NewLimit is pressing the gas, speeding into clinical trials much sooner than expected after lab research showed its epigenetic reprogramming asset reversed aging in human liver cells.
After raising $130 million last year, the anti-aging biotech is seeking new limits with a $435 million financing that includes support from Eli Lilly Ventures.
The hefty cash infusion will fuel NewLimit’s first clinical asset, with plans for the epigenetic reprogramming medicine candidate to enter in-human testing next year. Founded in 2021, the biotech had initially anticipated a decade-plus trek to reach the clinic but is slashing that timeline after seeing early research results, according to a Wednesday blog post from the company.
A “breakthrough discovery of a prototype medicine” reversed cell age in old human liver cells, NewLimit said.
“Defying prior dogma, this emerging science has demonstrated that aging is plastic at the cellular level,” the biotech continued. “Reversing cellular age has the potential to both treat diseases of aging and preserve health in nearly everyone. The opportunity for aging medicines is then orders-of-magnitude larger than traditional therapeutics.”
The California company’s program is designed to heal the liver faster following injury, prevent damage from dietary challenges and accelerate recovery tied to alcohol consumption, according to NewLimit.
The series C financing was led by San Francisco–based Founders Fund, plus new investors Thrive Capital, Greenoaks and Quiet Capital. Returning investors include Silicon Valley-based Kleiner Perkins, tech leaders Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, plus Big Pharma VC arm Eli Lilly Ventures, among others.
NewLimit was created by Brian Armstrong, CEO and cofounder of cryptocurrency company Coinbase; former GV partner and bioengineer Blake Byers; and computational biologist Jacob Kimmel, who serves as the company’s CEO.
Over the past few years, the team has developed artificial intelligence and genomics tech deployed across metabolic, vascular and immune health programs, with plans to add a variety of new therapies to its pipeline in the future.
The startup joins a slew of other AI biotechs securing massive fundraises, such as Earendil Labs’ $787 million announced in March and the massive $2.1 billion for Isomorphic Labs last month.
NewLimit has also shed light on its work in anti-aging, a space where drug developers have remained tightlipped to date, despite being flooded with cash, particularly from tech investors. Take Altos Labs’ $3 billion raised as a prime example—the Jeff Bezos–backed anti-aging startup that emerged in 2022 but has yet to reveal any further information on its science or pipeline.
