Rejuvenation Technologies, a biotechnology company based in Mountain View, California, has raised $10.6 million in seed funding to develop mRNA-based therapeutics to address the mechanisms of aging. The funding round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Shanda Ventures, Asymmetry Ventures, Merchant Adventures, Longevity Tech Fund, and Y Combinator. The total amount raised to date by Rejuvenation Technologies is now $15.2 million.
The company will use the funds to advance its programs to IND approval in fibrotic diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. They will also conduct early research targeting the immune system and bring on additional team members to oversee scale-up manufacturing, clinical operations, and R&D efforts to expand mRNA delivery capabilities to additional organ systems. Rejuvenation Technologies was founded by John Ramunas, Ph.D., CEO, and Glenn Markov, Ph.D., COO. The company's lead candidate targets telomere shortening, one of the key hallmarks of aging. Ramunas and Markov developed this technology while working in the lab of Helen Blau, Ph.D., a co-founder of Rejuvenation Technologies and a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Stanford University. Dan Chambers, thoracic transplant physician and lung fibrosis disease expert from The University of Queensland, will join the company as Chief Medical Officer. “We are excited to announce this funding round, which will allow us to accelerate our efforts to develop mRNA-based therapeutics that address the mechanisms of aging,” said Ramunas. “We believe that our technology has the potential to significantly improve the lives of people with chronic age-related diseases.”
The company's funding round is a sign of the growing interest in developing therapies to address the aging process. Aging is a complex process that involves a number of changes in the body, including telomere shortening, epigenetic reprogramming, and accumulation of damage to DNA and proteins. These changes can lead to a variety of chronic age-related diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and dementia. Rejuvenation Technologies is one of a number of companies developing mRNA-based therapeutics to address aging. Other companies in this space include Unity Biotechnology, AgeX Therapeutics, and Sirnaomics. The development of mRNA-based therapeutics is a promising area of research, but it is still in its early stages. It will take many years of research and development before these therapies are available to patients. However, the potential benefits of these therapies are significant, and the funding round announced by Rejuvenation Technologies is a positive step forward.
