NewLimit has secured $435 million in a Series C financing round as it prepares to advance its first epigenetic reprogramming medicine into human clinical testing after research showed that a prototype therapy reversed cell age in old human liver cells.
The California biotechnology company, founded in 2021, had initially expected it would take more than a decade to bring a candidate into the clinic. However, the company said recent research results significantly accelerated that timeline. The new financing follows a $130 million funding round completed last year and will support development of the company’s lead liver-focused candidate, which is expected to enter Phase 1 testing next year.
The Series C round was led by Founders Fund and included participation from new investors Thrive Capital, Greenoaks, and Quiet Capital. Returning investors included Kleiner Perkins, Eli Lilly Ventures, Human Capital, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross.
According to NewLimit, the accelerated development timeline was driven by what it described as a breakthrough discovery in its liver program. The company said a prototype medicine reversed cell age in old human liver cells. NewLimit stated that its lead program is designed to help the liver heal more quickly after injury, prevent damage from dietary challenges, and accelerate recovery associated with alcohol consumption.
According to co-founder and chief executive officer Jacob Kimmel, the company began seeing unexpectedly strong data at the end of last year. “We started to get data that was far more compelling than we had ever expected at that point in time,” Kimmel said.
NewLimit developed a screening platform that allows researchers to identify and test combinations of transcription factors across different cell types. The company’s primary focus has been liver cells, and Kimmel said the team found a promising combination much sooner than anticipated. He did not disclose the identity of the transcription factors involved but said fewer than ten are packaged in a lipid nanoparticle in mRNA form. Once delivered to the liver, the mRNA is read by the cell’s machinery and converted into proteins intended to help reset the organ’s age.
Kimmel told Fierce Biotech that the company’s lead liver candidate demonstrated the ability to boost regenerative capacity in old livers in preclinical models. He also said the treatment made older mice more tolerant of alcohol, more closely resembling younger animals.
NewLimit plans to begin a Phase 1 trial next year, initially focusing on patients with fatty livers from a variety of sources. The company then intends to narrow Phase 2 development toward alcohol-related liver disease.
Beyond the liver program, NewLimit is advancing work involving endothelial cells found in blood vessels and T cells. Kimmel said the company is exploring the vasculature of the kidneys as a potential area of focus for chronic kidney disease, while T-cell reprogramming may improve immune cell function in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
The company employs around 50 people and plans to use the new financing to expand its search for additional cell types that may be suitable for cellular reprogramming. NewLimit said its artificial intelligence and genomics technologies are already being applied across metabolic, vascular and immune health programs, with plans to add additional therapies to its pipeline.
NewLimit was founded by Coinbase co-founder and chief executive Brian Armstrong, former GV partner and bioengineer Blake Byers, and computational biologist Jacob Kimmel, who serves as the company’s CEO.
NewLimit Secures Major Funding for Liver Reprogramming Innovation
NewLimit has announced the successful completion of a $435 million funding round aimed at accelerating the development of its liver reprogramming therapy platform. The investment marks a significant milestone for NewLimit as the company moves closer to bringing its regenerative medicine technology into human clinical trials.
The latest financing will enable NewLimit to expand research operations, strengthen its scientific team, and advance preclinical programs focused on restoring cellular function through targeted reprogramming approaches.
NewLimit’s Vision for Regenerative Medicine
At the core of NewLimit’s strategy is the belief that age-related diseases can be addressed by reprogramming cells to regain healthier and more youthful functionality. The company is leveraging advances in biotechnology, genomics, and machine learning to identify biological pathways that may reverse cellular aging.
