At Elevian, we develop new medicines to restore regenerative capacity, with the potential to prevent and treat many age-related diseases.

Our mission is to help people age, unburdened by the diseases of aging.

SCIENCE

Groundbreaking research at our labs and others has demonstrated that older animals, when transfused with the blood of young animals, experience regeneration across many tissues and organs. The opposite is also true: young animals, when transfused with the blood of older animals, experience accelerated aging. Elevian’s scientific founders identified specific circulating factors that may be responsible for these effects.

One example, a naturally occurring molecule known as “growth differentiation factor 11” (“GDF11”), when injected into aged mice, reproduces the regenerative effects of young blood. GDF11 supplementation reduces age-related cardiac hypertrophy, accelerates skeletal muscle repair, improves exercise capacity, improves brain function and cerebral blood flow, and improves metabolism. Our founder’s discoveries are published in leading journals and were recognized by Science as a global top 10 scientific breakthrough of 2014.

Elevian is developing a number of therapeutics that regulate GDF11 and other circulating factors, in order to restore our body’s natural regenerative capacity, which we believe address a root cause of age-associated diseases.

Elevian has acquired exclusive worldwide license rights under a portfolio of multiple patent families from Harvard University, based on the research activities of our scientific founders who lead labs at Harvard, and on the research activities of others as well.

KEY PUBLICATIONS

The following contains links to research from our team (in bold) and others, using websites owned and operated by third parties.

Featured

Rejuvenation of aged progenitor cells by exposure to a young systemic environment.

Conboy IM, Wagers AJ et al. Nature, 2005.

Growth Differentiation Factor 11 Is a Circulating Factor that Reverses Age-Related Cardiac Hypertrophy.

Loffredo FS,...,Wagers AJ, Lee RT. Cell, 2013.

Restoring Systemic GDF11 Levels Reverses Age-Related Dysfunction in Mouse Skeletal Muscle.

Sinha M,...,Lee RT, Wagers AJ. Science, 2014.

Vascular and Neurogenic Rejuvenation of the Aging Mouse Brain by Young Systemic Factors.

Katsimpardi L,...,Lee RT, Wagers AJ, Rubin LL. Science, 2014.

Biochemistry and Biology of GDF11 and Myostatin Similarities, Differences, and Questions for Future Investigation.

Walker RG,...,Rubin LL, Wagers AJ, Lee RT. Circulation Research, 2016.

Structural basis for potency differences between GDF8 and GDF11.

Walker RG,...,Wagers AJ, Lee RT et al. BMC Biology, 2017.

Molecular characterization of latent GDF8 reveals mechanisms of activation.

Walker RG,...,Lee RT et al. PNAS, 2018.

Association of growth differentiation factor 11/8, putative anti-ageing factor, with cardiovascular outcomes and overall mortality in humans.

Olson KA et al. European Heart Journal, 2015.

Decrease in an anti-aging factor, growth differentiation factor 11, in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Onodera K et al. Thorax, 2017.

GDF11 Attenuates Development of Type 2 Diabetes via Improvement of Islet β-Cell Function and Survival.

Li et al. Diabetes, 2017.

Lifelong exercise, but not short-term high-intensity interval training, increases GDF11.

Elliott BT et al. Physiological Reports, 2017.

GDF11 Rejuvenates Cerebrovascular Structure and Function in an Animal Model of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Zhang et al. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2018.

PIPELINE

Potential strategic partner? Email info@elevian.com to explore a collaboration.

ABOUT US

TEAM

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Featured

Mark Allen, MD

Co-Founder & CEO

Sebastian Giwa, PhD, MBA

Co-Founder & Executive Chairman

Tom McCracken, JD

EVP, General Counsel

Tony Sandrasagra, PhD

VP, Research & Development

Manisha Sinha, PhD

Head, Cell Biology

SCIENTIFIC CO-FOUNDERS

Featured

Lee Rubin, PhD

Professor, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard

Rich Lee, MD

Professor, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard

Amy Wagers, PhD

Professor, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard

Luis Alvarez, PhD

Head Organ Manufacturing, United Therapeutics

Ryan Walker, PhD

Post-Doc, Lee Lab, Harvard

ADVISORS

Featured

Brock Reeve, MBA

Executive Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute

James Larrick, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer, Panorama Research Institute

Peter Diamandis, MD

xPrize, Singularity U, Celularity, Human Longevity Inc.

VALUES

PASSION

about our mission

RESPONSIBILITY

to patients, providers, society and our shareholders

OPPORTUNITY

to advance and grow

CONTINUOUS INNOVATION

to never settle

OPEN EXPRESSION

to foster our best ideas

COMMUNITY

because we are stronger together

INVESTORS

Potential Investor? Email ir@elevian.com.

MEDIA

VIDEOS

Mark Allen on Regenerative Effects of GDF11

Thriving Longer: The Future of Aging | Dr. Mark Allen | TEDxPaloAlto

See More Videos

PRESS RELEASES

Blog - Enter New Items Here

Elevian Press Release: Elevian Launches to Develop Regenerative Medicines for Age-Related Diseases

Sept. 6, 2018 - Elevian, a new company developing medicines that restore youthful regenerative capacity, with the potential to treat and prevent age-related disease, launches at TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield.

PRESS ABOUT US

Blog - Enter New Items Here

BioSpace: Elevian Launches to Join Numerous Companies Focused on Longevity and Aging

Sept. 10, 2018 - In another example of companies focused on aging-related diseases, Elevian launched with $5.5 million in seed funding. The funding was from Bold Capital, led by Peter Diamandis, Elevian’s founding investor, WTI, Stanford StartX, Longevity Fund, Kizoo Ventures, Thynk Capital and others.

BioCentury: Anti-Aging Elevian Debuts with $5.5M Seed Funding

Sept. 10, 2018 - Regenerative medicine company Elevian Inc. (Allston, Mass.) launched on Sept. 6 with $5.5 million in seed funding from Bold Capital, WTI, Stanford StartX fund, Longevity Fund, Kizoo Ventures, Thynk Capital and additional undisclosed investors.

SingularityHub: Eternal Life Is No Good Without Eternal Youth

Sept. 10, 2018 - Startup Elevian has raised millions to investigate whether a specific protein in young blood can have rejuvenating effects, despite disagreements over whether the science behind the idea is sound.

Silicon Valley Business Journal: Palo Alto startup is looking for the fountain of youth in a vial

Sept. 10, 2018 - Elevian is developing medicines that restore the body's regenerative capacity, with the potential to treat and prevent age-related diseases. Elevian’s founders, working at Stanford and Harvard, discovered that young blood stimulates regeneration of many tissues and organs in old animals.

Endpoints News: Elevian banks $5.5 million seed round to pursue ‘young blood’ derived anti-aging tech

Sept. 7, 2018 - A startup in San Francisco called Elevian has rounded up $5.5 million in seed cash to pursue its work on a regenerative medicine program.

Forbes: Of Vampires And The Challenges Of Longevity Drugs

Sept. 7, 2018 - It’s an amazing idea, and it could represent a feedback loop where for every year of life gained, new technological advances will add another year. It’s really neat to think about.

FierceBiotech: Elevian set up to pursue disputed approach to aging diseases

Sept. 7, 2018 - New startup Elevian has launched with $5.5 million in backing to develop drugs based on GDF11, a Harvard University-discovered protein that it says is linked to age-related diseases.

WIRED: Startups flock to turn young blood into an elixir of youth

Sept. 6, 2018 - Today, the latest young-blood medicine-maker, Elevian, emerged from stealth with $5.5 million from investors including Peter Diamandis, one of the more prominent faces in the Silicon Valley “death disruption” scene. Beneath all the hype is some striking science.

BioWorld: Harvard spin-out targets circulating factor for tissue rejuvenation

Sept. 6, 2018 - A series of eye-catching papers on parabiosis experiments in mice, which identified a circulating protein that reverses aging-related tissue degeneration, has led to the formation of a new Harvard University spin-out, Elevian Inc., which has just closed a seed round of $5.5 million.

Business Insider: A Harvard-backed drug company is trying to develop medicine to treat and prevent aging-related diseases

Sept. 6, 2018 - A company co-founded by former physician Mark Allen and several Harvard researchers are trying to develop a therapeutic to address aging to treat diseases like heart failure, coronary artery disease, and muscular dysfunction.

TechCrunch: Elevian is developing medicine to prevent age-related diseases

Sept. 5, 2018 - Age is the No. 1 risk factor behind most diseases in the developed world, according to numerous studies. That’s why Elevian, led by a team of Harvard researchers, is working to develop medicine that treats aging by restoring the body’s regenerative capacities.

The Economist: Blood from young animals can revitalise old ones

Jul. 15, 2017 - Might that be true for people, too?

Nature: Blood to blood

Jan. 22, 2015 - By splicing animals together, scientists have shown that young blood rejuvenates old tissues. Now, they are testing whether it works for humans.

Science: Breakthrough of the Year: The top 10 scientific achievements of 2014

Dec. 18, 2014 - In work with profound implications for aging, researchers showed that blood from a young mouse can rejuvenate an old mouse's muscles and brain.

Washington Post: New studies show that young blood reverses the effects of aging when put into older mice

May 4, 2014 - After combining the blood circulations of two mice by conjoining them — one old, the other young — researchers found dramatic improvements in the older mouse’s muscle and brain. After four weeks, stem cells in both those areas got a boost of activity and were better able to produce neurons and muscle tissue.

CONTACT

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Elevian, Inc.
Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab
127 Western Ave
Allston, MA 02134

General inquiries:
info@elevian.com

Media inquiries:
media@elevian.com

Investor inquiries:
ir@elevian.com