At the Longevity Summit Dublin 2024, Hanadie Yousef, CEO of Juvena Therapeutics, presented her company's innovative approach to drug discovery using stem cell secretomes. By leveraging AI and machine learning, Juvena has identified proteins with regenerative potential to target age-related diseases. Yousef's talk focused on the application of these discoveries in muscle regeneration and metabolic health, with an emphasis on developing therapies for both rare diseases and broader age-related conditions.

Key Points:

• Juvena Therapeutics Overview: Hanadie Yousef, CEO of Juvena Therapeutics, introduced her company’s mission to harness stem cell-secreted proteins, called secretomes, to create therapies that target ageing mechanisms and promote tissue regeneration.
• Secreted Proteins as Therapeutics: Yousef emphasized the natural regenerative power of secreted proteins, which act as biochemical messengers to regulate processes such as immune responses and tissue regeneration. These proteins have potential as drug candidates to combat ageing and degenerative diseases.
• AI-Driven Drug Discovery: Juvena uses an AI-enabled platform to identify and map secreted proteins from human stem cells, allowing for the discovery of proteins that can reverse disease processes. The platform integrates machine learning and multi-omics approaches to accelerate drug discovery.
• Focus on Metabolic and Muscle Health: The company's research centres on restoring metabolic health and combating muscle wasting conditions such as sarcopenia. Juvena’s lead biologic, JUV-161, is designed to enhance muscle regeneration and will target rare diseases like myotonic dystrophy type 1 before expanding to age-related conditions.
• Advanced Protein Engineering: The team employs advanced protein engineering techniques, including the use of AI, to optimize these proteins for drug development. This process involves improving the proteins’ stability and efficacy to create long-lasting, potent therapeutics.
• Pipeline Development: Juvena has successfully identified over 50 therapeutic proteins, advancing multiple candidates targeting diseases such as obesity, liver fibrosis, and pulmonary fibrosis. These candidates are currently in various stages of preclinical development.