Aging arises from dysfunction in several cellular processes interacting together, commonly referred to as the ‘hallmarks of aging’. Prominent geroscience companies are targeting different hallmarks of aging, but the question of which hallmark is more or less central to aging has remained a subject of debate.

The recent discovery and experimental use of a highly accurate aging biomarker (Horvath’s multi-tissue epigenetic aging clock) has revealed that some hallmarks have a significant impact on the aging clock whilst other hallmarks have little or no effect. It follows that targeting specific central hallmarks which have the greatest observed effect on the clock (mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence) will have the greatest impact on slowing or reversing processes of aging.

We target one of these processes; loss of energy production due to damaged mitochondria. We have discovered small molecule drugs and tool molecules (we refer to these as Shift drugs) that restore mitochondrial function by shifting the ratio of mitochondrial genomes from damaged to healthy.