Anti-Aging RNA Therapeutics Developer Lifeplex Science Raises USD 5.3M Series A

Lifeplex Science, a developer of anti-aging RNA therapeutics, raised USD 5.3 million (7 billion won) in a SeriesA round. The company is aiming to take its osteoarthritis RNA therapeutic into clinical trials in the second half of 2027 and will also develop three follow-on pipeline candidates.

The round drew participation from Korea Development Bank, Medytox Venture Investment, Murex Partners, Mirae Science & Technology Holdings, Myriad Partners, Quad Asset Management and Korea Science & Technology Holdings.

Lifeplex Science is a biotech company founded by Professor Jinhong Kim of the School of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University. It develops treatments for age-related diseases on a microRNA degradation platform.

The company plans to use the new funds to prepare for and run clinical trials of its first pipeline candidate, the osteoarthritis RNA therapeutic, which is currently in the preclinical stage. It also plans to develop three follow-on RNA therapeutic candidates on the same platform, targeting obesity, kidney disease and heart disease.

Recent research results support the follow-on pipeline and the expansion to a new platform. In October, Professor Kim’s team and the team of co-founder and physician-scientist Professor Yijun Kim of the Ewha Womans University College of Medicine published joint research in two Cell-family journals, Cell Metabolism and Trends in Biotechnology.

The Cell Metabolism study identified a mechanism by which faulty selenium delivery from the liver to cartilage accelerates chondrocyte senescence and osteoarthritis. The company is looking at whether the finding could lead to the discovery of follow-on osteoarthritis RNA therapeutic candidates.

The Trends in Biotechnology study, which also involved a Harvard Medical School research team, used programmable genetic circuits to show the potential for treating “cold tumors,” which provoke a weak immune response. Based on this work, Lifeplex Science plans to explore developing its genetic circuit technology into a second core platform.