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Unity Biotechnology

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Unity Biotechnology, Inc.
Company typePublic
IndustryBiotechnology, Pharmaceutical
PredecessorForge, Inc.
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011) in California, U.S.
Founders
Headquarters
South San Francisco, California
,
United States
Number of employees
70 (2018)
Websiteunitybiotechnology.com

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

History

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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

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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

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References

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  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. ^ a b "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.
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