Shift Bioscience raised $16M to advance research into better drugs for aging-related disease

Shift Bioscience is a Cambridge-based biotech company working on identifying genes that can be safely activated to reverse the aging process. Central to Shift Bioscience's approach is its AI-powered cell simulation platform, which lets researchers understand how activating specific genes impacts the reversal of the aging process through generative AI models. Research into cell rejuvenation is key for developing better drugs and treatments for age-related illnesses. As the world's population ages and life expectancy increases, so does the number of age-related diseases. This places an additional burden on already-strained healthcare systems, making the need for treatment options like the ones researched by Shift Bioscience even more pressing.

Promising cellular rejuvenation techniques, like cellular reprogramming with Yamanaka factors, already exist but are constrained by the fact that not all genes can safely be activated to trigger the reversal of the aging process. According to Shift Bioscience, addressing the limitations of cell reprogramming could potentially unlock treatments for age-related diseases including hearing loss, cardiovascular disease, and osteoarthritis.

Undoubtedly a step in the right direction, the company recently announced it raised $16 million (£12.5 million) in a seed funding round led by BGF, bringing its total raised funds to $18 million. Investors F-Prime Capital, Kindred Capital, and Jonathan Milner also participated in the funding round. Shift Bioscience plans to use the funds to accelerate the development of its cell simulation platform, as the company continues advancing toward bringing therapeutic candidates to clinical trials. Shift Bioscience will also start the development of an intellectual property portfolio containing the age-reversal genes it identifies through its research.