“We can not solve our [medical] problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” —Albert Einstein

Exponential Therapeutics™ is a startup biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for various age related or age-dependent pathologies. Many diseases of “old age” occur because a critical number of specialized cells have become senescent. More specifically, these cells’ telomeres have become critically short. Such cells no longer function properly, have altered gene expression, and can no longer divide to produce new cells. Our approach involves using (small molecule) interventions to re-elongate telomeres, and therefore restore cells to a more youthful physiologic condition – both structurally and functionally in gene expression patterns.

Some of the disease targets for which our research and therapies may be applied include:

• Several types of neurodegeneration (glial cells – esp. microglial cells)
• Many cardiovascular diseases (endothelial cells)
• Osteoporosis (osteoblast cells)
• Osteoarthritis (chondrocyte cells)
• Immunosenescence (T lymphocyte / T-cell)
• Skin aging & wrinkles (fibroblast and keratinocyte cells)
• Wound healing (fibroblast and keratinocyte cells)
• Hepatic cirrhosis (hepatocyte cells)
• Hormonal deficiencies (endocrine cells)
• Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (multiple cell types)
• Dyskeratosis congenita (multiple cell types)

Pipeline

We have discovered approximately 30 small molecule compounds that induce expression of the hTERT gene. At least two of these compounds (possibly more) are “druggable” and ready to begin pre-clinical trials.

Our first product is our Authentically Ageless™ skin cream, which contains TeloMore™ as an active ingredient. You can read more about Authentically Ageless™ here. You can read more about TeloMore™ here.

Additional Company Details

Our mission is to develop cures for diseases that involve cellular senescence and impaired gene expression due to shortened telomeres. Our immediate goal is to use TeloMore™ as a proof of concept for this approach. Our intermediate goal is to generate sufficient revenue with Authentically Ageless™ to fund pre-clinical trials of an ingestible drug. With sufficient funding it would be possible to conduct both pre-clinical and clinical trials of an ingestible drug (rather than mere topical application), which is our long term goal. Just like many of you, our primary goal is to cure these age related diseases to extend maximal human lifespan – including our own.

Our operation has been extremely capital efficient by biotech and pharma R&D standards, by making use of university lab facilities and contract research lab facilities.

Perspective

We believe that the single biggest obstacle to substantially extending human lifespan is neither scientific and technical, nor financial, but rather psychological. We have found that to a large extent, the pharmaceutical industry, clinical medical, regulatory, and academic research communities, all hold assumptions and mental models about telomere biology and the processes of human aging that have become counterproductive and are inhibiting the advancement of disease treatments and life extension therapies. Dr. Mike Fossel is a rare exception to this trend (and we mention an interview with him in our news blog). We believe these assumptions need to be questioned and challenged. We believe that most of these “diseases of aging” can be fundamentally treated. And we believe the primary way people will be convinced is to actually do what many believe cannot be done.

We liken this to the idea of a “heavier than air flying machine” (AKA the airplane) – circa 1902. At that time only hydrogen or helium balloons had flown, and most people believed things like: “a heavier than air flying machine is impossible”. Yet only a few years later the Wright brothers had a working prototype of such a machine, and only a couple decades later such flight was commercialized and commonly available. The same is going to happen with life extension medical therapies.

Essentially we said, “if no one else will do it, we will.” If we can accomplish on a relatively small budget and a part time basis what we have, then that leads us to ask the question: “why is it taking the rest of the industry so long?” The only answer we can come up with is, they have incorrect paradigms. Or to state it another way, perhaps the current medical approaches to treating “diseases of aging” are merely addressing the symptoms of aging, rather than addressing the root “causes” (which we contend is due primarily to altered gene expression and cellular senescence due to shortened telomeres). In essence, telomeres function in epigenetic regulation of gene expression.

For more thoughts on this topic, please read reference [34] here, and we encourage you to also read this page written by Dr. Mike Fossel. (We have no affiliation with Dr. Fossel.) We simply agree with his analysis in this post, and he has written it more eloquently than we could:

“To truly understand how aging works, you need to erase your assumptions, step back, and look at the complexity without blinders or preconceptions. Looking at aging without preconceptions about ‘the’ cause is almost always too much to ask.”

“There is, however, a more practical approach to understanding aging and the complex cascade of pathology that results from the aging process. Rather than looking for causes, look for effective interventions. If we ignore the deceptive question of causation for a moment and focus on intervention, then telomeres come to the center stage. It’s not that telomeres are in any sense the “cause” of aging, but telomeres are, without doubt, the single most effective point of intervention in the aging process and in age-related diseases.“

“[…] This involves how telomeres affect gene expression. What we don’t know (for certain) is the linkage mechanisms, despite discussions about T-loops, sliding sheaths, and all the accompanying data involved over the past two decades. It’s still a bit of a black box. What we do know (for certain), is that telomere shortening changes gene expression, and we do know (for certain) that when we reset telomere lengths we reset gene expression.“

“Once telomeres shorten, […] We know that the changes are progressive and subtle if you only look from one-cell-division-to-the-next (with the associated loss of base pairs). Yet over multiple cell divisions and thousands of base pair losses, these changes in gene expression add up, altering gene expression just enough to have effects upon DNA repair, mitochondrial efficiency, free radical production, lipid membrane competency, protein turnover, and myriad other processes that we associate with aging.”

“Finally, all of this explains why, when we re-extend telomeres, whether in vitro or in vivo, we reset gene expression and not only allow cells to become fully functional again but allow the organism to become functional as well. In short, it explains why and how we may prevent and cure aging and age-related disease.”

For more thoughts on this topic, please see our FAQs and read this page. Thank you for your interest.