This is a weekly update on the latest in longevity. It includes three items in each of these three areas: news, research, jobs, and interviews.

Things to know

Here’s what’s going on in longevity.

1. Aging Research and Drug Discovery Meeting (ARDD) wraps up
   While one of the largest longevity conferences in the world wrapped up last month, I recently found this interesting photo of a slide from one of the mostly untalked about talks:

   

   h/t lifespan.io

    

   Glossed over in reports of the conference, the presentation was given by Michael Ringel, managing director and senior partner at BCG. In order to get longevity products to market, Ringel advocates for getting the public and policy makers involved earlier in the process. The irony certainly isn’t lost on anyone who recognizes that this pitch was made at an insiders conference, but it’s important to get people working in the industry to start communicating to those outside of it.
   

2. Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to contributors in COVID mRNA vaccine
   External factors, such as viruses, will always be a threat to longevity. That’s why the introduction of mRNA vaccines is such a huge breakthrough. mRNA vaccines eschew the grow-and-purify process traditional vaccines need. Furthermore, it allows for almost software-like updates to the mRNA in the vaccine. This enables a more adaptive strategy to combat diseases as they mutate.
    

3. Families should have more children to care for aging UK population, minister says
   This echoes calls from leaders in Japan to Elon Musk. As populations age, it stresses the economy as people can no longer work at the same time the cost of their healthcare starts to rise. This puts pressure on younger people to compensate for both decreases in productivity and increases in spending, a double whammy. One outcome of better longevity treatments would be a decrease in healthcare costs for aging populations.

Research

A short review of some papers and reports, both recents and classics, related to aging.

Instead of reviewing three papers this week, I’m going to do a three part analysis on one deserving a deeper dive.

An essential fatty acid
You may be familiar with essential amino acids, the specific building blocks of proteins that your body cannot produce on its own and must be consumed in the diet.¹
Research published within the past few years suggests an “essential” fatty acid, C15:0, can help reduce inflammation, and improve metabolic function.² As we know, intercellular signaling and mitochondrial function are key hallmarks of aging.

Seeing this as a potentially new longevity supplement, the author of the original study has begun manufacturing and selling this compound in its pure form.

What’s the takeaway?

1. We’ve seen a lot of these types of products hit the market and we’re going to see a lot more. In the pretty much unregulated world of supplements, the thinnest veil of research can launch a brand charging hundreds of dollars for a niche pill, powder, liquid, etc.
   This is different. The original study was commissioned by the US Navy (who still hold the patent) and the paper reviewing the effects of the molecule on health is published in Nature with dozens of other corroborating studies conducted independently. Although classified as a supplement, it actually has some therapeutic effects.

2. It’s not a panacea. It’s just one part of a very large puzzle. Acting on mitochondria and intercellular signaling means C15 is not targeting “primary” causes of aging. Without targeting primary hallmarks, there’s only so far this single molecule can go in promoting longevity.

3. This is a template for the potential of anti-aging medications. The company that owns the exclusive license from the Navy on this specific molecule, fatty15, is a great example of how commercializing research and getting it into the hands of consumers (although not for everybody at $120/90 day supply). Although, by falling under the category of a supplement they don’t need FDA approval as a therapeutic. Most of the longevity drugs in the pipeline will require full FDA approval.

Get involved

A breakdown of the latest jobs at companies in or around the longevity space.

1. BioAge Labs
   BioAge works on running large, longitudinal studies  (ie following the same population over a long period of time) to identify molecules which have anti-aging effects. They currently have a molecule in Phase 2 trials and another in a Phase 2 pilot study.

   • (Senior) Director, Information Technology and Security
     Remote — $175k-$200k
     - Compliance, security, IT strategy and operations
     - Leadership position

2. Deciduous Therapeutics
   Deciduous is working on senolytics, the class of drugs responsible for removing senescent cells from the body. They’ve raised $16.5m and are hiring for a number of positions.

   • Head of CMC and Technical Operations
     San Fransisco
     - Advanced life sciences, chemistry, pharma degree
     - TechOps role, working cross-functionally to advance pipeline

3. NewLimit
   NewLimit is working on epigenetic reprogramming of cells, a primary hallmark of aging. It’s backed by $110m from Brian Armstrong (Coinbase), Founders Fund, Dimension Cap, & Kleiner Perkins.

   • Head of Operations
     South San Francisco — $150k-$240k
     - Leadership position: need to cover legal, finance, BD, HR, facilities management. Heavy TechOps role
     - Should be willing to get hands dirty - startup atmosphere

Cheers,

[1] Nine of the twenty amino acids are “essential” meaning they cannot be produced by the body and must be consumed: valine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, threonine, histidine, and lysine.

[2] Fatty acids are denoted by the length of their carbon chain in the format C[saturated]:[unsaturated](position) where “saturated” means single bond and “unsaturated” means double bond. Saturated fats are found in things like butter which are solid at room temp because the fully saturated chains line up nicely like lincoln logs. Olive oil is liquid at room temp because the unsaturated chains full of double bonds find it harder to align. This is the same reason why you’ll often hear that saturated fats clog your arteries.

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