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Juvenescence

A clinical-stage longevity biotech developing medicines aimed at age-related disease biology, supported by an AI-enabled discovery and development approach. Its “core medicines” pipeline spans fibrosis, cardiometabolic disease, neurodegeneration, inflammation and muscle wasting.

Company Overview

Juvenescence develops therapeutics intended to modify disease drivers associated with aging, with a strategy that combines an internal “core medicines” pipeline with a portfolio of equity investments in adjacent platform and therapeutics companies.

Headquarters and Global Presence

Juvenescence is headquartered in the Isle of Man and operates internationally, including business development and partnering activity linked to the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and the US/Europe clinical development ecosystem.

Founding and History

Juvenescence was founded by Jim Mellon, Greg Bailey and Declan Doogan. In 2025, the company expanded its AI and partnering profile through a strategic relationship with Abu Dhabi-based healthcare group M42 and a subsequent acquisition to deepen in-house AI drug discovery.

Therapy Areas and Focus

Juvenescence’s disclosed “core medicines” indications span multiple age-associated disease areas:

Fibrosis (multi-organ framing)
Heart failure and cardiometabolic dysfunction
Neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease listed for one program)
Inflammatory disease (rheumatoid arthritis listed for one program)
Muscle wasting (program targeting the GDF axis)

Technology Platforms and Modalities

Juvenescence positions itself as an AI-enabled drug developer with a mixed-modality pipeline:

Oral small molecules (including a PAI-1 inhibitor, a CD38 inhibitor and an exogenous ketone program)
Biologics (a GDF-15–axis program, described as biologics and small molecules)
A neurodegeneration program based on a brain-penetrant plasmalogen precursor approach
AI/ML drug discovery capabilities, strengthened in 2025 through acquisition of Ro5 and its knowledge-graph and AI chemistry tooling

Programs and Clinical Pipeline

Core medicines (Juvenescence / JuvTherapeutics)

Oral small-molecule PAI-1 inhibitor (Fibrosis): Phase I
Oral exogenous ketone therapy (Heart failure): Phase 0
GDF-15 axis program (Muscle wasting; partner: BioMASS): IND-enabling
Oral small-molecule CD38 inhibitor (Rheumatoid arthritis): Preclinical
Brain-penetrant plasmalogen precursor (Alzheimer’s disease): Preclinical

Portfolio companies (selected examples shown on the company’s pipeline materials)

Serina Therapeutics (POZ-based delivery platform)
Relation Therapeutics (human biology/ML “lab-in-the-loop” platform)
LyGenesis (ectopic organ generation via lymph node “bioreactor” concept; lead program described as Phase IIa in end-stage liver disease)
Morphoceuticals (bioelectrome-focused regeneration approach)
Component Health (metabolite restoration nutrition products)
Chrysea (synthetic biology for nutritional interventions)
PerformAge (digital health platform)

Key Personnel

Leadership listed on the company’s public materials includes:

Richard Marshall, Chief Executive Officer
Greg Bailey, Co-founder and Executive Chairman
Jim Mellon, Co-founder and Deputy Chairman
Declan Doogan, Co-founder and Board Member
Gillian Dines, Chief Science Officer
Steve Felstead, Chief Medical Officer
Eileen Jennings-Brown, Chief Technology & Transformation Officer
Paul Russell, Chief Development Officer
David Gill, Chief Financial Officer

Strategic Partnerships

M42 (Abu Dhabi): strategic investment and partnership announced in April 2025, framed around AI-enabled drug discovery, pipeline build-out and establishment of a drug development hub in Abu Dhabi.
BioMASS: listed as partner for the GDF-15 axis program in the core medicines pipeline.

FAQ Section

Juvenescence is positioned as an AI-enabled drug developer focused on age-related disease mechanisms. In practical terms, it operates as a multi-asset pipeline company developing small molecules and biologics where the initial clinical indication is tied to common age-associated morbidity (eg, fibrosis, heart failure, neurodegeneration, inflammatory disease and muscle wasting).

The company’s disclosed internal pipeline spans fibrosis, cardiometabolic disease (including heart failure), neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s disease listed), inflammatory disease (rheumatoid arthritis listed) and muscle wasting. It also maintains a separate portfolio of invested companies across delivery platforms, regenerative medicine and digital health.

Juvenescence lists two programs with human clinical staging:

A PAI-1 inhibitor program in Phase I for fibrosis
An exogenous ketone program in Phase 0 for heart failure
Other internal programs are described as IND-enabling or preclinical.

Most recent items, in reverse chronological order:

5 June 2025: acquisition of AI drug discovery company Ro5, positioned as expanding Juvenescence’s AI/ML discovery capabilities and supporting its strategic collaboration with M42.
21 May 2025: first close of a Series B-1 financing, announced as $76 million, led by M42; the company linked proceeds to advancing its clinical pipeline and generating clinical readouts.
16 April 2025: announcement of M42’s strategic investment and partnership with Juvenescence, framed around AI-enabled drug discovery collaboration and development infrastructure in Abu Dhabi.

The main proof points are execution milestones rather than platform claims:

Phase I safety/tolerability and signal generation for the fibrosis PAI-1 inhibitor program
Translational rationale and feasibility for the heart failure ketone program beyond Phase 0
Conversion of IND-enabling and preclinical assets into first-in-human studies with clearly defined endpoints and patient selection

Based on its 2025 disclosures, Juvenescence is building internal discovery infrastructure (Ro5 knowledge-graph and AI chemistry tooling) and pairing it with external resources via the M42 partnership (genomics, bioanalysis and clinical trial infrastructure). The operational test is whether that stack produces higher-quality targets and faster progression into clinical candidates with defensible differentiation.

Study updates and advancement decisions for the PAI-1 inhibitor Phase I program (fibrosis)
Clear next-step plans for the ketone program following Phase 0 work (heart failure)
IND filings/clinical starts for the GDF-15 axis program (muscle wasting) and for the CD38 and plasmalogen programs
Any additional disclosed financing closes or formalization of the Abu Dhabi development hub under the M42 collaboration

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