Partnership aims to uncover molecular factors of healthy aging and exercise, with potential milestones exceeding $530 million.
BioAge Labs has announced a multi-year research collaboration with Novartis – this partnership aims to identify and validate novel therapeutic drug targets by exploring the biological mechanisms underlying age-related diseases and the beneficial effects of physical exercise.
Under the terms of the agreement, BioAge will receive up to $20 million in upfront payments and research funding, with the potential for an additional $530 million contingent upon achieving long-term research, development and commercial milestones. This brings the total potential value of the collaboration to over half a billion dollars. Both companies retain the right to advance novel targets discovered during the collaboration and are eligible for reciprocal success milestones and tiered royalties.
Longevity.Technology: This collaboration marks a pivotal moment for BioAge, coming on the heels of its recent IPO, which raised $198 million and valued the company at approximately $606 million. While the partnership with Novartis reflects the pharmaceutical industry’s continued interest in BioAge’s data-driven approach to drug discovery, it also arrives shortly after a setback – the halting of a Phase 2 obesity trial due to safety concerns. This juxtaposition highlights the high-stakes environment of biotech innovation, where successes and challenges often coexist, and this new collaboration not only validates BioAge’s platform and focus on aging, but also signals growing recognition of exercise biology as a key to unlocking novel therapeutic targets for age-related conditions. By leveraging their complementary strengths, the two companies are well-positioned to make meaningful advances in understanding and treating the underlying causes of age-related diseases, potentially improving health outcomes for aging populations worldwide.
The collaboration will harness BioAge’s extensive proprietary human longevity datasets alongside Novartis’ expertise in exercise biology. BioAge’s discovery platform is built on exclusive access to longitudinal human aging cohorts, some followed for up to 50 years, combining detailed health records and functional measurements. By applying advanced analytics and machine learning techniques to this rich dataset, BioAge aims to identify determinants of healthy lifespan, providing a robust engine for therapeutic discovery and development.
Kristen Fortney, CEO and co-founder of BioAge, stated: “Our platform, built on extensive longitudinal human longevity data, has allowed us to identify promising therapeutic pathways with significant potential to improve health outcomes. This collaboration with Novartis showcases the value of our platform and expands our capacity to discover and develop novel targets based on the insights from our data.”
Michaela Kneissel, Global Head of Diseases of Aging and Regenerative Medicine at Novartis Biomedical Research, said: “We are excited to collaborate with BioAge, applying their human longevity data together with our scientific expertise in the biology of physical exercise to discover novel therapeutic targets. By exploring the intersection of human aging biology and the biological drivers of the beneficial effect of physical exercise, we aim to bring forward novel treatment options for diseases related to aging.”
Focus on novel therapeutic targets
Peng Leong, PhD, MBA, Chief Business Officer and Head of Brain Aging at BioAge, said: “The collaboration between Novartis and BioAge underscores the growing recognition that unraveling the biology of aging is a powerful approach to treating disease. This collaboration represents a significant opportunity to accelerate our development of a broad portfolio of transformative therapies targeting novel mechanisms identified by our platform, dramatically expanding our therapeutic reach and benefiting patients across multiple indications.”
Importantly, BioAge’s existing programs and targets are not included in this collaboration, allowing the company to continue developing highly novel targets independently. This strategic decision enables BioAge to expand its portfolio of transformational therapies aimed at benefiting patients across multiple indications.
Implications for the future of aging-related therapies
This collaboration exemplifies a strategic alliance between a biotech with a data-driven approach to aging and a major pharma player with deep expertise in drug development. By combining resources and knowledge, BioAge and Novartis aim to accelerate the discovery of therapeutic targets that could lead to innovative treatments for age-related diseases and conditions.
The focus on the biological effects of physical exercise is particularly noteworthy, as it aligns with a growing body of research highlighting the role of lifestyle factors in healthy aging. By elucidating the molecular factors that mediate the benefits of exercise, the collaboration could pave the way for therapies that mimic these effects, offering new avenues for intervention in age-related diseases.
