ImmuneAGE Bio launches to rejuvenate the immune system targeting bone marrow stem cells
Source: PRNewswire
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico and LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ImmuneAGE Bio raised $2M and has built the first drug discovery platform to rejuvenate the entire immune system at the source: the hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs) residing in the bone marrow. The platform allows for large-scale ex vivo combinatorial drug screening for geroprotective cocktails of rejuvenating therapeutics. ImmuneAGE achieve 1000x expansion of HSCs, a factor of >70x more than prior efforts, allowing high throughput drug discovery in HSCs for the first time.
ImmuneAge Bio is now advancing 3 programs:
IA-101, an oral small molecule immune booster targeting respiratory infections and vaccine response in elderly patients.
IA-201, an immune rejuvenation cocktail for ex vivo use (on peripheral mobilized HSCs) targeting chemotherapy recovery and bone marrow transplantation.
IA-301, an HSC expansion platform targeting bone marrow transplantation as well as other immune cell types like T cells.
ImmuneAGE is now raising a seed round.
‘Immune Refresh Therapy’
Transplant of young bone marrow into aged mice can extend lifespan by ±30% (largest lifespan effect size of any therapeutic intervention tested to date). The entire immune system originates from HSCs.
Management Team
Founder & CEO: Sebastian Brunemeier, a longevity scientist by training. Previously co-Founder and CIO of Cambrian Biopharma, Founder & COO of Samsara Therapeutics, Principal at Apollo Health Ventures, General Partner at Healthspan Capital. Formerly Oxford and University of Amsterdam.
COO: Josef Christensen, PhD, Previously with McKinsey & Co focusing on pharma for 6 years, Former Global Commercial Associate Director for Stem Cell Therapies at Novo Nordisk, Former CBDO of StemMedical (second only company to have gotten regulatory approval for mesenchymal stem cell therapy in Europe), former Partner at Apollo Health Ventures, PhD in Regenerative Medicine and stem cell biology (Harvard & University of Copenhagen).
Scientific collaborators at the University of Oxford (Dr Adam Wilkinson) and University of Lausanne (Dr Nicola Vannini), research operations led by Dr Stephan Emmrich and Ryan Spangler.
Investors
Investors include 1517 Fund (Thiel Fellowship founders), Infinita Fund, Emerging Longevity Ventures, VitaDAO, Healthspan Capital, Balaji Srinivasan PhD (ex-a16z, The Network State), Thomas Ebeling (Fmr CEO of Novartis, board of Bayer and Lonza), Diane Seimetz PhD (Fresenius CSO & Founder of Biopharma Excellence), Karl Pfleger PhD (Google AI, longevity superangel), Alberto Santagostino (Head of Gene and Cell Therapy at Lonza, fmr McKinsey partner), Jack O’Meara (Co-Founder of Ochre Bio), and more.