Fucus of Youth

Since the beginning of time, humans have been looking for the fountain of youth to reverse aging and achieve eternal youth. With the theory of cellular senescence, we can hope to slow down the aging process.

First described in the 1960s, cellular senescence is a phenomenon characterized by the cessation of cell division without apoptosis. Cells that have become senescent in this way are often referred to as "zombie" cells, as they are responsible for the onset and development of many chronic diseases.

In 2021, Herbig U. and al (Aging Cell, 20: e13344) demonstrated that the proportion of senescent cells in mononuclear blood cells (PBMC) from human volunteers increases median lifespan (Baker DJ and al, Nature 479, 232-236 (2011)).

SCF Pharma has recently developed an ex vivo screening platform to find new agents including new senolytic agents to prevent cellular senescence. As a result of this screening, a fraction of a macroalgal extract has demonstrated a senolytic activity comparable to the best known natural senolytic agents. We now want to optimize the extraction and fractionation process in the laboratory and then scale it up to initiate a Phase I clinical study to validate the safety of such an extract.