Haifa (Weizmann Science Park). Founded 2001 as Pluristem Therapeutics by Shai Meretzki; renamed Pluri 2022. NASDAQ: PLUR; TASE: PLUR. CEO Yaky Yanay (sole CEO June 2019). 3D bioreactor + PLX placental cell platform. Cell therapy, cultured meat (Tnuva), agri-tech, biologics.
Israeli Health & Biotech | Olam.business
Pluri Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUR; TASE: PLUR) — formerly Pluristem Therapeutics — is a Haifa-based Israeli biotechnology company that develops and manufactures cell-based products for multiple industries using proprietary 3D bioreactor cell-expansion technology. Founded May 2001 by Shai Meretzki, based on technology originating at the Technion and the Weizmann Institute. Historically focused on placental adherent stromal cells (PLX cell therapy) for regenerative-medicine indications. In 2022 the company was repositioned under CEO Yaky Yanay from a single-vertical pharmaceutical company into Pluri Inc. — a multi-industry cell-based technology platform spanning cell therapy, cultured meat (via a Tnuva Group partnership), agri-tech, and biologics. FY 2025 revenue $1.34M — the first material commercial signal from the platform-pivot strategy. ~180 employees. CEO Yaky Yanay — former CFO of Elbit Vision Systems, former Co-Chairman of Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI).
Snapshot
| Location | Haifa, Israel (Weizmann Science Park) |
| Founded | May 11, 2001 (as Pluristem Therapeutics) |
| Renamed | Pluri Inc. (2022) — reflecting the pivot to multi-industry cell platform |
| Founder | Shai Meretzki |
| Technology origin | Technion and Weizmann Institute (bioreactor and cell-expansion IP) |
| Public listing | NASDAQ: PLUR; TASE: PLUR |
| Employees | ~180 |
| Core technology | Proprietary 3D bioreactor system for cell expansion; placental adherent stromal cell platform (PLX) |
| Cell source | Adult stem cells extracted from postnatal placentas (~20,000 doses per placenta) |
| Historic therapeutic focus | PLX cell therapy for ischemia, muscle injury, radiation exposure (Phase III programs) |
| 2022 pivot verticals | Cell therapy; cultured meat / food-tech (Tnuva partnership); agri-tech; biologics |
| CEO | Yaky Yanay (President Feb 2014; sole CEO June 2019) |
| Yanay prior role | CFO of Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. |
| CFO | Liat Zalts |
| CSO | Arthur Machlenkin |
| FY 2025 revenue (year ending June 30, 2025) | $1.34 million (material increase from prior year) |
The 2001 Founding — Meretzki, Technion, and the Placental Stem-Cell Thesis
Pluristem Therapeutics was founded on May 11, 2001 by Shai Meretzki, based on cell-expansion technology originally developed at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology — and the Weizmann Institute of Science. The founding thesis: that human placental tissue, discarded after full-term birth, was an underutilized source of therapeutic stem cells; and that a proprietary 3D bioreactor system could produce commercial-scale quantities of consistent, batch-controlled allogeneic cell products from a single placental donor.
The first-generation bioreactors were designed to expand hematopoietic cells. In 2006, the company converted the technology architecture to support the expansion of mesenchymal-like adherent stromal cells derived from full-term placentas. That conversion is the origin of the PLX cell product family — placental adherent stromal cell therapeutics that Pluri advanced through multiple clinical programs targeting ischemia, muscle injury, and radiation exposure.
The Yanay Era — Building Operating Discipline (2006–Present)
Yaky Yanay joined Pluri in 2006, moving over from the CFO role at Elbit Vision Systems Ltd. — a public Israeli machine-vision technology company. His initial role was Chief Financial Officer. He progressed through Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, President (February 2014), Co-CEO alongside Zami Aberman, and — from June 2019 — sole Chief Executive Officer.
Aberman transitioned to Executive Chairman of the Board in June 2019, formalizing the leadership handoff. Under Yanay's leadership, Pluristem advanced its PLX cell therapy programs to Phase III clinical status across multiple indications, treated hundreds of patients under the clinical-use pathway, and expanded the manufacturing infrastructure at the Haifa production facility.
Alongside the corporate role, Yanay served as Co-Chairman of Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI) — the largest umbrella organization representing Israel's life-sciences and high-tech industries — and remains a board member. He is an active anchor figure in the Israeli life-sciences ecosystem-building layer.
The 2022 Pivot — Pluristem to Pluri, and the Multi-Industry Repositioning
In 2022 the company was renamed from Pluristem Therapeutics to Pluri Inc. The rename encoded a strategic repositioning: from single-vertical pharmaceutical company (regenerative medicine only) to multi-industry cell-based technology platform. The four verticals of the current platform:
- Cell therapy (the historical business) — placental cell therapy candidates for regenerative-medicine indications remain in the pipeline. Yanay has publicly framed cell therapy as one of multiple industries the company operates in, rather than the sole business.
- Food-tech / cultured meat — a collaboration with the Tnuva Group (Israel's largest food producer) to develop raw materials for the cultured-meat category. The partnership leverages Pluri's cell-expansion infrastructure for large-scale animal-cell production.
- Agri-tech — cell-based products for agricultural applications, including plant-cell propagation and adjacent categories.
- Biologics — commercial cell-manufacturing services for external biopharmaceutical partners requiring large-scale cell production infrastructure.
The strategic logic: Pluri's core asset is the 3D bioreactor cell-expansion system, not any particular therapeutic pipeline. That infrastructure is applicable across every industry that requires large-scale, batch-consistent cell production. The pivot repositions Pluri as a horizontal cell-manufacturing platform — closer in industrial logic to a specialty chemicals manufacturer than to a traditional biotech pipeline company.
Revenue Signal — FY 2025
Fiscal Year 2025 (ending June 30, 2025) annual revenue reached $1.34 million — a substantial increase over the prior year and the first material commercial signal from the multi-industry pivot. The base is small relative to the equity capitalization, but the trajectory validates the strategic thesis. Yanay's operating priority through the current cycle is to grow non-therapeutic revenue lines (food-tech partnerships, agri-tech contracts, biologics manufacturing services) while continuing to advance the pharmaceutical pipeline.
Position in the Israeli Biotech Sector
Pluri sits at the intersection of two Israeli biotechnology traditions. The therapeutic-pipeline lineage runs through Compugen, Teva, and the Weizmann Institute IP base. The industrial-cell-manufacturing lineage runs through the Israeli food-tech cluster (Aleph Farms, Believer Meats, and others) and the Tnuva Group's cultured-meat program. Pluri is one of the few Israeli companies operating simultaneously across both lineages.
The Weizmann-and-Technion origin of the underlying IP; the ~180-employee headcount; the multi-industry commercial reach; and the public-market listing across NASDAQ and TASE — combined with an active US-Israeli ecosystem-building role via IATI — make Pluri a distinct case study inside the Israeli biotech sector.
Why Pluri Matters
Three reasons. First — the horizontal-platform pivot. Pluri is one of the first Israeli biotechnology companies to formally reposition from a single-vertical pharmaceutical company into a horizontal cell-manufacturing platform serving multiple industries. If the strategy scales, it will become a model for other Israeli cell-technology companies. Second — the Tnuva partnership. The cultured-meat collaboration with Israel's largest food producer is one of the most operationally-integrated food-tech partnerships in the Israeli sector. Third — the operating discipline. The 2019 sole-CEO transition (Aberman to Yanay) and the 2022 rename are the two institutional inflection points that mark the current Pluri as a fundamentally different company from the Pluristem of the 2010s — a discipline-first, multi-industry cell-manufacturing platform led by a CFO-turned-CEO with 20 years of operating history inside the company.
FAQ
Where is Pluri based?
Haifa, Israel — at the Weizmann Science Park.
What was Pluri formerly known as?
Pluristem Therapeutics. The company was renamed Pluri Inc. in 2022 to reflect the multi-industry cell-based technology platform strategy.
Who founded Pluri?
Shai Meretzki founded Pluristem Therapeutics on May 11, 2001, based on cell-expansion technology originally developed at the Technion and the Weizmann Institute.
Who is Yaky Yanay?
Chief Executive Officer and President of Pluri. Joined the company in 2006 as CFO after prior CFO role at Elbit Vision Systems. Sole CEO from June 2019. Board member and former Co-Chairman of Israel Advanced Technology Industries (IATI).
What is Pluri's cultured-meat partnership?
Pluri and the Tnuva Group — Israel's largest food producer — established a joint platform in 2022 for the development, production, and marketing of cultured food, using Pluri's cell-expansion technology to produce raw material for the cultured-meat market.
What is PLX?
Pluri's placental adherent stromal cell product family — an allogeneic, ready-to-use cell therapy platform. Historically the company's core therapeutic pipeline, targeting ischemia, muscle injury, and radiation exposure through multiple clinical programs.
Related Olam Coverage
- Israeli Health & Biotech — Olam's pillar coverage of the Israeli health and biotech sector
- The Israeli Medical Devices Cluster
- Weizmann Institute of Science
- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
- aMoon Fund: Marius Nacht's $1B+ Israeli Healthtech Venture Platform
- The Israeli Hospital Innovation Engine
The Olam Editorial Team