Altos Labs

Altos Labs, Inc. is an American biotechnology research company. Altos Labs' goal is to develop life extension therapies that can halt or reverse the human aging process. Specialized cell therapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells are to be developed for this purpose. The company was started in 2022.

Altos Labs, Inc.

Type	Inc.
Founded	2022
Key people	Hal Barron (CEO and co-chairman) Hans Bishop (co-chairman and president) Richard Klausner (co-chairman and CSO)
Number of employees	500

History

Altos Labs was formally started on 19 January 2022.^[1] The name Altos Labs is based on the city of Los Altos in California.^[1] The idea for Altos Labs originated with cell biologist and entrepreneur Richard D. Klausner, who co-founded the company with Hans Bishop.

In 2021, Altos Labs was registered in the United States and the United Kingdom.^[2] It will operate out of California (U.S.) and Cambridge (U.K.), with some work performed in Japan.^[3]

Investors

One of the early investors of Altos Labs is an investment vehicle held for the benefit of the Breakthrough Foundation, founded by Russian-Israeli science and technology investor and philanthropist Yuri Milner and his wife Julia. The foundation supports existing and future philanthropic projects in fundamental sciences.^[4] Milner had previously shown interest in anti-aging technologies, in October 2020, he co-hosted a meeting where experts presented their research, reported on animal testing, and the concept for Altos Labs was developed.

Altos Labs raised $3 billion in a funding round from investors in January 2022.^[2] It is said to be the best funded biotech start-up to date.^[3] Investors reportedly include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos^[5] and ARCH Venture Partners founder Robert Nelsen.^[6]

Notable scientists and recruitment

The company has been able to recruit prominent scientists such as:

• Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte (known for his work on rejuvenation through cell reprogramming)
• Steve Horvath (known for his work on the epigenetic aging clock)
• Shinya Yamanaka (the Nobel Prize-winning inventor of cellular reprogramming in mammalian cells).

The board of directors also includes well-known scientists such as Jennifer A. Doudna, David Baltimore, and Frances Arnold.^[7][3]

Salaries for principal investigators at Altos Labs may be ten times higher than at comparable research institutions.^[8]

Facilities

Altos Labs plans to establish research facilities in Cambridge, the San Francisco Bay Area, and in San Diego as a first step.^[7]

Mission

Atypical of a private company, the initial focus will be on basic research without immediate prospects of a commercially viable product.^[1]

In January 2022 the company's president, Hans Bishop, argued, that Altos Labs was working on increasing the "healthspan" of humans and that longevity extension would only be "an accidental consequence".^[3]

External links

• Official website  

See also

• Verily
• Calico
• SENS Research Foundation
• Human Longevity
• Life extension

References

1. "A $3bn bet on finding the fountain of youth". The Economist. 22 January 2022. ISSN 0013-0613. from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
2. Regalado, Antonio (4 September 2021). "Meet Altos Labs, Silicon Valley's latest wild bet on living forever". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
3. Kuchler, Hannah (23 January 2022). "Altos Labs insists mission is to improve lives not cheat death". Financial Times. from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
4. "Jeff Bezos, Yuri Milner Said to Be Among Backers of Anti-Ageing Startup Altos Labs". gadgets360.com. 8 September 2021. from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
5. Feuer, Will (7 September 2021). "Jeff Bezos has reportedly invested in anti-aging startup Altos Labs". New York Post. from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
6. Zuckerman, Gregory (20 August 2023). "For This Venture Capitalist, Research on Aging Is Personal; 'Bob Has a Big Fear of Death'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
7. "Altos Labs". altoslabs.com. from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
8. Regalado, Antonio (14 September 2021). "Altos Labs: Wie Jeff Bezos und Co. das Altern besiegen wollen". Heise.com (in German). from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.