Who We Are
AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company founded in 2017 by world-leading gerontologist and bioentrepreneur Dr. Michael D. West, Ph.D., who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of understanding nature’s secrets of human aging. He is a highly-regarded pioneer in cellular aging, stem cell research, telomerase and cloning. He previously founded Geron Corporation where under his leadership the cell immortalizing gene known as telomerase was first isolated, he led the collaborative effort that resulted in the first isolation of pluripotent stem cells, and he spearheaded pioneering research to reverse the aging of human cells by nuclear transfer and related reprogramming technologies.
The mission of AgeX is to develop and commercialize novel therapeutics targeting biological aging based on an emerging understanding of the ‘clockwork mechanisms’ of human aging. We plan to apply these technologies in the practice of human medicine to extend human health and life spans.
Why Are We Targeting Aging
Many thought leaders recognize that aging is the most significant demographic trend of our time. The U.S. Census Bureau projects a sharp rise in the number of Americans aged 65 years and older, growing 50% from 49M in 2016 to 73M by 2030. Moreover, people aged 85 years and older are estimated to increase by 300% between 2016 and 2060.
This demographic shift poses a significant challenge to our medical, nursing, social and economic systems. The National Council on Aging in the U.S. states chronic conditions account for over 75% of national health care expenditure. The elderly having a higher prevalence of chronic disease than the young. Approximately, 80% of older adults have one chronic condition and 68% have two or more.
These significant demographic trends in the U.S. and other countries around the world, combined with the powerful new research capabilities available to modern medical researchers, led us to the conclusion that now is the moment in history for advancing biotechnology to human aging. At AgeX, we plan to target aging using our proprietary technology platforms to add value across the board from patients to clinicians, healthcare providers and healthcare payers as well as to our shareholders.
How Will We Combat Aging
Our PureStem® and iTR™ platforms, invented by our founder, reflect over 25 years of research and development in cellular therapies, cell immortality and regenerative biology. They are designed to address many of the largest unmet needs of an aging population, by translating state-of-the-art biomedical science relating to aging into potential first-in-class therapeutic cell therapies, small-molecule drugs and medical devices.
- PureStem®: Our pioneering platform to generate young pluripotent stem cell-derived cellular therapies for use in repairing tissues in the aged human body afflicted with degenerative disease.
- induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR™): This emerging technology is the most innovative work of our research team. In 2010, our scientists published in a peer-reviewed scientific publication that it is possible to reverse the age of human cells back to the very beginning of life. iTR is designed to harness similar processes to reverse aging and restore the capacity of tissues to regenerate following injury, a process which is lost with aging.
- UniverCyte™: Our innovative platform to confer low immune observability to our allogeneic cells, paving the way for universal, off-the-shelf cellular products.