OUR BREAKTHROUGH STUDY AT THE BASIS OF THE NOVEL THERAPEUTIC CONCEPT OF SENOLYSIS

In the early 2000s, my team developed a BubR1 preclinical model for Mosaic Variegated Aneuploidy Progeria Syndrome (MVAPS), which led to the discovery that senescent cells drive aging and age-related diseases and established the novel therapeutic concept of senolysis (the selective elimination of pathological senescent cells) for the treatment of age-related diseases and the extension of healthy lifespan. 

 

In 2011, I co-founded Unity Biotechnology (click here) with Nathaniel David, Judy Campisi, and Daohong Zhou to develop senolytic drugs that eliminate disease-causing senescent cells, which led to the identification of a potent Bcl-xL inhibitor, UBX1325, as a candidate for clinical development.

 

In 2023, Unity Biotechnology reported 48-week data from their PHASE 2 BEHOLD study of UBX1325 (foselutoclax),  in patients with Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), the most prominent complication of diabetes and the leading cause of blindness in working-age individuals and affecting ~8 million people in the United States. This clinical trial was the first to validate the therapeutic concept of senolysis in humans. Unity is currently conducting a follow-up DME clinical trial (ASPIRE), designed as a head-to-head comparison of foselutoclax to the current standard of care aflibercept. Unity is also finalizing a PHASE 2 trial of foselutoclax in patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), called ENVISION (click here for details on all PHASE 2 trials).  

​

My current basic science and clinical work involves (1) The identification of molecular mechanisms by which pathological senescent cells drive age-related diseases; and (2) The development of novel therapeutics informed by these insights. My ultimate goal is to positively impact the treatment of cancers and age-related diseases with unmet clinical needs.