• Investment led by BGF, with support from existing investors F-Prime Capital, Kindred Capital, and Jonathan Milner
• Seed funding will accelerate development of Shift Bioscience’s platform for identification of safe rejuvenation genes, a fundamental step forward in the development of therapeutics to treat age-related diseases

Shift Bioscience is a biotech company using generative AI models to understand how activation of different genes can reverse the aging process. This research is a fundamental step forward in designing more effective drugs to treat age-related diseases. Today the company announced that it has raised $16M (£12.5M) in Seed funding, led by BGF, with existing investors F-Prime Capital, Kindred Capital, and Jonathan Milner participating. The investment will be used for the continued development of Shift Bioscience’s artificial intelligence (AI) cell simulation platform, for the identification of genes that can safely rejuvenate cells to combat the effects of age-related illnesses.

Average life expectancy has increased over the last century, which has led to a rise in the number of people suffering from age-related illnesses, increasing the strain on healthcare systems. Cellular reprogramming with Yamanaka factors represents a promising technology that can rejuvenate cells, providing the opportunity to develop new treatments that target multiple diseases of aging, from hearing loss to cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis. However, there is a pressing need to identify gene-factors that can be used to reprogram cells with proven safety.

 “Our technology is addressing the current limitations of cellular reprogramming for treatment of age-related illnesses,” Dr Daniel Ives, CEO, Shift Bioscience, commented. “This investment is indicative of the strength of our approach and is one of the earliest funding rounds for a biotech start-up exclusively focused on the rapidly emerging field of cell simulation for target discovery. This additional funding will allow us to accelerate the development of our platform and bring cell rejuvenation therapeutics closer towards clinical trial.”

Shift Bioscience is building a cell simulation platform that combines generative AI with its highly accurate, high-throughput biological aging clock, to predict which sets of genes are most likely to safely rejuvenate specific cells and then test, improve and validate these predictions. Preliminary results from the platform were well received at the 2024 Gordon Research Conference on Systems Aging. The Company will use the Seed funding to accelerate the development of its AI cell simulation platform, enabling the identification of novel genes for safe rejuvenation of cells indicated in age-related illnesses. The funding will also support the development of an IP portfolio for the novel rejuvenation genes identified by Shift Bioscience. The new investment brings the total raised by the company to $18M (£14M).

Tim Rea, head of early stage at BGF, said: “We’re excited to be backing a British company at the forefront of developing a new class of regenerative medicines. Combining machine learning with lab-based biology, Shift’s well-developed platform represents a significant opportunity to address the growing challenges of treating age-related disease and illnesses.”

About Shift Bioscience

Shift Bioscience is using simulation guided cell rejuvenation to defeat the diseases of aging. Cellular reprogramming with Yamanaka factors can reverse aging in the dish but is not yet safe for clinical use. Shift has pioneered the first high throughput, high accuracy aging biomarker, which has been leveraged inside AI-based cell simulations to identify safer rejuvenation gene-factors. Shift envisions the development of a single drug-family that can treat multiple diseases of aging, after which full and continued health into old age becomes accessible by simple prescription.

Shift Bioscience was founded in 2017 by Daniel Ives, CEO, and Brendan Swain, CSO. Its labs are based at the Gurdon Institute, Cambridge thanks to the Frame Shift bio-incubator, an initiative of the Milner Therapeutics Institute.

About BGF

BGF was set up in 2011 and has invested £4 billion in over 600 companies, making it the most active investor in the UK and Ireland. BGF is a minority, non-controlling equity partner with a patient outlook on investments, based on shared long-term goals with the management teams it backs. BGF invests in growing businesses in the UK and Ireland through its network of 15 offices. Reflecting its long-standing commitment to supporting good growth in entrepreneurial businesses, BGF was recently recognized as a certified UK B Corp.