Juvenescence’s Latest Venture, Souvien Therapeutics, Creating Innovative Medicines Addressing Neurodegenerative Diseases

May 28, 2019 |

3 min read

Juvenescence is pleased to announce its latest biotech company Souvien Therapeutics, creating innovative medicines to address neurodegenerative diseases by targeting the epigenetic underpinnings of neurodegeneration.

May 28, 2019 09:00 UTC

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Juvenescence, a life sciences company developing therapeutics and technologies to treat diseases of aging and increase human longevity, is pleased to announce its latest biotech company Souvien Therapeutics (“Souvien”), creating innovative medicines to address neurodegenerative diseases by targeting the epigenetic underpinnings of neurodegeneration.

Souvien is founded on the pioneering research of Professor Li-Huei Tsai, the director of The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, and Associate Professor Stephen Haggarty, the director of the Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, on the epigenetic underpinnings of neurodegeneration.

Professor Tsai said: “We have collected a substantial body of data implicating a critical epigenetic regulator of cellular aging in neurodegeneration. We are delighted to establish this new venture with Juvenescence and their experienced team of proven drug developers.”

“I’m excited to join forces with Juvenescence and their partners as we develop unprecedented therapies from the bench into the clinic,” said Dr. Haggarty.

Juvenescence is also pleased to announce two high level appointments to Souvien: Dr. Jeffrey Sprouse as CEO and Professor Howard Federoff as Chair. Dr. Sprouse has over 25 years of drug discovery experience, having led preclinical programs at both Pfizer and Lundbeck. Professor Federoff is an internationally renowned clinical researcher and former CEO of the UCI Health System.

Dr. Sprouse said: “I am especially pleased to be joining the Souvien team as collectively we take the first steps in developing life-changing therapies for patients. Souvien’s programs will benefit from collaborations with other technologies and personnel that Juvenescence is building, all to accelerate the development of novel therapeutics.”

Dr. Greg Bailey, CEO of Juvenescence, commented:

“Dementia and neurodegenerative conditions are a tremendous burden on our healthcare system and economy, and we are excited by the potential for Souvien to have an impact on this unmet clinical need. We are also delighted to welcome the exceptional talent of Doctors Tsai and Haggarty into the Juvenescence ecosystem.”

About Juvenescence Ltd.

Juvenescence Limited is a life sciences company developing therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs and investors with a significant history of success in the life sciences sector. Juvenescence will create, partner with or invest in new companies with longevity-related therapeutics, by in-licensing compounds from academia and industry, or forming joint ventures to develop therapeutics for longevity. Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of aging and seeks to develop therapeutics with the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing elements of aging.

About Souvien Therapeutics

Souvien Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutic agents to modulate critical epigenetic mechanisms associated with neurodegeneration. Souvien was founded by Prof. Li-Huei Tsai and Associate Prof. Stephen Haggarty in collaboration with Juvenescence Ltd and is a privately held BVI company.