Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Taisho;" headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Shigeru Uehara) has announced that Taisho and BioAge Labs, Inc. ("BioAge;" headquarters: Richmond (U.S.A.), CEO: Kristen Fortney) signed an exclusive license agreement for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Taisho's hypoxia inducible factor-prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PH) inhibitor, TS-143, worldwide, to ameliorate diseases of aging.

Under the terms of the agreement, Taisho will receive from BioAge an upfront payment, development milestone payment, commercial milestone payments (based on annual net sales) and running royalties. Taisho also has an option right for co-commercialization of TS-143 in Japan and a right of first refusal for the co-commercialization of TS-143 in several countries of Southeastern Asia (Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam).

The hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) pathway is linked to lifespan and healthspan in BioAge's proprietary human aging data. Higher circulating levels of HIF-PH are associated with increased all-cause mortality and decreased functional measures. TS-143 can potentially treat multiple diseases of aging through the activation of HIF-1 target genes that are involved in numerous biological processes including erythropoiesis, glycolysis, glucose uptake, angiogenesis and muscle regeneration.

BioAge is a biotechnology company that uses proprietary AI technology to map the pathways that affect people's lifespan and develops drugs to treat aging and aging-related diseases. For more information, visit BioAge's website (https://bioagelabs.com/media.html ) .