Altos, which is now a fully-funded company, emerged with a new plan to accelerate the research process. Richard Klausner, former chief of the National Cancer Institute, was instrumental in this effort. Klausner is also an entrepreneur. Klausner is well-known for his large and lucrative financial bets on biotechnologies. He was previously involved in the creation of companies such as Juno Therapeutics, Grail and Grail Cancer Testing.
According to the UK incorporation filing for Altos Labs Klausner is the CEO of the new company. Klausner didn't respond to phone and email attempts to reach him. He lives in Los Altos Hills, just like Milner.
Many startups are working on reprogramming technology. These include Life Biosciences in the UK, Turn Biotechnologies in the US, AgeX Therapeutics in the UK, and Shift Biosciences in the UK. However, these efforts have not led to any clinical trials for patients.
Investors are raising hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in reprogramming. This is specifically for rejuvenating parts or the entire human body. David Sinclair, a Harvard University researcher, said that the technique has been used to restore sight to mice last December.
Sinclair calls the field nascent, but believes it holds unique promise. He says, "What else is there that you can do to reverse the ageing process?" My lab is examining the major organs, tissues, and muscles. Sinclair said he was not involved in Altos, but that he spoke at the 2020 meeting. He also applied for an award from Milky Way.
Science business
Altos has not yet made an announcement, however it was incorporated in Delaware in this year. A securities disclosure filed in California last June indicated that the company raised at least $270million, according to Will Gornall (a professor of business at the University of British Columbia), who reviewed the document. The company could also have wealthy venture capitalists and tech personalities as investors, in addition to Bezos or Milner.
Altos also hired Peter Walter. His laboratory at the University of California in San Francisco is responsible for a molecule with remarkable memory effects. Wolf Reik is also joining the team. He was previously the director of the Babraham Institute, UK. The center had recently announced that he would be taking up a position with an alternative research organization. Walter and Reik did not comment.
Altos will initially fund researchers without any expectation of revenues or products. One person briefed to Klausner and Milner said that the initial output of the company would be outstanding science.
Altos lures university professors with sports-star salaries up to $1 million per year, plus equity and no need to apply for grants. Manuel Serrano, a researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, Spain confirmed that he accepted a job offer by Altos. He said the company would pay him between five and ten times his current salary.
Altos Labs' philosophy is to conduct curiosity-driven research. Serrano says that this is what he knows how to do and loves to do. He plans to move to the UK to join Altos Labs. We have the freedom to explore and be bold in this instance, as it is a private company. It will help me feel rejuvenated.
Altos doesn't plan to make a lot of money initially, as any treatment for major diseases such as aging could cost billions. Serrano says that the goal is to understand rejuvenation. Although revenue is a goal for the future, it's not the primary objective.
