David Sinclair’s Life Biosciences raised $80 million to move a one-time anti-aging gene therapy into clinical testing, pursuing partial epigenetic reprogramming with Yamanaka factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4) delivered by AAV to rewind cellular aging.
The FDA has greenlit a Life Biosciences gene-therapy trial aiming to nearly reset aging cells, a landmark step in longevity research led by David Sinclair.
Life Biosciences presented preclinical data at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) conference demonstrating the ability to restore visual function in nonhuman primates (NHP) after delivery of a novel gene therapy candidate using a partial epigenetic reprogramming approach. The therapy significantly restored visual function in an NHP model of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a disorder similar to a stroke of the eye that is characterized by painless yet sudden loss of vision. The approach partially reprograms cells to resemble a more youthful state while retaining their original cellular identity.