Like everyone, the uber-wealthy are interested in living long lives, so they have a vested interest in finding ways to improve it. A new biotech company called Altos Lab aims to change this but has no hard deadlines or goals. Instead, they plan to focus on “great science” instead of meeting financial targets. This new concept is being tested more and more today to improve life.
Altos Labs is a biotech company set up like a venture capital firm. The difference is that instead of investing in companies, it invests in research projects–and the people behind them.
Instead of selling products or services, Altos Labs wants to make money by making discoveries that can be sold later on – either through licensing or by selling off shares in its own companies (structured as limited partnerships).
The idea is that if you can fund good science with enough money to get started (and then keep going), it will yield results eventually–even if they take decades to come to fruition.
As far as investors go, Altos Labs will have many of the exact requirements as other V.C. firms: namely, high net worth individuals who can afford to lose a lot of money on their investments but hope for significant returns down the road.
To learn more about Altos Labs and why it matters, keep reading!
Understanding Biotech
Before diving into Altos Labs and all they do, it’s essential to understand what biotech means and why biotech companies are relevant in today’s market.
Biotechnology, often shortened to biotech, uses living organisms like bacteria and algae to produce valuable products. It’s increasingly important in today’s society because we’re quickly running out of resources to use as raw materials for consumer products. Biotech is an umbrella term that covers a variety of industries. It’s anything from using plants to make biofuels to genetically modified mice for medical testing. Biotech is also where science fiction meets reality; genetic engineering is a massive part of what biotech companies do.
Biotech has been around for decades but has taken off in the past few years. The rise in biotech companies can be attributed to two main factors: new technology and increased awareness about global resource shortages.
Biotech is a broad term that encompasses many areas, including agriculture, human health, veterinary medicine, agrochemicals, food safety testing, and environmental sciences. We’ve already seen the future of biotech: genetically engineered organisms are all around us! We use them every day without even knowing it — golden rice has been engineered with genes from corn and bacteria to produce beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A that helps prevent blindness among children in developing countries. Soft drink manufacturers have engineered yeasts with bacterial genes that allow their products to be made with fewer calories than they used to contain.
With that background in biotech, let’s dive into Altos Labs!
Altos Labs – A Biotech Company
Altos Labs is a biotechnology company that aims to unravel the deep biology of cellular rejuvenation programming. Its mission is to create medicines that can restore the health and resilience of cells.
The company aims to reverse the aging process by reprogramming cellular DNA to return cells to their immature state. To that end, Altos will focus on measuring how much people have aged since birth and how long it takes them to age.
The company is similar to Calico Labs, announced in 2013 by Google co-founder Larry Page. Both companies recruited elite scientists and gave generous budgets. In addition, both companies focused on reprogramming and published their first preprint on it in 2014. Some scientists, including Nobel Prize-winner Shinya Yamanaka, have stated that reprogramming could extend human lifespans by 50 years.
Altos Labs has the vision to reverse disease and revolutionize medicine with cellular rejuvenation. The company is currently raising $3 billion and is backed by a prestigious group of investors. It has raised funding from investors, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner, a Russian-Israeli physicist who made his fortune on Facebook.
Its founders include the former chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline and the former U.S. National Cancer Institute director. With this impressive list of investors, Altos Labs has a chance to create a revolution in human health.
Altos Labs Cell Rejuvenation Program
To address the challenges of aging and disease, the cellular rejuvenation program at Altos Labs is based on research conducted by some of the world’s leading scientists. Dr. Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte has devoted his career to uncovering the deep biology of cellular rejuvenation programming. According to Bloomberg, he is one of our time’s most decorated scientists and researchers. His research has earned him countless awards and recognitions in the advancement of science and science technology.
The breakthroughs made by Yamanaka and his team have helped revolutionize the field of cellular rejuvenation. The researchers have uncovered how cells can reset their epigenetic clocks and undo the damage done by environmental or genetic stressors. Altos has also hired a star-studded scientific team to tackle the complex challenges of aging. However, the program is still in its early stages.
Altos Labs Cell Rejuvenation Program is helping to reverse the aging process by restoring your skin’s vitality, elasticity, and radiance. The program consists of a series of three steps:
The first step in this process is an in-depth analysis of your skin using state-of-the-art technology. This analysis helps determine what products would be most suited for your needs.
Next, you will receive a customized facial treatment that includes advanced techniques to target signs of aging. This includes microdermabrasion, chemical peels, and more. The treatment will be customized based on the results of your skin analysis from step 1 so that only products best suited for your skin type are used during your facial treatment.
Finally, all customers receive an age-defying kit containing products designed to help keep their skin in optimal health and appearance long after their initial consultation and facial treatment have ended. These products include cleansers, moisturizers, and serums that target specific areas of concern, such as fine lines or wrinkles around the eyes or lips and hyperpigmentation.
Altos Labs Plans To Establish Research Centers In the U.S., U.K., and Japan
Announcing plans to establish labs in the U.S., U.K., and Japan, Altos Labs recently stated that it had raised $270 million from investors.
The company plans to open several research centers throughout these countries, including Los Altos Hills and Cambridge, England. A formal announcement of the company’s plans included mention of Nobel Laureates and prominent industry leaders.
Klausner has an extensive track record of investing in biotechnology companies as a venture capitalist. He is known for his involvement in launching other companies, such as Juno Therapeutics and Grail. In addition, he is known for orchestrating large financial bets on promising biotechnologies. In an incorporation filing in the UK, Klausner is listed as CEO, but he did not respond to a request for an interview.
A new Cambridge Institute of Science is currently constructed on 120 acres south of Cambridge. The company is in the process of hiring prominent scientists for its new research center. This site is also home to companies like Pfizer and Astra.
The company also announced that Shinya Yamanaka would serve as a senior scientific adviser for Altos’ Japanese and U.S. operations. According to recent information, he currently serves as “The Center for iPS Cell Research and Application director at Kyoto University and is a senior investigator at the Gladstone Institutes.”
Altos Labs Plans To Work With Pluripotent Stem Cells
Shinya Yamanaka is a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes, overseeing the investigation in Japan. In addition to Yamanaka, the Altos Labs team includes Hana El-Samad, Ph.D., editor of the journal GEN Biotechnology and former director of the Cell Design Institute at the University of Cambridge.
Yamanaka’s research, which yielded iPS cells, inspired the company’s name. Belmonte is another leading research lab in the field. Both have produced significant firsts in the embryo chimera space and reprogramming.
Shinya Yamanaka’s lab discovered a group of transcription factors called the Yamanaka factors that play a vital role in transforming somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. Other members of the Altos team include Salk Institute’s Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte and UCLA’s Steve Horvath. Wolf Reik,
In addition to scientists, Altos will support research and development in Japan. The company will also invest in computational science and machine learning. Thore Graepel, Ph.D., will lead Altos’ artificial intelligence research and has extensive experience in the field of intelligent systems.
Why Does Altos Labs Matter?
Altos Labs is a new biotechnology company focused on cellular rejuvenation programming to restore cell health and resilience, to reverse disease. They are developing novel therapeutics and diagnostic tools based on our proprietary technology platform, which we believe is a unique combination of cell-based and molecular biology technologies.
This company’s leadership team and partners are awe-inspiring and will lead to many new therapies and opportunities to eradicate the disease.
Jeff Bezos’s Investment in Altos Labs
Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, spent four minutes in space but has now turned his attention to biotechnology. Bezos’s investment in Altos Labs, a biotech startup that aims to develop an aging treatment, focuses on reprogramming. This technique involves adding proteins to cells that guide them back to the stem cell state. The company is currently hiring scientists from around the world.
Bezos has a history of funding similar research. He previously invested in Unity Biotechnology, a company dedicated to fighting the effects of aging. Bezos recently announced his resignation as CEO of Amazon. Earlier this year, he said he would devote more time to philanthropy and passion projects.
Another example is the Bezos Expeditions’ funding of Alto Labs. Bezos Expeditions invested $100 million. Aail is a startup focused on identifying cancers at an early stage. Ultimately, Bezos bought a minority stake in the company. Moreover, in 2013, Bezos also invested $10 million in MakerBot. MakerBot has made 3D printing accessible to the public and has been acquired by Stratas.
Bezos is interested in longevity research and has previously invested in the anti-aging company Unity Biotechnology. In addition, the billionaire has emphasized the importance of fighting age and being unique in our society.
Jeff Bezos has a passion for anti-aging therapies and invested in Altos Labs to pursue this goal. The company has a stellar executive team, including Hal Barron, Rick Klausner, Hans Bishop, Ann Lee-Karlon, and Michael Ackerman. In addition, the founders and executives of Altos Labs have experience in academic and biotech fields.
Although Bezos is not involved in developing the new therapy, the technology behind reprogramming is promising. Scientists believe the treatment can reverse the aging clock and return cells to a youthful state. The method was first developed by Shinya Yamanaka, awarded the Nobel Prize in 2012. Bezos’s investment in Altos Labs comes when the company is gaining momentum.
Richard Klausner
Richard Klausner is a former chief scientist of the National Cancer Institute and now a founder and CEO of Altos Labs. He co-founded Juno Therapeutics and Grail and served as the executive director of global health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition, he is widely respected for his success in bringing novel biotechnologies to the clinic. If you’re interested in learning more about the latest developments in cancer research, check out his biography and the company’s mission statement.
The company has several scientific advisors, including former Nobel laureates and scientists with deep expertise in aging and disease. Also, it has a Board of Directors of Nobel laureates and other scientists.
Hal Barron and Altos Labs
Currently Chief Scientific Officer at GlaxoSmithKline, Hal Barron has been tapped to lead a new company in Silicon Valley focused on anti-aging technology. In addition to Barron, the company has raised $3 billion in funding this week and is currently on a hiring spree.
GSK plans to float its consumer health venture with Pfizer this summer, and Barron will join the company in August. Other notable Altos executive team members are Hans Bishop and Ann Lee-Karlon. So while Barron will leave Glaxo in August, his departure is a significant change for the company and its investors.
Hal Barron was Chief Scientific Officer at GSK. Before joining GSK, Barron served as president of Calico’s R&D department. His new role at Altos follows his stint as R&D president at Google-backed Calico. In addition to his executive position at GSK, Barron also sits on numerous R&D investment committees.
The departure of Hal Barron from GSK comes as a blow to the drug company. The scientist who helped revamp GlaxoSmithKline’s drug research strategy will now be an Altos Labs in San Francisco.
Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
The company’s plans to open an institute in San Diego are reminiscent of the venture launched by Amazon co-founder Larry Page in 2013. The billionaire had provided the scientists with generous budgets and hired only the best. The group focused on reprogramming and published the first preprint on this subject earlier this year. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, is a highly regarded Spanish biologist. His research has led to predictions that you could extend human lifespans by 50 years.
Thore Graepel
Dr. Thore Graepel is a prominent figure in artificial intelligence. He was previously the research leader of Google DeepMind and the Department of Machine Learning chair at University College London. His A.I. and computational science expertise will lead Altos Labs’ computational biology, artificial intelligence, and machine learning activities. His team also includes leaders from academia and clinical institutions. In addition, he will be focusing on A.I. and cellular biology.
Wolf Reik MD, an expert in mammalian epigenetic reprogramming, will lead the company’s U.K. Institute of Science. He is an honorary professor of Epigenetics at the University of Cambridge and director of the Babraham Institute. Thore Graepel will be responsible for computational science and artificial intelligence.
The company has a distinguished board of directors. This diverse group of scientific leaders is a powerful combination. While Altos Labs focuses on cell rejuvenation, its CEO has a broad mandate to reverse disease and restore health. Ultimately, he hopes to change age-related diseases. With his team, Thore Graepel and Altos Labs are well toward becoming a household name in biotech.
While the company’s product is still in the early stages, its team has raised more than $3 billion in venture capital. The money will allow Altos Therapeutics to pivot in the future and recover from its mistakes. Unlike lesser startups that typically rely on licensing their intellectual property to existing pharmaceutical companies, it will also build its development arm.
Final Thoughts
Altos Labs is a new biotech company that has raised $3 billion to make drugs that can help people live longer. Uber wealthy is investing in this new company and hoping to see results that improve their quality of life.
Altos Labs focuses on “great science” instead of meeting financial targets. The company wants to invest in research that isn’t necessarily commercially viable but could significantly impact down the line.
The Altos Labs company is led by a handful of scientists dedicated to finding ways to prolong our lives. The team includes biochemistry and molecular biology experts who have worked at top institutions like Stanford University and UC Berkeley.
Altos Labs will likely be one of the few biotech companies focused on improving longevity rather than treating specific diseases or conditions affecting only certain populations (like cancer). The idea behind the company is that it will be able to benefit all people regardless of age or health status because aging itself is the most significant risk factor for most diseases.
