Free Radicals

Polyphron is led by co-founder and CEO Matthew Osman, a twice-exited tech entrepreneur turned biotech founder. Matthew is building a computation-first tissue foundry that applies AI and lab automation to semi-autonomously replicate human tissues in a dish. Polyphron aims to create the world’s most efficient tissue foundry for regenerative medicine.Listen to this episode to learn more about the core bet and technological platform at Polyphron, the remarkable progress they’ve made on two programs in heart and brain tissue in just a year, and what’s next for the company.

Dr. Omri Amirav-Drory, NFX partner and longevity investor who founded Genome Compiler, lays out bold plans to beat involuntary death. He discusses why longevity could fix major economic problems. He outlines a four-part ABCD strategy, the tech tree needed for biology breakthroughs, and why AI helps but will not by itself solve aging.

In this engaging discussion, Jacob Kimmel, co-founder of NewLimit, explores the frontier of biotechnology to reverse aging. He defines aging as loss of function linked to evolutionary pressures and introduces epigenetic reprogramming as a game-changing approach. Kimmel highlights the importance of data-driven models in predictive biology and discusses how NewLimit's innovative therapies aim to rejuvenate cells. He also emphasizes achievable longevity goals while warning against extreme lifespan fantasies, making a compelling case for the science of aging.

Adam Gries is a serial entrepreneur with four successful exits, and products that have reached over eighty million users. He has now set his sights on creating a longevity revolution through his organization Vitalism. Vitalism is a moral philosophy and community of action, forming a revolutionary movement to get humanity to fight as hard as possible to achieve unlimited lifespans in peak health.Our conversation covers the state of the longevity field today, the myth of billionaires’ obsession with longevity, what it will take to revolutionize our culture and industry to treat aging seriously, and much more.

Dr. Janine Sengstack and Rob Cahill, founders of the startup Junevity, are on a mission to extend lifespan and healthspan by combining AI and large scale omics data with genetic medicines known as “siRNAs”. Their cellular reset platform promises to create medicines that can reset each of your organs back to a healthy and youthful state.This year, Junevity successfully restored "18-year-old metabolism" in animal models allowing mice on a high-fat diet to lose fat while retaining muscle. This candidate therapy may become the first known drug to rejuvenate metabolism. Since our recording, Junevity doubled their seed round funding up to $20M to advance this work into human clinical trials, which means we might see their first rejuvenating medicine in the clinic as soon as the second half of next year.

Lada Nuzhna is a researcher and founder driven by two questions: how did we get here, and how do we stay. Lada dropped out of college to pursue her biology research as a Thiel fellow, and to co-found Impetus Grants which funds breakthrough longevity science. Through Impetus, she has allocated over $34M to fund some of the most ambitious projects and clinical trials in aging. She is now developing a new therapeutic modality to target diseases of aging through her startup, General Control. In addition to her work as an investor and founder, Lada is a prolific author of short-form and long-form content, which you can find through her Twitter (https://x.com/ladanuzhna) and Blog (https://www.ladanuzhna.xyz).

Alex Colville, PhD, is a Co-founder and General Partner at Age1, one of the premier aging venture capital firms where he has invested in companies like Science, Gordian, Loyal, and General Control. Prior to that, he was an investor and founding chief of staff at Amaranth Foundation, where he invested in moonshot biology and aging initiatives. He got his biotech business career started as a management consultant at Putnam Associates and as a consultant to the Maze Therapeutics BD team and Rubedo Life Sciences R&D team. Alex earned his PhD at Stanford in the biology of aging.

Celine Halioua is the Founder & CEO of Loyal - the first company to ever receive FDA approval to develop a drug to extend lifespan in dogs, and they have raised $125mm from Bain Capital Ventures, Khosla Ventures, First Round and others to do so. By building a blockbuster longevity drug for dugs, Loyal aims to lay the foundation for safe and effective longevity drugs in humans. In this interview, Celine describes her thesis that longevity drugs should be boring, what it means to create a new market, how charlatans put the whole longevity field at risk, and much more. We hope you enjoy this episode.