Exeter spinout company partners with L’Oreal on research to reprogramme ageing cells
Photo by Krista Glīzdeniece: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-portrait-of-a-blond-woman-s-eye-31589373/
A biotech company which specialises in reprogramming ageing cells has partnered with L’Oréal Groupe, the beauty industry leader.
L’Oréal recently announced the new Research Agreement Partnership with University of Exeter spinout company SENISCA yesterday.
The deal was announced as the company unveiled the L’Oréal Longevity Integrative Ecosystem, which it said “merges L’Oréal’s advanced research with an external ecosystem of leading partners in longevity science”.
In a press release, the company yesterday said the agreement with SENISCA would “harness their expertise and proprietary technology to reprogram aged ‘senescent’ cells, which behave differently to young, healthy cells and are a crucial aspect of longevity”.
SENISCA is developing new approaches that reverse how our cells start to decline as we age. As we get older, our tissues accumulate cells that are senescent – meaning they are alive, but do not grow or function as they should. These old cells lose the ability to correctly regulate the output of their genes, and can produce chemicals which promote inflammation, which is known to be implicated in many diseases. The ageing process also affects the way these cells send messages to organs, a process which is also linked to diseases of ageing. SENISCA has identified a novel component of the cellular ageing response and is harnessing this proprietary know-how to reprogram aged cells.
Professor Lorna Harries, of the University of Exeter, who is founder and Chief Scientific Officer of SENISCA, said: “I’m incredibly excited that almost 20 years of my team’s research has resulted in this partnership with L’Oreal, a global leader in skin health and beauty products. This partnership recognises our potential to create new and better ways to slow the ageing process of our cells, which could have benefits for our skin health. Outside of this partnership, we’re also exploring how we can apply our technology to reduce the negative impacts of age-related diseases such as lung disease.”
SENISCA Chief Executive Officer Dr Sarah Cole said: “This exciting partnership serves as an excellent validation of SENISCA’s proprietary technology. Through collaboration, we will deploy world-leading research to expand the repertoire of senescence-targeting interventions.”
