Hero of the Day: Li Li, Pig Researcher

From pig guts to riches. I love this guy.

A pharmaceutical researcher who discovered a way to harvest blood thinner from pig’s intestines has become the richest man in China.

Mr Li owns about 40 per cent of the company and his wife holds 32 per cent.

Interest was fueled by the fact that Hepalink is the only Chinese company accredited by the US Food and Drug Administration to export heparin – a blood thinner harvested from pigs’ intestines and used in kidney dialysis and many types of surgery.
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After failed attempts to co-operate with state-owned firms, the couple set up Hepalink in 1998 to produce heparin using a procedure that Mr Li had been perfecting for 25 years.

He certainly doesn't need the charity, but given the chance I would buy dinner for Mr. Li in the most expensive restaurant in New York. So far, knock on wood, I have no need for his discovery. But the mere fact that he created it — and made a bundle off it — is such a joyous sight, that I would consider it money well spent.

Bravo, Mr. Li!