In 10 years from now, it’s expected that over-65 Americans will outnumber American children for the first time ever. This aging population boom is happening in many countries.

And as life expectancy increases, so does the prevalence of age-related diseases and degenerative conditions.

That’s why mega money is being invested in startups researching how to regenerate and rejuvenate aging cells.

Altos Labs, for example, emerged from stealth mode in 2022 with $3 billion from investors including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. OpenAI’s Sam Altman recently invested $180 million in Retro Biosciences. Alphabet subsidiary Calico Life Sciences has a reported $1.5 billion budget. 

Into that hyper-funded age-reversing arena enters longevity startup Ananda Labs, based on 10 years of research by award-winning Hebrew University Prof. Yossi Buganim. 

“We think our technology is much better” than that of competitors, says serial entrepreneur Eliron Yaron, who cofounded Ananda Labs in early 2023 with the university’s tech transfer company Yissum; Buganim; and Onassis Holdings Corp of Nevada. 

The 12-employee company is financed by an undisclosed amount of bootstrap and private investments and headquartered in New York with offices in Tel Aviv and labs in Jerusalem. 

“Our vision is to democratize regenerative medicine so that it’s not just for rich people. We want to reach the masses,” says Yaron. 

“We had an offer from a huge American company to invest but it wanted us to sell the treatments for $100,000 and more, so we rejected their offer.”

Reprogramming cells

Ananda Labs’ unique Rejuvenation-based Placental Epigenetic Reprogramming (RPER) technology treats aging skin and blood stem cells with a patented combination of placental and embryonic “reprogramming factors.” 

RPER does not alter the cells’ DNA. Rather, it alters epigenetics – the environmentally influenced biological mechanisms that switch genes on and off. 

Epigenetics is about the impact of daily lifestyle choices (such as stress, smoking or exercising) on our genes and their role in triggering or preventing diseases. 

RPER is designed to edit cellular epigenetics, thereby regulating gene expression toward disease prevention and healthier longevity.

Preclinical studies have demonstrated that partial reprogramming of cells can significantly reset the epigenetic clock, restoring muscle tone, enhancing regenerative capacity, and reversing biomarkers of osteoarthritis. 

The success of any regenerative medicine company depends on optimizing the delivery of its therapy to specific types of cells. Ananda Labs’ RPER represents one such approach in the field of anti-aging.

“Prof. Buganim is a world leader in the field of stem cells and reprogramming and was the first to discover a combination of genes that can convert adult cells into placental stem cells,” Yaron says. 

“His combination of factors is more potent in targeting the genome of adult cells, showing up to 50 percent age reversal of adult skin cells while maintaining the identity of the affected cells. This age reversal is accompanied by improved function and healthier cells.”

Wrinkles, scars

Though Ananda products must undergo additional development and clinical trials before they can be submitted for regulatory approval, Yaron says the first product could be ready in about four years. 

“This will be an organic treatment that would improve skin by diminishing wrinkles and scars,” he says.

“The patient would come to the doctor’s office for a small biopsy of cells taken from behind the ear. Our labs would culture and rejuvenate the cells for two months, enhancing their ability to repair and regenerate skin tissue. The rejuvenated cells would then be reinjected – the patient will have his own cells but they’ll be 40 to 50% younger.”

The loss of skin elasticity and functionality is among the body’s earliest signs of aging. Yaron says Ananda’s preparation could allow people to “stop using hyaluronic acid and use our natural treatment for better results.”

Plastic surgeon Dr. Justin West, the California-based strategic medical advisor to Ananda Labs, explains that reprogramming adult cells to a pluripotent (embryonic) state, where they can become any kind of cell, is feasible but complex, unstable and possibly dangerous – if a rejuvenated skin cell unintentionally becomes a pluripotent stem cell, it could also become a tumor cell.

“The excitement around Prof. Buganim’s technology is that it’s a potentially safer way to take cells from a person and use them as therapeutics to mitigate safety issues associated with stem cells,” West tells ISRAEL21c. 

“Instead of a truly pluripotent state, his method allows you to ‘titrate’ the amount of aging reversal so that the target is reducing cellular age by about 50%. If I can create a cell line of my cells with reduced age and infuse them into my face, I have a mixture of cells for a more youthful environment.” 

In the pipeline

Also in the pipeline is a preventative formulation to rejuvenate the immune system.

“Immune system rejuvenation is the biggest application we are all excited about for true impact,” says West. 

“When you’re over 50, you become more prone to disease-causing mutations that the body can’t clean up. If you can extend disease-free survival, then instead of getting tumors at age 50, you might get them at 80, giving you a longer period of good life before developing illnesses.”

Yaron says Ananda scientists also are researching how to reverse hair loss and gray hair; and how to reverse eyesight damage (though not total blindness) from age-related macular degeneration. AMD, one of the most common causes of blindness, affects some 200 million people.

“We are continuing to do research on human cells in the lab. We did a small experiment relating to the eye treatment on mice,” Yaron relates.

The company plans to explore additional applications of its epigenetic reprogramming technology.

“We have many years of work ahead,” cautions West, “but it feels possible that can we reprogram human cells to function more effectively.”

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