Life Biosciences has dosed its first human with its ER-100 therapy, aiming to reverse age-related vision loss tied to glaucoma and NAION. The Boston startup plans to enroll around 18 adults over the next year to test safety and side effects, with founder David
By the time the first dose was given, the question stopped being theoretical. A longevity startup in Boston has started testing its ER-100 drug in humans, with the goal of addressing age-related sight loss tied to damage in the optic nerve.
Life Biosciences said it dosed its first patient in a study of around 18 adults expected to run for the next year. The company is testing ER-100 for safety and side effects, building on results it says it has already achieved in monkeys, where the therapy reportedly restored vision.
The trial is designed around conditions that can quietly rob people of sight. Life Biosciences plans to target patients with glaucoma and NAION. both of which cause damage to crucial cells in the optic nerve. That nerve carries visual information from the back of the eye to the brain. The company says ER-100 is designed to rejuvenate those cells so they can work again and restore sight.
This is the first time. according to Life Biosciences. that a cellular-rejuvenation therapy using this technology has received FDA clearance to enter human clinical trials. For cofounder David Sinclair—also a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School—the moment carries a particular weight: it is the first chance to test whether the approach can “ameliorate human disease.”.
Aging biology sits at the center of the company’s pitch. Sinclair and others in longevity biotech focus on how cells and functions deteriorate over time. and Life Biosciences frames its therapy around that deterioration rather than only treating the visible damage. The company says it is pursuing ER-100 partly because major interest in the field sees it as a potential lever to reverse cellular aging.
Life Biosciences’ broader plans extend beyond eye disease. The company says it is developing applications for its technology to tackle a host of age-related diseases in a variety of organs, including fatty liver disease.
Sinclair put the scientific premise in direct terms: “Our research has suggested that aging is driven in large part by the loss of epigenetic information. not irreversible damage. This clinical study represents the first opportunity to test whether restoring that information can ameliorate human disease,” he said.
The first dosing marks the beginning of an experiment that could be either vindication—or a hard stop. Over the next year, the trial’s attention will be on safety and side effects. But the real gamble sits underneath those measurements: that age-related loss of vision can be pushed back by restoring something cells have lost over time. and that the story that has played out in monkeys can translate into what happens in humans.
Life Biosciences ER-100 longevity startup first human dose FDA clearance clinical trial age-related sight loss glaucoma NAION optic nerve epigenetic information David Sinclair Harvard Medical School epigenetics cellular rejuvenation fatty liver disease