LyGenesis, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on organ regeneration, announced today that they have completed a total of $4 million in private financing of convertible notes from Juvenescence, Ltd. and Longevity Vision Fund. Their technology uses lymph nodes as bioreactors to regrow functioning organs within a patient's own body. This financing will enable LyGenesis's lead program in liver regeneration to transition into clinical development, beginning with a Phase 2a clinical trial for patients with end stage liver disease in 2020.
"We have advanced our liver regeneration program through preclinical trials and this financing will help us to rapidly transition into a clinical-stage biotechnology company," said Michael Hufford, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of LyGenesis. "Our ability to use the lymph node as a bioreactor for organogenesis is also generating interest from partner companies looking for an enabling technology so that their genetically modified cell therapies are able to engraft, proliferate, vascularize, and produce a therapeutic effect in patients."
"We are thrilled to continue our financial support of LyGenesis as they transition into clinical development," said Greg Bailey, MD, Co-Founder and CEO of Juvenescence, and a member of LyGenesis's Board of Directors. Sergey Young, founder of Longevity Vision Fund, said "The ability to regenerate functioning ectopic organs was science fiction just a few short years ago. The progress of LyGenesis's technology is emblematic of the rapid advances we are witnessing as biotechnology transitions from bench research, to preclinical models, and now into the clinic."
About LyGenesis, Inc.
LyGenesis is a biotechnology company with an organ regeneration technology platform enabling a patient's lymph nodes to be used as bioreactors to regrow functioning ectopic organs. LyGenesis's lead allogeneic cell therapy program is focused on liver regeneration for patients with end stage liver disease. Its drug development pipeline includes thymus, pancreas, and kidney regeneration. Privately held, LyGenesis is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To learn more, please visit lygenesis.com.
About Juvenescence, Ltd.
Juvenescence Limited is a life sciences company developing therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs and investors with a significant history of success in the life sciences sector. Juvenescence will create, partner with or invest in new companies with longevity-related therapeutics, by in-licensing compounds from academia and industry, or forming joint ventures to develop therapeutics for longevity. Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of aging and seeks to develop therapeutics with the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing elements of aging. To learn more, please visit juvenescence.ltd.
About Longevity Vision Fund
Longevity Vision Fund is a $100M life extension-focused investment fund dedicated to making longevity affordable and accessible to all. Founded by Sergey Young, the fund accelerates breakthroughs in longevity by investing in start-ups and companies that develop technologies, products, and services that extend human lifespans and overcome the negative effects of aging. The Fund provides funding to biotech and life extension-focused companies developing early diagnostics, AI in healthcare, and therapies addressing age-related diseases. To learn more, please visit lvf.vc.
