The next battleground for anti-aging is on the cellular level.
The latest: NewLimit, a biotech company attempting to extend human healthspan, raised $40M in a Series A round.
Co-founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the company has raised $150M to date on promises to “cure aging.”
What it is: NewLimits’ research centers on manipulating cells, epigenetically reprogramming them from old to young.
In what’s described as a “watershed moment,” the company believes it can eventually treat or prevent chronic age-related diseases, including fibrosis, infections, heart disease, and dementia.
With new funding in hand, NewLimit is developing its first product by reverse-engineering the immune system to make it more functionally aligned with a pre-aged state.
Forever Young
Brian Armstrong joins a growing list of tech founders pursuing longevity enhancement — Amazon’s Jeff Bezos backed Altos Labs, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman invested $180M into Retro Biosciences, and Spotify’s Daniel Ek launched a precision diagnostics company.
Still nascent, while NewLimit’s offering takes shape, epigenetic startups are going mainstream.
- In February, David Sinclair’s Tally Health launched its DTC biological age clock service that combines cheek swab diagnostics and precision supplementation.
- In May, InsideTracker added women’s hormonal markers to its healthspan optimization platform.
- This week, ImmuneAGE Bio, a drug discovery firm focused on immune system rejuvenation, received $50K from VitaDAO, a decentralized longevity community.
Elsewhere… From wellness studios to longevity clinics, consumers are taking preventative health and anti-aging into their own hands.
Punchline: As scientists close in on reversing aging, ethicists will surely have something to say. But, if the winning therapeutics take the same route as “miracle” weight loss drugs, the fight for a fountain of youth pill could turn ugly.