A startup that wants to cryogenically freeze your stem cells just snagged new funding
- Fast Company - BY RINA RAPHAEL
- 17 de mai. de 2018
- 2 min de leitura
The sector devoted to longevity and combatting aging is, well, maturing. Forever Labs, a startup that extracts and stores stem cells, just received $2 million in funding from Northwestern Mutual, Silicon Badia Ventures, Babel Ventures, and Aaron Hirschhorn, founder and CEO of DogVacay.
Founded in 2015, the Ann Arbor, Michigan, company hopes to transform personalized healthcare by preserving healthy stem cells for future therapies or age-related diseases. A company rep says the aim is to foster “a future that places more on health maintenance versus disease treatment.”
The 15-minute procedure involves a physician collecting a client’s mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which reportedly have the ability to stimulate tissues to grow and repair themselves. The stem cells are then cryogenically frozen and stored for future use. The price for collection plus one year of storage runs for $2,500, while lifetime storage plans costs $7,000.
“After years of research, studies continue to show that older animals treated with younger stem cells were living significantly healthier and longer lives. [We] knew it was only a matter of time before this could be applied to humans and become a major breakthrough for treating age-related diseases,” said Steven Clausnitzer, cofounder and CEO, in a released statement.
Forever Labs is just one of many companies attempting to corner the revolutionary medical market, which now counts over 500 clinical trials. The global stem cell industry is expected to reach $15.63 billion by 2025, according to a recent report by Research and Markets.
A company representative confirms that the startup–which already boasts hundreds of clients–plans to further research stem cell capability and accelerate brand development with this investment.
[Photo: Kitt_KS/Pixabay]
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