Altos is a behemoth - raising over $3bn in capital. They’re by far the most heavily funded longevity company and have raised more than many successful startups do over their entire lives.

So, what is Altos up to?

Exec Sum

• Altos sees itself as the “Bell Labs” of aging biotech research. They’re closer to an academic institution than a company.

• They are focused on cellular rejuvenation - i.e. epigenetic reprogramming.

• They have $3bn in committed capital from investors (allegedly) including Yuri Milner and Jeff Bezos.

• The company is headed up by Hal Barron, formerly Chief Science Offices and President of R&D at GSK and President of R&D at Calico (another aging research company). Other founders include Rick Klausner (Juno, GRAIL), Hans Bishop (GRAIL, Juno), and Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte (Salk Institute).

Scientific Approach

Altos is an epigenetic reprogramming company. This puts them firmly in the category of primary hallmarks of aging.

While we can (and will) spend an entire post going through what reprogramming is, the basic premise rests on something called “gene expression”. Every person starts out as a single cell with one set of genes but winds up as a person with many cells which are very different from one another. In order to accomplish this, each cell needs to turn specific genes on and off, ie “express” them, so that Oops…I did it again is stuck in your head and not your left femur.

The mechanism of expression is called a transcription factor. The study of these transcription factors falls under the umbrella of something called epigenetics. Findings within the field of epigenetics tells us that, as cells age, their epigenetic profile changes in ways that cause different levels of gene expression and results in cells that perform worse than their young counterparts.

A famous study showed that by introducing a set of only four transcription factors, we can actually make a cell act young again.

Altos is trying to extend on that landmark study by finding new transcription factors that can turn back the clock on aging cells. Part of the challenge here is, as with any drug, finding something that doesn’t have unintended side effects. In the study linked above, a major issue with reverting the cells to their youthful state was a tendency for those cells to then spawn particularly nasty tumors. Needless to say, that’s a good reason why you haven’t been sprinkling transcription factors on your Corn Flakes.

Altos is particularly focused on rejuvenating cells in the kidney, liver, brain, and skin.¹

Company Structure

“Company structure” is a bit misleading - Altos Labs is less a company and more of a very, very well funded academic institution. They have some intent to commercialize but this seems to be in a very much “if it happens, it happens” mindset.

From Altos’ launch announcement: