BioAge Labs has entered a multi-year research partnership with Novartis to discover and validate new therapeutic drug targets that address ageing-related diseases.
The partnership is set to combine BioAge's human longevity datasets with the expertise of Novartis in exercise biology.
BioAge will receive an upfront payment and research funding that could total $20m. It may also earn $530m on reaching potential long-term research, development and commercial milestones.
BioAge Labs CEO and co-founder Kristen Fortney stated: "Our platform, built on extensive longitudinal human longevity data, has allowed us to identify promising therapeutic pathways with significant potential to improve health outcomes.
“This collaboration with Novartis showcases the value of our platform and expands our capacity to discover and develop novel targets based on the insights from our data."
The discovery platform of BioAge has exclusive accessibility to longitudinal human ageing cohorts that have been monitored for up to 50 years.
It integrates comprehensive health records and functional measurements, employing analytics and machine learning to detect key factors that contribute to a healthy lifespan, which can be harnessed for the discovery and development of therapeutics.
Novartis Biomedical Research Diseases of Ageing and Regenerative Medicine (DARe) global head Michaela Kneissel stated: “We are excited to collaborate with BioAge, applying their human longevity data together with our scientific expertise in the biology of physical exercise to discover novel therapeutic targets.
“By exploring the intersection of human ageing biology and the biological drivers of the beneficial effect of physical exercise, we aim to bring forward novel treatment options for diseases related to ageing.”
Both companies retain the rights to the new targets identified through the partnership and will be qualified for tiered royalties and reciprocal success milestones.
In February 2024, BioAge raised $170m in an oversubscribed Series D funding round for advancing the development of treatments targeting obesity and metabolic diseases.
