Life Biosciences is advancing its innovative programs, ER-100 for optic neuropathies and ER-300 for liver disease, which utilize Yamanaka factors to reset the epigenetic landscape in damaged or aging cells, targeting age-related conditions.

Their approach appears to have a direct positive effect on liver function, representing a significant breakthrough compared to traditional therapies that mainly improve liver health indirectly through weight loss.

At the recent Aging Research and Drug Discovery conference, Life Biosciences presented promising preclinical data demonstrating the potential of partial epigenetic reprogramming across multiple organ systems, including the eye and liver.

In mouse models of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), ER-300 improved key liver health markers such as liver enzymes, cholesterol, and bile acids, while reducing liver fat and steatosis without impacting body weight.

The company plans to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application before the end of 2024 and aims to start clinical trials for ER-100 in early 2026, with the liver program still in discovery but showing strong promise.

Progress has also been made in neuronal repair, with ER-100 restoring methylation patterns linked to neuronal regeneration in a primate model of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).