Rejuvenate Biomed Secures EUR 3.2 Million Series A Round to Advance Development of Healthy Aging Products

Rejuvenate Biomed Secures EUR 3.2 Million Series A Round to Advance Development of Healthy Aging Products

Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, 2 March 2021 – Rejuvenate Biomed NV (“Rejuvenate”), a biomedical company developing prescription drugs for age-related diseases, announces it has completed a EUR 3.2 million Series A round. The funding is being used to advance the development of Rejuvenate’s lead candidate RJx-01 in both acute and chronic sarcopenia (disuse-induced and age-related muscle failure).

The financing included lead investor Vesalius Biocapital III and private non-disclosed investors, as well as existing investors. Additionally, Rejuvenate gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) in non-dilutive funding. Concurrent with the closing, the company has bolstered its scientific advisory board, which is now composed of Dr. Johan Auwerx, MD, PhD, Dr. Eric Verdin, MD, PhD, Dr. Marco Sandri, MD, PhD, Dr. Bart Braeckman, PhD, Dr. Björn Schumacher, PhD, and Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, PhD. Furthermore, a clinical advisory board has been established which is led by Dr. Jean-Yves Reginster, MD, PhD.

Rejuvenate’s lead candidate RJx-01 is a novel, safe, orally administered, small molecule combination product being developed for sarcopenia, defined by loss of muscle strength, quality and mass. The product was derived from an extensive in silico systems biology program, which mapped existing drugs with curated longevity pathways to create innovative, synergistic and highly effective combinations. RJx-01 has demonstrated strong preclinical evidence in multiple models and, with human safety data on hand for the individual compounds, the company plans to move the program into Phase Ib/IIb clinic trials later this year.

Dr. Ann Beliën, PhD, Founder and CEO of Rejuvenate: “We are very pleased to welcome our lead investor Vesalius Biocapital III as well as the other new investors and wish to thank our existing shareholders for their continued support. Our team is highly driven to deliver therapeutics with a meaningful impact on the treatment and prevention of multiple age-related diseases by tackling their root causes. Using safe products as building blocks to develop innovative combinations such as RJx-01 has created unique opportunities in this field. Our dream of extending people’s health span is becoming a reality.”

Mr. Stéphane Verdood, MBA, MSc, Managing Partner at Vesalius Biocapital III: “Rejuvenate’s data show the potential for RJx-01 to drive our natural capacity to self-restore our cells. The company has a solid scientific and clinical basis coupled with a management team that is rapidly advancing RJx-01 for sarcopenia, and we are excited to be part of the next stage of the company’s growth.”