Genflow gears up for London float with Europe acting as ’empty field’ for age reversal firms
Age reversal firm Genflow gears up to announce its market debut, making it the first of its kind to float in London.
The British company is backed by the likes of billionaire investor Jim Mellon and has raised £3.7m, with a market cap of just over £23m.
Funds will go towards developing a product designed around a variant of the Sirtuin 6 gene, following promising results in pre-clinical work, according to The Telegraph.
The gene is largely found in centenarians, and can help repair DNA damage and extend life spans.
Dr Eric Leire, chief executive of the company, said that London was the obvious choice for a market debut: “Most, if not all, of the serious companies that are tackling ageing are based in the US, but there’s nothing in Europe, it’s an empty field. We want to be the first movers in Europe and benefit from that and really London has this huge expertise in early-stage biotech.”
Genflow comes alongside a wrath of longevity companies to emerge in recent years.
Valo Health, for instance, a data-driven drug development company operating in some areas with potential for longevity, attempted to go public via a special-purpose acquisition company merger with Khosla Ventures at a $2.8bn (£2.1bn) valuation last summer. Although it didn’t go ahead, Valo remains a unicorn startup.
Insilico Medicine is another significant example, having raised more than $300m (£222m) for an AI drug development platform focused on cancer and age-related diseases.
According to the statistics from the World Bank, the population aged 65 and above as a share of the total population around the globe touched 9.32 per cent in the year 2020, up from 6.87 per cent in the year 2000.