Altos Labs, the massive but still relatively secretive $3 billion biotech, has forged a small acquisition of a startup seeking to reverse aging.
Altos, led by industry stalwarts
Hal Barron and Hans Bishop
, brought Dorian Therapeutics into its fold this week, according to LinkedIn posts from the company’s co-founders.
The acquisition marks a rare peek into the pipeline ambitions of Altos, which broke onto the scene in early 2022 with a reported $3 billion from the likes of Jeff Bezos,
8VC
and ARCH Venture Partners. Altos has what it calls institutes of science, medicine and computation, but it’s kept nearly all of its R&D efforts out of the public eye so far.
Dorian was working on so-called senoblockers, which are thought to be useful in “reactivating programs of youthfulness and regeneration,” according to an archived version of the startup’s website. The biotech said it had gathered
in vitro
and
in vivo
data that supported senoblockers’ potential in treating Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, diabetes and autoimmune diseases. It was starting with small molecules and saw further afield potential in using senoblockers for cellular and gene therapies in areas like oncology.
Stanford scientists Maddalena Adorno and Benedetta Di Robilant founded Dorian in 2018 and had secured seed funding from Pacific 8 Ventures, China-based Viva BioInnovator, Y Combinator, Blumberg Capital, the Longevity Fund and Boom Capital, according to some of the investors’ websites. The startup’s board members included former Sandoz CEO Jeff George and former Adicet Bio CEO Aya Jakobovits, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
Adorno and Di Robilant did not respond to emailed inquiries. An Altos spokesperson declined to disclose terms of the deal.
“Our program in cellular rejuvenation, which started years ago at Stanford University School of Medicine, will now continue at Altos Labs, with a brilliant research and leadership team,” Adorno, the CEO and co-founder, wrote in a LinkedIn
post
on Tuesday. “I am deeply optimistic about the current progress in aging, longevity, and cellular rejuvenation, and I am confident that this acquisition will contribute to the goal of benefiting patients worldwide,” Adorno continued.
Di Robilant, her co-founder and chief scientific officer, wrote in a separate post that she’s “proud” that Dorian’s approach to cellular rejuvenation “will now continue at Altos.”
“We’re grateful to Dorian co-founders Maddalena Adorno and Benedetta Di Robilant for agreeing to provide advisory support during a transition period, and to Principal Scientist Emilie Besnard, who will join the Altos team to continue her work begun at Dorian,” the Altos spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The longevity and anti-aging field has delivered a recent flurry of news. Sam Altman-backed Retro Biosciences inked a
blood disorder deal
and is working on a $1 billion fundraise. NewLimit recently nabbed a
$130 million Series B
. Meanwhile, a George Church-associated startup, called Matter Bio, is
looking for life-extending genes
.