Unity Biotechnology
TypePublic
IndustryBiotechnology, Pharmaceutical
PredecessorForge, Inc.
Founded2011 (2011) in California, United States of America
Founders
Headquarters,
Number of employees
70 (2018)
Websiteunitybiotechnology.com

Unity Biotechnology is a publicly traded American biotechnology company that develops drugs that target senescent cells.[1][2][3][4][5]

History

Unity BioTechnologies, a company backed by Jeff Bezos and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel,[6] was co-founded in March 2009 by Nathaniel David, Jan Van Deursen, Judith Campisi, and Daohong Zhou.[7]

The company was founded under the name Forge, Inc., but changed its name to Unity BioTechnologies in January 2015.[8]

Anirvan Ghosh joined Unity in 2020 as the company’s CEO. That same year, Nathaniel stepped down as president but remained a member of the board.[9]

On May 3, 2018, the company went public on the Nasdaq exchange, raising $85 million at a market capitalization of $700 million.[10][11] Unity Biotechnology shares dropped 60% on August 17, 2020, after the company reported disappointing results from a clinical trial involving its then lead drug candidate, UBX0101, in patients with moderate-to-severe painful osteoarthritis.[12]

Products

The company's products in development include UBX1325, which targets Bcl-xL, a mechanism to eliminate senescent cells in age-related eye diseases (in Phase 2 clinical trials for diabetic macular edema as of October 2023).[13] In July 2022, the company reported positive results from its Phase 1 study.[14] In April 2023, the company then reported results from its Phase 2 study demonstrating that a single injection of UBX1325 resulted in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in vision through 48 weeks.[15] They also include UBX 1967, a preclinical product targeting ophthalmologic diseases.[16][11][17] Both products are senolytic medicines.

See also

References

  1. Brueck, Hilary (3 February 2016). "Mayo Clinic Taps Silicon Valley to Help People Age Gracefully". Fortune. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. Detrixhe, John (21 February 2018). "Crypto millionaires are funding research to reverse the aging process". Quartz (publication). Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  3. Herkewitz, William (19 February 2018). "Scientists Can Now Radically Expand the Lifespan of Mice—and Humans May Be Next". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  4. Ramsey, Lydia (10 November 2016). "A biotech startup that aims to rid our bodies of cells related to aging just got a big investment". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  5. Baker, Darren (11 February 2016). "Naturally occurring p16Ink4a-positive cells shorten healthy lifespan". Nature. 530 (7589): 184–189. doi:10.1038/nature16932. PMC 4845101. PMID 26840489.
  6. Zaleski, Andrew (2018-08-29). "Why Jeff Bezos is backing this Silicon Valley scientist who is working on a cure for aging". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  7. "UBX | Unity Biotechnology Inc. Company Profile & Executives - WSJ". www.wsj.com. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  8. "S-1". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  9. Leuty, Ron (15 December 2020). "Founder steps down from president job at aging-fighting biotech". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
  10. CNBC (2018-05-02). "UNITY Biotechnology, Inc. Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering of Common Stock". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  11. 1 2 "Longevity Company Unity Biotechnology Stocks Soared After CEO Talks to CNBC | BioSpace". BioSpace. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  12. "Buzzy anti-aging biotech Unity drops leading program after flop, shares in freefall". 2020-08-17.
  13. "Design for Phase 2B ASPIRE Study of UBX1325 for DME announced by UNITY". Modern Retina. 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  14. Bankhead, Charles (2022-07-14). "'Senolytic' Therapy Shows Promise in Neovascular Eye Disease". www.medpagetoday.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  15. Garth, Eleanor (2023-05-10). "Getting comfortable with senotherapeutics". Longevity.Technology - Latest News, Opinions, Analysis and Research. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  16. "S-1". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  17. "Unity Biotechnology to focus on senolytic programs in ophthalmology, neurology". www.healio.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.