Miami Biotech Longeveron Advances in $101M Global Race to Extend Healthy Human Life
A South Florida biotechnology company is moving into the final phase of one of the world’s largest competitions focused on extending the healthy years of human life.
Miami-based Longeveron Inc. (Nasdaq: LGVN) was named one of 20 finalists in the $101 million XPRIZE Healthspan competition and one of just 10 teams selected to receive a $1 million Milestone 2 Award.
The company was chosen from more than 600 applicants worldwide and will use the award toward a clinical trial required during the competition’s final phase. Ultimately, finalists will have the opportunity to compete for a grand prize of up to $81 million. For South Florida, the announcement is also a story about university research making the leap from the laboratory to a publicly traded biotechnology company.
From University of Miami Research to Nasdaq
Longeveron was co-founded in 2014 by Dr. Joshua Hare, who serves as the company’s chief scientific officer and executive chairman and is founding director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
That same year, Longeveron entered into an exclusive license agreement with the University of Miami covering medicinal signaling cell technology developed at the university by Hare. The company and UM later expanded the license and established a collaborative research and development agreement in 2021.
Today, Longeveron operates from Miami and is developing laromestrocel, formerly known as Lomecel-B, an investigational cell therapy derived from the bone marrow of healthy adult donors.
The company went public in February 2021, when its shares began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker LGVN. Its initial public offering generated $26.6 million in gross proceeds.
Competing to Change How Humans Age
XPRIZE Healthspan is considerably more ambitious than a traditional startup competition.
Launched in 2023 and scheduled to conclude in 2030, the seven-year competition challenges researchers and companies to develop therapies capable of restoring muscle, cognitive and immune function lost through aging by the equivalent of at least 10 years , with a goal of reaching 20 years, in adults between ages 50 and 90.
“We are extremely proud and enthusiastic to participate as a Milestone 2 Awardee of XPRIZE Healthspan, a 7-year, $101 million global competition that aims to revolutionize the way we approach human aging,” said Stephen H. Willard, chief executive officer of Longeveron. “We look forward to the next chapter of the competition as we continue to develop our stem cell therapy that we believe has the potential to have a significant impact for patients and their families, and extend healthy life.”
Twenty teams have advanced to the finalist stage. Ten, including Longeveron, were awarded $1 million each for clinical development.
The group spans the United States, Japan, South Korea and China and includes teams affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, Mount Sinai Health System, the University of Tokyo, Tohoku University and the University of Washington.
Longeveron earned its Milestone 2 position based in part on published clinical results showing that laromestrocel increased six-minute walking distance among patients with aging-related frailty. The findings from a randomized Phase 2b trial were published this year in Cell Stem Cell.
More Than a Longevity Play
Longeveron is attempting to develop the same cellular platform across several indications, describing the strategy as a “pipeline-in-a-product.”
At the center of that strategy is laromestrocel, an investigational cell therapy derived from the bone marrow of young, healthy adult donors. Longeveron is exploring the therapy’s potential across conditions ranging from aging-related frailty and Alzheimer’s disease to rare pediatric heart conditions.
“Our stem cell therapy laromestrocel is an allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell supported by a robust intellectual property portfolio of 52 issued patents worldwide. Its potential mechanisms of action comprising anti-inflammatory, pro-vascular, and pro-regenerative effects support its potential application across multiple important indications with high unmet medical need,” said Dr. Hare.
That intellectual property portfolio has become an important part of the company’s broader commercialization strategy. Longeveron says its patents span areas including composition of matter, methods of use and manufacturing processes as it explores potential licensing and strategic partnerships around laromestrocel.
In addition to aging-related frailty, programs involving laromestrocel include Alzheimer’s disease and rare pediatric heart conditions, including hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or HLHS. That makes September particularly important for the company. Longeveron expects to report top-line results from its Phase 2b ELPIS II clinical trial evaluating laromestrocel as an adjunct treatment for children with HLHS.
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