Family offices bankroll biotech firm to develop drugs to fight aging

The Swiss biotech firm Rejuveron Life Sciences AG has attracted backing from sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co. to help bankroll its development of drugs targeting the effects of aging, people familiar with the matter said. 

Rejuveron has raised about $75 million from a series B funding round and convertible loan deal, the people said. Investors in the fundraising include Catalio Capital Management, the life-sciences-focused firm backed by hedge fund billionaires Stan Druckenmiller and Alan Howard, the people said. 

German entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, a founding investor in Rejuveron, is also providing more funds alongside Mubadala’s asset management arm Mubadala Capital and various family offices, the people said. The fundraising values Rejuveron at nearly $400 million, the people said. 

Rejuveron is developing therapies to prevent or reverse diseases of aging and extend people’s life spans. It’s running clinical trials for treatments targeting retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare eye diseases that cause progressive vision loss, as well as sarcopenia, a condition that causes muscle loss as a person gets older. 

The company plans to acquire a stake in Boost Neuroscience, a Catalio-backed company developing brain synapse regeneration technologies pioneered by Nobel Prize winner Thomas Sudhof, the people said. Rejuveron also plans to set up an office in the nascent health care hub of Abu Dhabi to support its expansion in the Middle East, the people said. 

“The MENA region has already seen several major announcements to propel longevity research and development,” Rejuveron said in response to Bloomberg queries. “We believe that taking our place in this thriving ecosystem will help our development goals and invigorate health care delivery that is much needed to advance the cause of preventative medicine.”

Representatives for Angermayer’s family office, Apeiron Investment Group, and Catalio declined to comment. 

“We are excited about what the team at Rejuveron is building and are thrilled to be partnering with Catalio and Apeiron to support its mission to bring innovations that will help people lead healthier and longer lives by focusing on key diseases with the highest economic burden on societies,” Alaa Halawa, who helps lead Mubadala Capital’s U.S. ventures team, said in a statement.