Life Biosciences is an anti-aging company with the aim of developing therapeutics with the potential to reverse and prevent multiple aging-related diseases. As such they mean to extend our lifespan and increase our quality of life by removing diseases that occur as a result of the process of aging.
Feel welcome to share your own thoughts on this company in the comment section below as well. I will be happy to discuss and learn more about how you see their potential in this field.
The solution
Life Biosciences claim that aging is not caused through biological wear and tear, but rather through a specific set of biological mechanisms. They aim to target these mechanisms therapeutically. In order to do so Life Biosciences has developed two platform solutions that they plan to pursue.
I find it interesting that Life Biosciences are ruling out biological wear and tear as a cause for aging, seen as other anti-aging companies and research does point to this. However, seen as the company does not provide us with a source or reference as a basis for this statement it is difficult to assess the claim.
I added the below image of their pipeline from their official website – you can find a link at the end of this post:
The first platform called reprogram is based on partial epigenetic reprogramming via gene therapy and is currently in a preclinical phase with milestones set already for 2025 and 2026.
Basically the concept is to reprogram the epigenome of older cells to then represent the epigenome of younger cells. This will be done by using three of the four Yamanaka factors. The Yamanaka factors are well known and widely regarded as a path to achieve anti-aging properties.
To illustrate the mechanism of action I have added the following image from their official website:
Through this partial reprogramming of cells Life Biosciences are hoping to restore cells to their youthful stage, and as such prevent or reverse age-related diseases.
It will be interesting to see if they share their results from the preclinical trials, and if they are convincing enough to proceed with clinical trials in humans. Personally I am also curious to understand what animal model is being used for their preclinical trials as this will be important in terms of the confidence level of the results.
The second platform is called repair and is based on chaperone mediated autophagy and is currently in a discovery phase with a lead candidate expected to be identified sometime in 2024.
Basically chaperone mediated autophagy is a process that degrades unwanted proteins in cells. The activity of this process declines as we age and this is because of a reduced expression of a protein named LAMP2A. Lack of this protein causes an accumulation of proteins that are not being degraded and these protein aggregates can disrupt cellular function. In order to reverse this process Life Biosciences have identified a small molecule that increases LAMP2A expression in cells, and consequently chaperone mediated autophagy activity as well.
To illustrate the mechanism of action I have added the following image from their official website:
This process seems simple and straightforward, and as such I am very interested to see them move on to preclinical trials with this small molecule they have identified as an agent to reverse the age-related protein aggregates. Also, it would provide us indications of whether this hypothesis holds true – that these protein aggregates are causing the diseases, and if removing them is enough to reverse this pathological effect.
Albeit this platform is very early stage and it might be a while before we hear any news on the topic.
The company
Life Biosciences was founded in 2017 and has their headquarter in Boston, MA, USA. The company was founded by Tristan Edwards and David Sinclair, with the latter being one of the most prominent figures in the field of anti-aging research.
There is not much information available about the company and their financial situation outside of the most recent funding round being a series C from January 2022. This is a while ago, and we have to assume that the funding is still enough to keep them moving forward. However, if Life Biosciences are to enter clinical trials with their reprogram platform it is very likely that will be in need for further fundraising.
Read about more anti-aging companies on this website through this link.
