aging, venture Harvard prof David Sinclair backs anti-aging upstart Life Bio, which just raised $50M for research
by john carroll — on January 15, 2019 10:13 AM EST
You can add Life Biosciences to the list of biotech startups looking to make a name for themselves in the burgeoning field of anti-aging drug research.
David Sinclair
The Boston-based biotech — which has close ties to David Sinclair, a Harvard geneticist who’s been involved in a variety of startups — says today that it’s lined up $50 million in B round cash. There’s no word on who exactly is investing in the company, but there’s no shortage of ambition.
Tristan Edwards
“We have undertaken a big land-grab of longevity-related intellectual property and we have pulled together a lot of the world’s longevity scientists,” Life CEO Tristan Edwards told the Financial Timesin a preview of the announcement. Edwards co-founded the company alongside Sinclair.
The FT notes that the money is coming from wealthy investors attracted to the longevity field, but also offers no specifics. The report adds that the company valuation is set at an estimated $500 million.
Life’s claim to fame is that it’s pursuing what the team describes as “all 8” pathways involved in aging, which includes some familiar targets ranging from cell senescence to stem cell exhaustion and mitochondria dysfunction related to the body’s battery packs. And they’ve established 6 subsidiary units to go after these targets in a collaborative fashion, with Senolytic going after the old cells that accumulate in our bodies as we grow older.
Edwards is a transplant from Australia, which may help explain why Life just days ago invested $7.5 million in Prana Biotechnology $PRAN, a small Melbourne-based outfit that’s been engaged for years in high-risk neurodegeneration work.
Anti-aging research has looped in a variety of players, from Google’s Calico to Unity and Juvenescence. Others in biotech are targeting aging related diseases, like muscle weakness, but going after specific ailments along the path to longevity.
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