in the world. In addition, the company is involved in the development and marketing of drugs for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. Pelz was an involved in the company’s activity under the previous ownership, when his expertise was required for establishing the company’s cord blood bank.
During his work with Gamida Cell, he developed close working relationships with Dr. Avi Treves, a world’s leading expert in the field of developing applications for stem cells, and Prof. Arnon Nagler, Director of Hematology at Sheba, a world-renowned scientist in the fields of stem cell transplantation in general, and cord blood stem cell transplantation in particular.
During this period, Amnon Pelz was also involved in the preparation of detailed business plans for cord blood banks, and served as the principal consultant for the Ayalon insurance company in this field.
Professional innovation
Over the years, Pelz developed the idea of creating a unique insurance policy, based on the concept that cord blood storage is a significant insurance event. As soon as the child for whom the cord blood was collected needs to use the cord blood unit, the case is actually an insurance event. This is an event that can be foreseen; it can be estimated in terms of its costs, its risks and its medical significance. Based on this concept, together with secondary insurers and senior actuaries, Pelz formulated the layout for the first insurance policy of its kind in Israel and in the world, designed to insure the collection, preservation and storage of umbilical cord blood, and its future use. The innovation of this policy was striking, as it provides a comprehensive solution for every possibility of saving a life.
Pelz joined with the Clal Insurance, Pension & Finance group to develop and market the policy, and created the infrastructure for the establishment of the world’s leading company in the collection, preservation and storage of umbilical cord blood – the Taburit group. The company was founded in collaboration with a team of senior scientists and experts in the field of medicine, who have been working with the company ever since.
However, in clear recognition of the fact that the establishment and maintenance of a cord blood bank requires medical knowledge and expertise that can not be offered by private companies, but only by leading medical institutions, who can undertake to store the blood for many years, Pelz instituted the principle that a private company is not yet mature enough to be the owner of a private blood bank, and can only constitute the marketing arm.
Thus, the next step was to join forces with a leading medical center, and indeed, the Taburit group won the tender for marketing the public and private cord blood bank of Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. Taburit has become the exclusive marketing arm of both cord blood banks – with the understanding that the private bank can subsidize the development of the public bank for the benefit of all – and it currently has an exclusive ten years contract with the bank.
A breakthrough in the world of medicine
The combination of a leading medical blood bank with a comprehensive and all-inclusive insurance solution turned the Taburit group into a leader in its field. The company’s important tidings – a unique insurance product combining biological insurance with classic insurance – boosts its development. While the biological insurance is designed to insure the collection and storage of stem cells from umbilical cord blood, the classic insurance provides very extensive coverage of the costs associated with the use of the blood unit itself and all the medical procedures involved in future transplantation. The insurance solution developed by Pelz, covering every need when saving a life, not only for stem cell transplantations, including overseas treatment if needed, is a breakthrough in the Israeli world of medicine.
In 2004, together with other investors, Pelz founded the Taburit group. He is involved in its development and in the expansion of knowledge for the benefit of the public. With the understanding that stem cells are the latest word in the biotechnology market, Pelz strives to enlist additional investors in Israel and overseas in order to promote scientific research in this field and to link them to the major Israeli centers of medical knowledge. He defines this task as one of critical importance for the Israeli medical world, which may help Israel to maintain its worldwide leadership and relative advantage in this field.
In view of the increasing worldwide demand for cord blood banks, Pelz is currently involved also in marketing the Israeli knowledge and experience to other countries and works with several international entities to spread the message of Taburit in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia. “In my field of expertise,” says Pelz, “the interface between medical sciences and insurance products – the Taburit group, in my opinion, represents the cutting edge of the Israeli market, in organizational terms, in insurance terms, and in terms of human resources.”
Amnon Pelz was born in Israel, he is married with three children, a resident of Oranit, second generation in the field of insurance, and current director of one of the leading insurance agencies in Israel. During his military career, Pelz was appointed by the Chief of Staff to establish the intelligence division of the Military CID. Pelz was praised for his work, and retired from the army holding the rank of captain. Over the years, he held several public positions in the Israel Association of Insurance Agents & Brokers, including president of the Association’s national court. He was one of the authors of the association’s code of ethics and the code of ethics for insurance agents, and was in charge of the association’s teleprocessing and computerization project. Pelz is still deeply involved in insurance issues – he writes, lectures, and advises many friends on insurance-related topics. Pelz is a graduate of the Israeli Insurance College, and is licensed to practice all fields of insurance.
