AgeX Therapeutics, an age-related disease therapy developer spun out of biotechnology company BioTime, has closed $10m in funding from investors including its parent company.
Investment firm IBS Capital also participated in the round, as did angel investors including Jim Mellon, John Mauldin and BioTime chairman Alfred Kingsley.
AgeX is looking to create treatments for aging and age-related diseases using cellular immortality and regenerative biology technology licensed from BioTime.
The company’s first three clinical areas involve applying pluripotent stem cell-derived brown adipocytes to type 2 diabetes, vascular progenitors to treating cardiac ischemia and induced tissue regeneration to fighting cancer.
The capital was raised at a post-money valuation of about $68m, and BioTime has retained 85% of AgeX’s shares. The cash is expected to fund the spinout’s operations and product work “well into” 2019.
Michael D. West, co-CEO of BioTime and CEO of AgeX, said earlier this month when the round was first announced: “The technology of AgeX is the culmination of over 25 years of research and development.
“We believe AgeX is well-positioned to lead in the emerging field of aging biotechnology, delivering on regenerative therapies targeting some of the largest market opportunities in the aging demographic.”