October 27, 2022 | Issue #24

Good Evening

. Welcome back to another issue of Spannr.

In this week's newsletter

:

💊 Metformin: A wonder drug?

🤔 An ongoing debate

💰 3 new funding rounds

📢 Business news + weekend reading material

Metformin & Aging: Is It a Longevity Drug?

While no evidence conclusively shows that metformin slows aging in humans, a range of clinical studies have demonstrated the protective effects of metformin in people with diseases of aging.For example, one review of 53 studies showed metformin was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality from a multitude of age-related diseases such as cancer and heart disease.To learn more about metformin's benefits, associated risks, and why it's all the rage in the field of longevity these days, we invite you to read our latest deep dive explaining everything you need to know.

Dreamers vs. Realists

“There is no reason we couldn’t live 200 years.” -David A. Sinclair Ph.D.This claim, and other similar statements, have recently been receiving a lot of pushback from parts of the longevity community and scientific world.As MIT Technology Review wrote in a recent post:

We've seen this exact scenario develop in the cannabis industry and then in the psychedelic medicine world.In short, new entrepreneurs enter the field, make fantastic claims (many of which have little factual support), and then raise incredible amounts of money based on those possibly false claims. Investors are happy to write checks for breakthrough companies and technologies, that could turn their investment into a winning lottery ticket.In addition to this MIT article, there have been recent debates among longevity experts.Charles Brenner and Aubrey de Grey, for example, had an epic debate on Twitter (that seemed to go on for days), and even a live podcast debate which you can watch here.Meanwhile, social platforms are littered with endless back-and-forth arguing about what is realistic and what is fantasy when it comes to extending human lifespan.The irony here is that everyone involved in this conversation really wants the same thing – to figure out how to extend healthy human life.The problem, and ongoing debate, is how we actually do that.There is one camp (let's call them "the Dreamers") that is shooting for the stars, making incredible claims, and raising money to back moonshot ventures. The other camp (let's call them "the Realists") are relying on accepted research and science while resisting to venture into the "what if's."The Realists think that the Dreamers are jeopardizing the legitimacy of longevity biotech research, because of their unbelievable claims that make the public think longevity is quack science.The Dreamers, on the other hand, think the Realists are too rooted in old-fashioned science, lacking the ability to push the limits of where longevity research should be headed.So, who is right?Really, it doesn't matter.What matters is that there is an active debate. This is what a healthy market/industry should look like. It's a system of checks and balances, where both sides push each other in uncomfortable directions.That direction, although uncomfortable for both sides, will ultimately fuel progress.

• Mogling Bio, a privately held biotech company, announces that it has successfully completed its first seed investment round with sole investor Kizoo Technology Capital

• Resolve Biosciences, a pioneer in Molecular Cartography technology, announced it has secured a $71 million Series B financing led by Patient Square Capital with participation from EDBI, PS Capital, Alafi Capital, and NRW.BANK

• Recursion, a clinical-stage biotechnology company industrializing drug discovery, announces $150 Million private placement to new and existing investors, led by Kinnevik AB

• Hevolution Foundation Launches Grants Program to Encourage Research into the Science of Aging in Saudi Arabia

• Turn Biotechnologies presents interim pre-clinical data that demonstrates treating T cells with its proprietary technologies can significantly increase their ability to kill cancer

• BrainHQ and Reboot Your Age Team Up for Mind-Body Longevity

• Recursion discreetly culls a rare disease program to focus on cancer

• Denali Therapeutics Announces Closing of a $316 Million Public Offering, Including Full Exercise of Underwriters’ Option to Purchase Additional Shares

• Leonhardt Ventures receives U.S. Patent for Bioelectric Expression of Klotho, a Key Longevity and Disease-Fighting Protein

• The New Longevity Isn’t Coming. It’s Here (Esquire Magazine)

• Biotech IPOs Are Strange, Even In A Down Market (Crunchbase)

• Jim Mellon: Longevity could be the best investment you ever make (Longevity.Technology)

• Repeating the Point that Metformin Just Doesn't Look Good in Animal Studies (Fight Aging!)

• Rejuvenation Startup Summit 2022 started to publish videos of selected talks (Forever Healthy)

• Designing a Methylation Clock that Reliably Evaluates Anti-aging Interventions (Josh Mittledorf)

• The Mortality issue (MIT Technology Review)

• The Quest to Treat Binge-Eating and Addiction—With Brain Zaps (Wired)

• More than 600 companies are developing digital biomarkers — how do you choose the right one? (HumanFirst)

Performance:

Latest Price: $130.087d-Return: 6.98%Market Cap: $11.09b

Big Movers:

Lineage Cell (LCTX): 14.15%ChromaDex (CDXC): 9.93%Scholar Rock (SRRK): 8.40%