Category Archives: Human Longevity

Feb. 26, 2021 07:00 UTC

LEEDS, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 4D pharma plc (AIM: DDDD), a pharmaceutical company leading the development of Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs) - a novel class of drug derived from the microbiome, today announces that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared effective its registration statements on Form F-4 with respect to the issuance of 4D pharma American Depositary Shares (ADSs) to the shareholders of Longevity Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: LOAC) (Longevity), a NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in connection with the previously announced merger between 4D pharma and Longevity.

It is expected that 4D pharma ADSs will begin trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol LBPS following completion of the merger, subject to the satisfaction of the conditions to closing in the merger agreement between 4D pharma and Longevity, including approvals of 4D pharma and Longevity shareholders.

As reported in October 2020, the registration statement facilitates the creation of a trading market in the US for ADSs representing the Company's Ordinary Shares. 4D pharmas Ordinary Shares will continue to be admitted to trading on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, under the current ticker symbol DDDD.

The Company will send a circular to 4D pharma shareholders in due course in order to convene a General Meeting to, inter alia, approve the merger.

About 4D pharma

Founded in February 2014, 4D pharma is a world leader in the development of Live Biotherapeutics, a novel and emerging class of drugs, defined by the FDA as biological products that contain a live organism, such as a bacterium, that is applicable to the prevention, treatment or cure of a disease. 4D has developed a proprietary platform, MicroRx, that rationally identifies Live Biotherapeutics based on a deep understanding of function and mechanism.

4D pharma's Live Biotherapeutic products (LBPs) are orally delivered single strains of bacteria that are naturally found in the healthy human gut. The Company has six clinical programmes, namely a Phase I/II study of MRx0518 in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in solid tumours, a Phase I study of MRx0518 in a neoadjuvant setting for patients with solid tumours, a Phase I study of MRx0518 in patients with pancreatic cancer, a Phase I/II study of MRx-4DP0004 in asthma, a Phase II study of MRx-4DP0004 in patients hospitalised with COVID-19, and Blautix in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which has completed a successful Phase II trial. Preclinical-stage programmes include candidates for CNS disease such as Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The Company has a research collaboration with MSD, a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, to discover and develop Live Biotherapeutics for vaccines.

In October 2020 4D pharma announced its intention to merge with Longevity Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ: LOAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and seek a NASDAQ listing. The merger is expected to be completed and the NASDAQ listing of 4D pharma American Depositary Shares (ADSs) under the ticker symbol LBPS is currently expected to become effective in early 2021, subject to approval of 4D Shareholders and Longevity Shareholders.

For more information, refer to https://www.4dpharmaplc.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this announcement, including without limitation statements regarding expected trading of 4D pharma ADSs on NASDAQ and the potential timing thereof, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "intend," "foresee," "should," "would," "could," "may," "estimate," "outlook" and similar expressions, including the negative thereof. The absence of these words, however, does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations, beliefs and assumptions concerning future developments and business conditions and their potential effect on the Company. While management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those that it anticipates.

All of the Company's forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant or beyond its control, and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's historical experience and its present expectations or projections. The foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that affect the Company's business, including the risks of delays in admitting the ADSs to trading on NASDAQ and those additional risks and uncertainties described the documents filed by the Company with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), should be carefully considered. The Company wishes to caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any of its forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law.

Additional Information about the Transaction and Where to Find it

This press release is being made in respect of a proposed business combination involving 4D and Longevity. Following the announcement of the proposed business combination, 4D filed a registration statement on Form F-4 (the Registration Statement) with the SEC, which Registration Statement has been declared effective by the SEC. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Registration Statement includes a preliminary prospectus with respect to 4Ds ordinary shares and ADSs to be issued in the proposed transaction and a proxy statement of Longevity in connection with the merger. The proxy statement/prospectus will be provided to the Longevity shareholders. 4D and Longevity also plan to file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction.

This press release is not a substitute for any prospectus, proxy statement or any other document that 4D or Longevity may file with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders are urged to read the Registration Statement and, when they become available, any other relevant documents that will be filed with the SEC carefully and in their entirety because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction.

You may obtain copies of all documents filed with the SEC regarding this transaction, free of charge, at the SECs website (www.sec.gov). In addition, investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the Registration Statement and other documents filed with the SEC without charge, at the SECs website (www.sec.gov) or by calling +1-800-SEC-0330.

Participants in the Solicitation

Longevity and its directors and executive officers and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Longevitys shareholders with respect to the proposed transaction. Information regarding Longevitys directors and executive officers is available in its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 29, 2020, filed with the SEC on April 30, 2020. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation relating to the proposed transaction and a description of their direct and indirect interests is contained in the Registration Statement.

4D and its directors and executive officers may also be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Longevity in connection with the proposed transaction. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the proposed transaction is included in the Registration Statement.

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4D Pharma Announces US SEC Declares Registration Statement Effective with Respect to the Issuance of 4D Pharma American Depositary Shares on NASDAQ -...

ALAMEDA, Calif. & PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX; NYSE American: AGE), a biotechnology company developing therapeutics for human aging and cell regeneration, and LyGenesis, Inc. (LyGenesis), a privately held biotechnology company developing cell therapies that enable organ regeneration, announced today that they will proceed to negotiate an agreement for a merger of the two companies. LyGenesis recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for its Investigational New Drug application to conduct a Phase 2a clinical trial on the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of its lead cell therapy for patients with end-stage liver disease, with study initiation planned for 2021. The combined companys pipeline would also include thymus, pancreas, and kidney regeneration, in addition to the existing AgeX assets, including UniverCyte, which uses the HLA-G gene to potentially confer low immune observability to cells to suppress rejection of transplanted cells.

About the Proposed Merger

Based on the terms currently being discussed, a newly formed subsidiary of AgeX would merge into LyGenesis. At the closing of the merger, AgeX would issue to LyGenesis stockholders a number of shares of AgeX common stock representing two-thirds of the total number of shares of AgeX common stock to be outstanding immediately following the consummation of the merger on a fully diluted basis, but prior to the issuance of additional shares in a contemplated capital raising transaction following the execution of a merger agreement and contingent on the closing of the merger. Dr. Michael Hufford, who is the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of LyGenesis, upon successful merger would become CEO of the entity that survives the transaction (which includes both AgeX and LyGenesis). Under the terms being discussed, if the merger is completed, AgeXs pre-merger stockholders would receive an 80% economic interest in AgeXs induced tissue regeneration or iTR technology; the terms and structure of such economic interest have not yet been determined.

There can be no assurance that the negotiations between AgeX and LyGenesis will result in the execution of a definitive merger agreement on the terms being discussed or at all, or, if a merger agreement is entered into, that the merger will be consummated. The completion of any merger would be subject to approval by a special independent committee of the AgeX Board of Directors and by the respective Boards of Directors of both companies. The merger would also be subject to approval by AgeX stockholders and LyGenesis stockholders, including in each case approval by both a majority of the outstanding shares and by the holders of a majority of the shares not held by Juvenescence Limited.

Juvenescence Limited (Juvenescence) is the largest shareholder of each of AgeX and LyGenesis. Juvenescence beneficially owns approximately 52.7% of the AgeX common stock determined as disclosed in its most recent amendment to its Schedule 13D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and owns approximately 48% of the common stock of LyGenesis (assuming the conversion of its convertible debt into equity). The Chairman of AgeXs Board of Directors, Dr. Gregory Bailey, is the Chief Executive Officer of Juvenescence. Two directors of LyGenesis, James Mellon and David Ellam, are the Chairman and the Chief Financial Officer of Juvenescence, respectively.

This communication is not an offer to sell any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval and AgeX is not offering to sell, or soliciting an offer to buy, any securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell any shares of AgeX common stock or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor is it a substitute for a prospectus that may be included in a registration statement that may be filed by AgeX with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, with respect to the potential merger transaction, or a proxy statement that may be provided to AgeX stockholders. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ ANY PROSPECTUS OR PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE MERGER TRANSACTION AND ALL OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT AGEX MAY FILE WITH THE SEC, IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. All documents referred to above, if and when filed by AgeX, will be available free of charge at the SECs website (www.sec.gov) or by directing a request to AgeXs Chief Financial Officer at 1101 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 201, Alameda, California 94501 or apark@agexinc.com.

About AgeX Therapeutics

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a variety of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to establish licensing and collaboration agreements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms.

For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

About LyGenesis, Inc

LyGenesis is a biotechnology company whose cell therapies enable organ regeneration by using a patients lymph nodes as bioreactors to regrow functioning ectopic organs. LyGenesiss cell therapies are engrafted using endoscopic ultrasound procedure, which is associated with decreased medical risks and costs relative to full organ transplantation. LyGenesiss lead allogeneic cell therapy program is focused on liver regeneration for patients with end stage liver disease. Its drug development pipeline includes positive preclinical data for thymus, pancreas, and kidney regeneration. Privately held, LyGenesis is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To learn more, please visit lygenesis.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in the Risk Factors section of AgeXs Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Further, the potential merger with LyGenesis is subject to additional risks and uncertainties, including (i) negotiation of a definitive merger agreement, (ii) approval of a merger agreement by the respective boards of directors of AgeX and LyGenesis, (iii) approval of the merger agreement by AgeX stockholders, (iv) the satisfaction or waiver of such contractual conditions to the merger as may be included in the merger agreement, (v) the ability of AgeX and LyGenesis to raise additional capital for the merged company, (vi) potential difficulties integrating the business practices and operations of AgeX with the business practices and operations of LyGenesis; including potential difficulties in conforming accounting policies, procedures, internal controls, and financial records of LyGenesis with AgeX, (vii) the uncertain expense and outcome of the planned clinical trial of LyGenesis liver failure treatment, (viii) the cost and risks associated with the development of additional cell therapies in the LyGenesis product pipeline, (ix) unexpected expenditures or assumed liabilities that may be incurred as a result of the merger, (x) inability to accurately forecast the performance of LyGenesis and AgeX as an integrated company, and (xii) expected synergies between LyGenesis and AgeX may be materially different from actual results. Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

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AgeX Therapeutics and LyGenesis to Negotiate Merger Agreement - Business Wire

The gut microbiome is an integral component of the body, but its importance in the human aging process is unclear. ISB researchers and their collaborators have identified distinct signatures in the gut microbiome that are associated with either healthy or unhealthy aging trajectories, which in turn predict survival in a population of older individuals. The work was just published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

The research team analyzed gut microbiome, phenotypic and clinical data from over 9,000 people between the ages of 18 and 101 years old across three independent cohorts. The team focused, in particular, on longitudinal data from a cohort of over 900 community-dwelling older individuals (78-98 years old), allowing them to track health and survival outcomes.

The data showed that gut microbiomes became increasingly unique (i.e. increasingly divergent from others) as individuals aged, starting in mid-to-late adulthood, which corresponded with a steady decline in the abundance of core bacterial genera (e.g. Bacteroides) that tend to be shared across humans.

Strikingly, while microbiomes became increasingly unique to each individual in healthy aging, the metabolic functions the microbiomes were carrying out shared common traits. This gut uniqueness signature was highly correlated with several microbially-derived metabolites in blood plasma, including one tryptophan-derived indole that has previously been shown to extend lifespan in mice. Blood levels of another metabolite phenylacetylglutamine showed the strongest association with uniqueness, and prior work has shown that this metabolite is indeed highly elevated in the blood of centenarians.

This uniqueness signature can predict patient survival in the latest decades of life, said ISB Research Scientist Dr. Tomasz Wilmanski, who led the study. Healthy individuals around 80 years of age showed continued microbial drift toward a unique compositional state, but this drift was absent in less healthy individuals.

Interestingly, this uniqueness pattern appears to start in mid-life 40-50 years old and is associated with a clear blood metabolomic signature, suggesting that these microbiome changes may not simply be diagnostic of healthy aging, but that they may also contribute directly to health as we age, Wilmanski said. For example, indoles are known to reduce inflammation in the gut, and chronic inflammation is thought to be a major driver in the progression of aging-related morbidities.

Prior results in microbiome-aging research appear inconsistent, with some reports showing a decline in core gut genera in centenarian populations, while others show relative stability of the microbiome up until the onset of aging-related declines in health, said microbiome specialist Dr. Sean Gibbons, co-corresponding author of the paper. Our work, which is the first to incorporate a detailed analysis of health and survival, may resolve these inconsistencies. Specifically, we show two distinct aging trajectories: 1) a decline in core microbes and an accompanying rise in uniqueness in healthier individuals, consistent with prior results in community-dwelling centenarians, and 2) the maintenance of core microbes in less healthy individuals.

This analysis highlights the fact that the adult gut microbiome continues to develop with advanced age in healthy individuals, but not in unhealthy ones, and that microbiome compositions associated with health in early-to-mid adulthood may not be compatible with health in late adulthood.

This is exciting work that we think will have major clinical implications for monitoring and modifying gut microbiome health throughout a persons life, said ISB Professor Dr. Nathan Price, co-corresponding author of the paper.

This research project was conducted by ISB and collaborators from Oregon Health and Science University, University of California San Diego, University of Pittsburgh, University of California Davis, Lifestyle Medicine Institute, and University of Washington. It was supported in part by a Catalyst Award in Healthy Longevity from the National Academy of Medicine, and the Longevity Consortium of the National Institute on Aging.

ReferenceWilmanski T, Diener C, Rappaport N, et al. Gut microbiome pattern reflects healthy ageing and predicts survival in humans. Nature Metabolism. Published online 2021. doi:10.1038/s42255-021-00348-0

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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Healthy Aging and Longevity Linked to Gut Microbiome - Technology Networks

Life expectancy is largely governed by how effectively we can wield the tools at our disposal. What we choose to put in our body illustrates this point - poor dietary decisions can invite a host of health problems, whereas eating well can provide a barrier against them. Supplements are often met with a healthy dose of scepticism, but evidence suggests that some can extend your lifespan.

One study of over 41,000 metformin users found the drug decreased frailty by 24 percent, decreased cancer risk by six percent, reduced cardiovascular disease risk by 19 percent, and increased overall lifespan by six percent.

In their concluding remarks, the study researchers wrote: The apparent reductions in all-cause mortality and diseases of ageing associated with metformin use suggest that metformin could be extending life and health spans by acting as a neuroprotective agent.

According to Dartnell, another supplement that may extend ones lifespan is NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide).

As he explained Inside the body, NMN is transformed into NAD+ - a critical coenzyme found in every cell in your body.

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The body naturally produces NAD+ but levels decline as we get older.

A key study of NAD-boosting molecules (NMN) found that boosting NAD+ levels in older age can promote health and extend lifespan.

"NMN is thought to boost our longevity genes in a way that mimics the effects of exercise," Dartnell reports.

In their concluding remarks, the study authors wrote: Restoration of NAD+ levels in old or diseased animals can promote health and extend lifespan, prompting a search for safe and efficacious NAD-boosting molecules.

"The good news is, resveratrol is also available in red wine, just in case you dont fancy taking the supplements."

According to research, determining the mechanism(s) by which resveratrol and similar molecules act, and developing methods to improve bioavailability and/or specificity, has enormous potential to benefit human health.

It is thought that resveratrol mimics fasting, said Dartnell.

As he explained, fasting is essential for switching on our longevity genes.

It should be noted that GBS Clinic does not sell any of these supplements and does not necessarily endorse or agree with the findings here. Dartnell just reporting on what the scientific literature has discovered.

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How to live longer: Three supplements linked to a longer lifespan - what to take - Express

CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Picoma, a division of Zekelman Industries, is celebrating 75 years as a domestic manufacturer of electrical elbows, couplings and nipples (EC&N). Picoma has a long history in the steel industry, dating back to its founding in 1946. Company leadership and employees credit Picoma's longevity in the business to the company's commitment to domestic manufacturing.

"We started out manufacturing in Ohio 75 years ago, and we're still doing it here today," said Steve Camilletti, Picoma's general manager for North America. "The commitment to controlling our own destiny, controlling our service, controlling our quality, and to making an American-made product that's what's really kept us going all these years."

When asked about the company's future, Picoma's leadership says they've made modernization a priority. They're embracing a human-machine co-manufacturing environment that has allowed them to automate without losing their workforce. Picoma is also investing significantly in high-tech equipment, eco-friendly manufacturing practices, and online ordering and inventory management services.

Over the last five years, Picoma has added 35 U.S. jobs and continues to produce 100% American-made EC&N using domestically sourced steel.

Picoma's 75th anniversary comes on the heels of Zekelman Industries' recent "Life Reinforced" campaign launch, which aims to communicate the importance of domestic manufacturing and calls for companies to "make it here."

"When we invest in domestic manufacturing, we invest in local workers and local communities, creating opportunities for generations to come," Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman said. "Picoma is a part of our family and plays a vital role in our vision for the future. We are proud to help them celebrate 75 years in domestic manufacturing."

About PicomaPicoma, a division of Zekelman Industries, manufactures a complete line of electrical conduit fittings galvanized elbows, couplings and nipples and a complete EC&N package of aluminum, running thread and service meter masts.

About Zekelman Industries Zekelman Industries includes the operating divisions of Atlas Tube, Picoma, Sharon Tube, Wheatland Tube, Western Tube and Z Modular. It is the largest independent manufacturer of hollow structural sections (HSS) and steel pipe, and the top producer of electrical conduit and elbows, couplings and nipples in North America. Zekelman Industries delivers a broad range of pipe and tube solutions that build its customers' success.

SOURCE Zekelman Industries

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Picoma celebrates its 75th anniversary and its place in domestic manufacturing - PRNewswire

Focus on value

After environmental shifts and business model speciation, my third fundamental prediction was about how those business models would group into genera.

Evolutionary theory implied an extreme polarisation of the three ways to create value via either technological innovation, operational efficiency or customer intimacy and hence the emergence of three distinct kinds of business.

The ancestors of these business model genera could already be seen in, for example, Roche, Mylan and Fresenius but in each case we have seen increasing specialisation and, consequently, differentiation. Increasingly, we dont have one industry, we have three.

And just as biological species succeed by uncompromising specialisation, life sciences companies that try to straddle these three genera fail.

We have seen this in the relative demise of Teva, whose leadership thought it could be both innovative and low-cost. Evolution forces choices and despises compromises.

Customer-centric, but for which customer?

As well as predicting speciation by how value is created, Generalised Darwinism also predicted speciation according to the customer for whom that value is created.

Historically, our industrys customer has been institutional healthcare systems and the governments that fund them. But as the healthcare possibilities outstrip the ability of governments to fund them, evolution predicts a habitat in which the patient pays even for advanced, expensive treatments.

And this has come to pass. Whether as co-pays, health- tourism or crowd-funding, were seeing the emergence of a market in which the patient, or his or her family, influences the choice of drugs or devices.At the extremes, we see this in Human Longevity Inc, whose model is unlikely ever to appeal to governments or insurers.

Together with the above-mentioned specialisation by how to create value, specialisation by who to create value for has created a market environment of nine habitats, each driving the evolution of different kinds of business models in the same way that desert, jungle and tundra lead to the emergence of habitat-specific species.

Equally, every failed market access submission is evidence of a business model that has tried to straddle habitats and failed (see Figure 1). In another parallel with biological species, business models reflect the habitat in which they live.

Darwins tangled bank

As I drilled deeper into the complexity of our industry, I could see that even nine business models werent enough to fully describe reality.

Even within each habitat, business models were specialising within specialisation. Technological innovators were choosing to focus on one area of science or to become science integrators for instance, with drugs and companion diagnostics.

Business models that aimed to compete on customer intimacy were polarising between small audiences so called health concierges and mass markets, which is Fitbits emerging model.

Those models that aim to imitate innovators were diverging between those who followed close behind such as biosimilars and those who chose to focus on old science the unbranded generics, for example.

To anyone who has read Darwins Origin of Species, the parallels between this complexity and his description of the tangled bank of an English hedgerow are obvious. If it is possible to improve survivability by specialising, nature will find a way to do so. Equally, if ROI can be improved by speciation, new life sciences business models will emerge.

The result is the complexity we see in our market today and is reflected in Figure 1, which identifies no less than 26 distinct business models. You can read more about this in my June 2016 PME article, Explosive Evolution.

QED

Although built on years of research, the conclusions of my research could only be putative. Evolutionary science isnt like Newtonian physics, in which the future can be perfectly extrapolated from the past.

Nor is it resolvable into simple laws like the physical sciences. It took me 120,000 words to explain my findings in my 2017 book Darwins Medicine. The only way to test my Darwinian predictions was to sit back and watch, which is what Ive done since 2016 and you may have read in my regular PME column named after the book.

By and large, I feel pretty vindicated. The six great shifts I saw emerging in 2016 have each grown into market-shaping fundamentals. The market polarisation into nine habitats has become clear and it is increasingly true to think of the industry as a family of industries.

Within each of these families, business model speciation is evident as they struggle to create value in a changing market environment. Scientists, however, are always interested in the null hypothesis. It is interesting that, for example, firms and their customers have struggled to adopt value-based pricing.

Equally, large firms have been slow to adapt both to new technologies and changing customer needs and have resorted to acquisition over organic evolution.

Both of these phenomena are examples of how evolution is slowed when it involves co-evolution between different species. These peculiarities continue to drive my research without calling into doubt the previous findings of my work.

Marxs dictum

Darwins Medicine was an attempt to explain the world of the life sciences industry. But Im reminded of the words carved on Karl Marxs tomb: The philosophers have only interpreted the world. The point, however, is to change it. Here, I think my research has had a more mixed result.

Ive worked with many companies to apply the findings of Darwins Medicine to the practicalities of their business challenges. The common thread in this work has been that firms can accelerate and direct their own evolution by the equivalent of genetic engineering.

By selectively removing, adding and changing organisational routines those little internal processes that make things happen in a company they can adapt themselves to the changes in the market that would, without adaptation, lead to their extinction.

With some companies, this concept of engineering the Routineome has been seized on with enthusiasm and executed with alacrity. I have been thrilled to see how my theory has been applied in practice to achieve both commercial ends and, necessarily, patient benefits.

With other companies, however, I have led the proverbial horse to the Darwinian water but I have not been able to make them drink.

Sometimes, firms who see the life sciences as central to their success see management sciences as irrelevant to their future. This failure to adapt cant be explained by the individual intelligence of their leaders.

I have not yet met a CEO who isnt very clever. But I think it can be explained by something that might be described as their organisational absorptive capacity. That some firms absorb new ideas better than others is a fact as established as any in management science.

It is a major explanation of why some firms last and others dont. Ultimately, this difference between firms and its consequence was, like much else, foreseen by Darwin himself. As he was paraphrased by Leon Megginson, it is those who are most responsive to change that survive.

A set of all four of the 2016 PME articles describing this work is available from the author at brian.smith@pragmedic.com

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Back to the future - PMLiVE

Ageing is deterioration of the physiological functions in human body, which is associated with several diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, cancer, and other metabolic disorders. It has been reported that oxidative stress and inflammation mainly contribute to the progression of ageing. This is where foods come in which can either help or hinder this process. Studies and experts advise including more ginger and garlic into your meals to help boost longevity.

In a study published in Sift Deck Research Page, the role of garlic and ginger in anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects in ageing was further investigated.

The study noted: Previous studies show that garlic lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and homocysteine, boost immunity and decreases oxidative stress and inflammation, which are associated with anti-ageing mechanism.

Scientific evidence suggests that garlic and ginger both showed the protective effects against oxidative stress by depleting ROS and inflammation and extending life span.

Garlic and ginger are reported to have many bioactive compounds that exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

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There have been reports of evidence which indicate the health benefits such as anti-ageing and antioxidant effects of garlic.Garlic has been shown to prevent chronic diseases such as ageing, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and Alzheimers disease.

Garlic has been shown to prevent chronic diseases such as aging, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and Alzheimers disease.

Moreover, garlic has been demonstrated for lowering cholesterol, triglycerides, and homocysteine, and decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation.

In addition, garlic treatment was reported to lower blood pressure, boost immunity, increase internal antioxidant like glutathione, and ameliorate fatigue.

Health experts suggest that a garlic rich diet and its supplement in any form provides regular health benefits and help to prevent serious diseases and ageing.

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Gut health also plays a pivotal role in keeping health threats at bay and boosting life expectancy and new research highlights a particular herb for its gut health benefits.

According to findings presented at a research event on ageing well hosted by Yakult in Tokyo, Japan, the popular herb was shown to boost gut health and subsequently extent longevity.

The findings attribute the gut health benefits to the high amounts of natural fibres that are found in garlic, which boosts good bacteria.

These crowd out harmful gut bacteria which are known to contribute to everything from cancer and dementia to obesity and mental illness.

Ginger root is the most commonly used for home remedies like headache, nausea, common cold and emesis.

It possesses various life activities, such as antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer activities.

There is some evidence to suggest that ginger can also inhibit and regulate several diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, heart diseases and metabolic disorders like diabetes mellitus and obesity, and respiratory disorders.

In a study published in the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, the effect of ginger on the lipid levels was investigated.

The study noted: Forty-five patients in the treatment group and 40 patients in the placebo group participated in this study".

There was a significant reduction in triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein, levels of before and after study separately in each group," it continued.

Mean changes in triglyceride and cholesterol levels of the ginger group were significantly higher than the placebo group.

Mean reduction in LDL level and increase in high density lipoprotein level of ginger group were higher than the placebo group, but in VLDL level of placebo was higher than ginger."

Excerpt from:
How to live longer: Garlic and ginger can reduce cancer risk to boost longevity - Express

LONDON (AP) Stir-crazy Britons rushed to book overseas vacations after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled plans to slowly ease a national lockdown, boosting optimism that travel restrictions will be removed in time for the summer holiday season.

TUI, the U.K.s largest tour operator said bookings increased six-fold on Monday, the companys busiest day in more than a month. Discount airline easyJet said demand for flights more than tripled, and package holiday company Thomas Cook said traffic on its website increased 75%. International travel has nearly ground to a halt globally, so the increases are a sign of hope for the beleaguered industry.

We have consistently seen that there is pent-up demand for travel, and this surge in bookings shows that this signal from the government that it plans to reopen travel has been what U.K. consumers have been waiting for, easyJet Chief Executive Johan Lundgren said in a statement. The Prime Ministers address has provided a much-needed boost in confidence for so many of our customers in the U.K.

While the plans, which Johnson announced Monday, were welcomed by travel companies, many business leaders were disappointed at the slow pace of re-opening as some restrictions are expected to remain in place until June 21. Others criticized the government for failing to guarantee current levels of support for businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that the U.K.s unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in December, up 0.1% from the previous month and 1.3% from a year earlier. The number of people on company payrolls has dropped by 726,000 since the pandemic began last February, with 58.5% of the decline coming among people under 25.

But the figures dont show the full impact of COVID-19 restrictions. Some 1.9 million workers remain on furlough, a government program that covers 80% of the wages for people who arent working but remain on their employers payroll.

The sheer longevity of the crisis is taking its toll on firms, and young people in particular who have borne the brunt of jobs losses, said Nye Cominetti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, a think tank focused on improving conditions for low-income people. The government will need to address this in next weeks budget by both extending emergency support to firms while restrictions are still with us, and announcing fresh stimulus to power Britains economic recovery.

Airlines and hospitality businesses have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, with restrictions all but shutting down international travel and closing pubs and restaurants for much of the past year.

The government is now considering the possibility of introducing some type of COVID status certification to give business owners and consumers confidence about the safety of reopening theaters, restaurants and other venues this year.

So-called vaccine passports, which could include information on whether a person has been vaccinated and recent COVID-19 test results, raise difficult questions about privacy in Britain, which doesnt have a tradition of national identification cards.

There are deep and complex issues that we need to explore, and ethical issues about what the role is for government in mandating for people to have such a thing, Johnson said Tuesday after visiting a school. We cant be discriminatory against people who, for whatever reason, cant have the vaccine I think everybody should have a vaccine, but we need to thrash all this out.

Britain has had Europes deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with more than 120,000 deaths attributed to the disease.

Faced with a new variant of the virus that scientists say is both more transmissible and more deadly than the original, the country has spent much of the winter under a tight lockdown, the third since March 2020.

Schools, bars, restaurants, gyms, hair salons and nonessential shops are closed, people are expected to stay at home except for exercise and essential shopping, and foreign holidays are banned.

But Johnson announced plans to ease those restrictions as the rapid rollout of vaccines helps drive down new infections and hospitalizations.

On March 8, children in England go back to school and people will be allowed to meet one friend or relative for a chat or outdoor picnic. Three weeks later, people will be able to meet in small groups outdoors for sports or relaxation.

Under the government plan, shops and hairdressers will reopen April 12. So will pubs and restaurants, though only for outdoor service. Venues such as theaters and cinemas, as well as indoor seating at bars and restaurants, are scheduled to open May 17. That is also the earliest date Britons may be allowed foreign holidays.

The final stage of the plan, in which all legal limits on social contact are removed and nightclubs can reopen, is penciled in for June 21.

The government says these dates may be postponed if infections and hospitalizations surge.

___

Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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Britons rush to book holidays amid plans to end lockdown - The Associated Press

Healthy lifestyle: Physical activities abound on college campuses like William & Mary. These healthy habits are among the benefits of college education that contribute to health and longevity, according to a study led by W&M Assistant Professor of Economics Peter Savelyev. Photo by Jim Agnew

by Nathan Warters | February 4, 2021

A study led by William & Mary Assistant Professor of Economics Peter Savelyev and funded by the National Science Foundation argues that college education leads to healthier and longer lives.

The study, Understanding the Mechanisms Linking College Education with Longevity, was published in September in Journal of Human Capital.

Researchers around the world still debate whether education affects health. Savelyev and his team support the claim that education improves heath by demonstrating the mechanisms behind this effect while using state-of-the art statistical analysis.

In our paper, we show that education increases health and longevity though healthier lifestyles, superior earnings and better work conditions, he said.

Savelyev and his co-authors examined data obtained from men and women who graduated from high school in Wisconsin in 1957. This specific timeframe was important to allow for data collection on at least a partially deceased U.S. cohort.

William & Mary News recently spoke to Savelyev about this study. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Variables related to healthy lifestyles that proved to be important are participating in physical exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight and abstaining from smoking tobacco. We also study the role of extremely dangerous work conditions, such as cutting trees or being exposed to infectious diseases. Educated people are less likely to face such jobs. The work conditions mechanism does not necessarily imply diminishing job-related risks for the general population, but it is a personal benefit for those who study hard and receive advanced degrees.

It is well known that many essential life determinants emerge early in life. Later in life, things are harder to change. College education is a powerful contributor to human development that increases health and longevity, among many other good effects, and it should be supported in situations when free market solutions do not work well enough.

Our simulations demonstrate that major health differences created by college education are hard to close later in life, even by strong hypothetical policy interventions, such as greatly increasing taxation of cigarettes.

Partly, this is because the effect of education is strong, and it works through many different mechanisms. It is not easy for an intervention that targets just one specific mechanism to overcome a strong effect created through dozens of mechanisms. Also, some policies, such as taxation of cigarettes, affect behavior of both the college-educated and those who did not go to college, so the effect on the difference between these two groups is small.

We find that obtaining a bachelors degree leads to about three additional years of life for men. However, we could not find any effect of college education for women, who live longer than men regardless of their education status. We identified from our data two mechanisms that partly explain the gender difference. One is that men tend to take more dangerous jobs than women. Another is that educated women of this historic cohort born in late 1930s in Wisconsin were less likely to be married, which created a negative contribution to their longevity that masked a positive contribution related to higher income. Marriage is good for your longevity. Since a negative effect of college education on marriage no longer takes place for more recent cohorts of women, we can expect a stronger effect of college on their longevity, as confirmed by our simulations.

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Study examines why college education leads to healthier and longer lives - William & Mary News

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Turn Biotechnologies, a company developing medicines for currently untreatable age-related conditions, announced that it has acquired the global rights for new artificial niche (AN) technology that can be used to restore muscle stem cells damaged by aging.

The company licensed its AN technology from Stanford University, where it was developed by a researcher who serves as an advisor to Turn. AN technology is used to create a microenvironment that maintains stem cells in a quiescent state to repair or replace specific types of damaged tissue. The stem cell niche provides structural and trophic support and the appropriate homeostasis to regulate stem cell function.

Turn will use the niche technology in combination with its mRNA-based epigenetic reprogramming of age (ERA) technology to restore specific cells' youthful functionality, to trigger the body's ability to fight age-related diseases.

"Our artificial niche technology expands the applicability of our ERA technology to a variety of diseases involving tissue that requires a microenvironment to maintain cell quiescence," said Anja Krammer, Turn CEO. "By enveloping our ERA technology in the protective matrix of an artificial niche, we can reactivate muscle stem cells, as well as stem cells in tissues where quiescence is necessary to maintain stem cell functions."

The combined use of Turn's AN and ERA technologies may be able to restore function in hematopoietic, liver, brain, certain mesenchymal stem cells across different tissues and within the hair follicle.

This is Turn's second licensing announcement since the start of the year. Earlier, the company revealed that it acquired the global rights for its ERA technology from Stanford University, where it was developed by three researchers who founded Turn. It is the first technology to maintain cellular identity while restoring specific cells' youthful functionality, to trigger the body's ability to fight age-related diseases.

As with ERA, the company announced that it has filed for patents to protect its AN technology in major-market nations on six continents.

"This is significant for our pipeline because the combination of AN with our ERA technology in murine models shows increased potency," said Jay Sarkar, Turn's chief technology officer and a company founder who helped to develop the ERA technology. "The studies show that aged muscle stem cells treated with this combination therapy fully regenerate age-related muscle dysfunctions."

Turn's technology uses messenger RNA to produce instructions that induce cells to treat or prevent disease. Use of mRNA, which led to the quick development of two COVID-19 vaccines, promises to revolutionize the development of therapeutics by making that development safer, faster, more efficient and extremely tunable to patient need.

Turn is currently completing pre-clinical research on tailored therapies targeting indications in dermatology, ophthalmology, osteo-arthritis and cartilage damage and musculature.

ABOUT TURN BIOTECHNOLOGIES

Turn is a pre-clinical-stage company focused on repairing tissue at the cellular level. Our proprietary mRNA technology combats the effects of aging in the epigenome, thus restoring optimal gene expression and enabling cells to function as vigorously as when they were younger. Our technology provides a platform from which to attack a variety of diseases related to age. The company has the financial backing of Methuselah Fund, which focuses its investments to extend the healthy human lifespan; Formic Ventures, which invests in biotech start-ups focused on human longevity; and Shanda Group, a private global investment firm. For more information, see http://www.turn.bio.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:Jim Martinez, rightstorygroup[emailprotected] or (312) 543-9026

SOURCE Turn Biotechnologies

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Turn Biotechnologies Expands the Potential of its mRNA Platform by Licensing Unique Artificial Niche Technology - PRNewswire