NOVATO, Calif--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Insilico Medicine, and Juvenescence Ltd announced today that they have formed Napa Therapeutics, Ltd to develop drugs against a novel aging-related target. The Buck Institute is one of the leading research centers in the world focused solely on research on aging and the elimination of age-related disease. Insilico Medicine is an AI company focused on a range of verticals devoted to aging. Insilico Medicine stands to earn more than $100M in milestone payments should the program be successful. Juvenescence is a company focused on developing drugs to modify aging and the diseases of aging.
Napa Therapeutics is based on groundbreaking research in NAD metabolism conducted in the lab of Eric Verdin, MD, President and CEO of the Buck Institute. The Verdin lab will collaborate with Napa, using Insilico’s drug development engine to speed the discovery of new compounds. “This is a unique opportunity to use cutting-edge AI to accelerate drug discovery,” said Dr. Verdin. “The Buck is excited to join forces with Insilico and Juvenescence as we work to eliminate the threat of age-related disease for this and future generations.”
“I am most excited by this model and the ability to combine the quality science of the Buck Institute with the remarkable deep learning engine at Insilico Medicine. To me this is another big step in the evolving process of using AI with HI (human intelligence) to extract the best of both systems,” said Gregory Bailey, MD, CEO of Juvenescence. “Napa Therapeutics lets Juvenescence deepen our collaboration with the Buck Institute and with Insilico Medicine. We hope to shorten the time required to identify molecules that can be brought to the clinic and most importantly help patients.”
“We are very happy to partner with the Buck Institute and Juvenescence around a very promising set of targets in a pathway overlooked by the pharmaceutical industry. Aging research is among the most altruistic causes that will improve and extend the lives of everyone on the planet and reduce the pain and suffering associated with the age-associated diseases. However, in order to scale, our efforts must become sustainable and provide reasonable returns to investors. If successful, Insilico Medicine alone stands to earn in excess of $100 million in milestone payment from this deal”, said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine.
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About Napa Therapeutics. Ltd
Napa Therapeutics, Ltd. is a biotechnology company focused on a novel target linked to one of the fundamental processes of aging. A privately held British Virgin Islands company with an office in the Isle of Man, Napa is developing small molecule drugs to address this target.
About the Buck Institute for Research on Aging
Our success will ultimately change healthcare. At the Buck, we aim to end the threat of age-related diseases for this and future generations by bringing together the most capable and passionate scientists from a broad range of disciplines to identify and impede the ways in which we age. An independent, nonprofit institution, our goal is to increase human health span, or the healthy years of life. Globally recognized as the pioneer and leader in efforts to target aging, the number one risk factor for serious diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, macular degeneration, heart disease, and diabetes, the Buck wants to help people live better longer. Learn more at: https://buckinstitute.org
About Juvenescence, Ltd.
Juvenescence Limited is a company focused on developing therapies and drugs to increase human longevity and complementary investments in related sectors. It was founded in 2017. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced entrepreneurs and drug developers focused on life science and commercial drug development. Juvenescence creates new ventures and invests time and money directly in both start-up and in conjunction with established longevity related companies offering operational support.
Juvenescence believes that advances in science have made real the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing some elements of ageing and is assembling a pipeline of therapeutic agents through joint ventures.
About Insilico Medicine, Inc.
Insilico Medicine is an artificial intelligence company with R&D offices and resources in the US, Belgium, Russia, the UK, Taiwan and Korea, sourced through hackathons and competitions. The company and its scientists are dedicated to extending human productive longevity and transforming every step of the drug discovery and drug development process through excellence in biomarker discovery, drug development, digital medicine and aging research.
Insilico pioneered the applications of the generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning for generation of novel molecular structures for diseases with a known ligand and with no known targets. In addition to working collaborations with large pharmaceutical companies, the company is pursuing internal drug discovery programs in cancer, dermatological diseases, fibrosis, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, diabetes, sarcopenia, and aging. Through a partnership with LifeExtension.com the company launched a range of nutraceutical products, compounded using advanced bioinformatics and deep learning techniques. It also provides a range of consumer-facing applications, including Young.AI.
In 2017, NVIDIA selected Insilico Medicine as one of the Top 5 AI companies for potential in social impact. In 2018, the company was named one of the global top 100 AI companies by CB Insights. In 2018 it received the Frost & Sullivan 2018 North American Artificial Intelligence for Aging Research and Drug Development Award accompanied by industry brief. Brief company video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l62jlwgL3v8.