Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on the 21st it will carry out research and development on rejuvenation therapies. Rejuvenation reverses aging that has already occurred and makes cells younger. It is a more advanced concept than anti-aging, which merely delays aging.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical won the technology asset and rights of U.S. corporations Turn Bio at auction for this purpose. Turn Bio has a rejuvenation platform called ERA. Its core is a partial reprogramming technology that uses messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) to revert aged cells to young cells. The company said it can selectively improve only the parts with diminished function while keeping cell characteristics intact.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical plans to conduct diverse research, including on ophthalmic and hearing disorders caused by aging, with its subsidiary HanAll Biopharma. Earlier, HanAll Biopharma signed a technology agreement with Turn Bio and explored the potential for drug development.
Recently, as populations age and healthy life spans lengthen, global interest in aging has been rising. Earlier, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and PayPal founder Peter Thiel invested in startups related to aging.
The company plans to speed up the development of rejuvenation therapies with the introduction of the platform. Park Sung-su, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said, "Aging is a core field that can change the future medical paradigm beyond specific diseases," adding, "We will secure competitiveness at a global level."