Collaboration will leverage BioAge's differentiated human longevity data and platform and Novartis expertise in the biology of physical exercise to identify drug targets to treat diseases related to aging

Novartis to pay up to $20M comprising upfront payments and research funding; BioAge may receive up to $530M in future long-term research, development, and commercial milestones

RICHMOND, Calif., Dec. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioAge Labs, Inc. ("BioAge"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic product candidates for metabolic diseases by targeting the biology of human aging, today announced a multi-year research collaboration with Novartis. The collaboration aims to identify and validate multiple novel therapeutic drug targets by investigating the biological mechanisms that drive diseases related to aging and mediate the beneficial effects of physical exercise.

"Our platform, built on extensive longitudinal human longevity data, has allowed us to identify promising therapeutic pathways with significant potential to improve health outcomes,” said Kristen Fortney, CEO and co-founder of BioAge. “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."

The collaboration will leverage BioAge’s extensive proprietary human longevity datasets and Novartis expertise in exercise biology. BioAge's proprietary discovery platform is based on exclusive access to longitudinal human aging cohorts followed for up to 50 years, combining detailed health records and functional measurements. Applying advanced analytics and machine learning techniques to this rich dataset enables BioAge to identify determinants of healthy lifespan, providing an engine for therapeutic discovery and development.

“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,” said Michaela Kneissel, Global Head of Diseases of Aging and Regenerative medicine (DARe) at Novartis Biomedical Research. “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.”

“The collaboration between Novartis and BioAge underscores the growing recognition that unraveling the biology of aging is a powerful approach to treating disease,” said Peng Leong, PhD, MBA, CBO and Head of Brain Aging at BioAge. “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.”

Under the terms of the agreement, BioAge will receive upfront payments and research funding of up to $20 million, plus up to $530 million in future long-term research, development, and commercial milestones. Novartis and BioAge each have the right to advance novel targets discovered under the collaboration and are each eligible to receive reciprocal success milestones and tiered royalties.

About BioAge Labs, Inc.

BioAge is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic product candidates for metabolic diseases by targeting the biology of human aging. BioAge’s lead product candidate, azelaprag, is an orally available small molecule agonist of APJ that was observed to promote metabolism and prevent muscle atrophy on bed rest in a Phase 1b clinical trial. BioAge is also developing orally available small molecule brain penetrant NLRP3 inhibitors for the treatment of diseases driven by neuroinflammation. BioAge’s preclinical programs, based on novel insights from the company’s discovery platform built on human longevity data, address key pathways in metabolic aging.