Shift Bioscience—a biotech company using generative AI models to understand how activation of different genes can reverse the aging process—announced it raised $16 million in seed funding. This round was led by BGF, with existing investors F-Prime Capital, Kindred Capital, and Jonathan Milner participating.
This research is fundamental to designing more effective drugs to treat age-related diseases. This investment will be used to continue developing Shift Bioscience’s AI cell simulation platform, which aims to identify genes that can safely rejuvenate cells to combat the effects of age-related illnesses.
The average life expectancy increased over the last century, which led to a rise in the number of people suffering from age-related illnesses, increasing the strain on healthcare systems. And cellular reprogramming with Yamanaka factors represents technology that could rejuvenate cells, offering the opportunity to develop new treatments that target multiple diseases of aging, from hearing loss to cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis. But there is a pressing need to identify gene-factors that can be used to reprogram cells with proven safety.
Shift Bioscience is creating a cell simulation platform that combines generative AI with its highly accurate and high-throughput biological aging clock to predict which sets of genes are most likely to safely rejuvenate specific cells and then test, improve and validate these predictions. And the preliminary results from the platform were well received at the 2024 Gordon Research Conference on Systems Aging.
The company plans to use the seed funding to accelerate the development of its AI cell simulation platform, enabling the identification of novel genes for the safe rejuvenation of cells indicated in age-related illnesses. This funding will also support the development of an IP portfolio for the novel rejuvenation genes identified by Shift Bioscience. The new investment brings the total raised by the company to $18 million (£14 million).
KEY QUOTES:
“Our technology is addressing the current limitations of cellular reprogramming for treatment of age-related illnesses. This investment is indicative of the strength of our approach and is one of the earliest funding rounds for a biotech start-up exclusively focused on the rapidly emerging field of cell simulation for target discovery. This additional funding will allow us to accelerate the development of our platform and bring cell rejuvenation therapeutics closer towards clinical trial.”
– Dr. Daniel Ives, CEO, Shift Bioscience
“We’re excited to be backing a British company at the forefront of developing a new class of regenerative medicines. Combining machine learning with lab-based biology, Shift’s well-developed platform represents a significant opportunity to address the growing challenges of treating age-related disease and illnesses.”
– Tim Rea, head of early stage at BGF
