Altos Labs One Year Later: Progress and Promises

When Altos Labs launched in 2022 with $3 billion in funding—the largest initial investment in biotech history—it set expectations sky-high. The company recruited Nobel laureates, promised to transform aging research, and attracted backing from Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner.

Since then? Relative silence. No splashy announcements, no product timelines, no clinical trial registrations. So what’s actually happening inside the world’s most ambitious longevity company?

The Scientific Strategy

Based on published papers from Altos researchers and industry sources, the company appears to be pursuing multiple parallel tracks:

Cellular Reprogramming

Altos’s core bet is on partial reprogramming—using modified Yamanaka factors to rejuvenate cells without fully dedifferentiating them. Key focuses include:

• Optimizing factor combinations for safety and efficacy
• Developing delivery systems that target specific tissues
• Creating in vitro models to screen reprogramming protocols

Computational Biology

The company has invested heavily in AI/ML capabilities to:

• Predict cellular age from multiomics data
• Model the effects of interventions on aging trajectories
• Identify novel targets in aging pathways

Stem Cell Therapies

Building on work from several recruited scientists, Altos is developing stem cell-derived therapies for specific age-related conditions, potentially a faster path to clinic than systemic reprogramming.

The Team

Altos has assembled an unprecedented scientific roster:

Shinya Yamanaka (Nobel laureate): Discoverer of induced pluripotent stem cells, serving as senior scientific advisor.

Jennifer Doudna (Nobel laureate): CRISPR co-discoverer, advising on gene editing approaches.

Steve Horvath: Developer of the epigenetic clock, leading aging biomarker efforts.

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte: Pioneer of in vivo partial reprogramming, leading regeneration research.

Rick Klausner: Former NCI director and biotech veteran, serving as CEO.

The company now employs over 400 scientists across facilities in the Bay Area, San Diego, Cambridge UK, and Tokyo.

The Funding Picture

Altos’s $3 billion gives it a runway that most biotechs can only dream of. The company can afford to pursue fundamental research without the pressure to rush to clinical trials for funding purposes.

But even $3 billion isn’t infinite. At current burn rates—estimated at $400-500 million annually—Altos will need to show meaningful progress within the next 5-7 years to justify continued investment or attract additional funding.

What We Don’t Know

Several key questions remain unanswered:

Therapeutic priorities: Which indications will Altos pursue first? Systemic aging? Specific tissues? Age-related diseases?

Clinical timeline: When will the first human trials begin? For what?

Business model: Is Altos building an integrated therapeutics company, or will it partner/license to pharma?

Competitive positioning: How does Altos view competitors like NewLimit, Turn Bio, and the dozens of other reprogramming companies?

Industry Perspective

Opinions on Altos vary widely in the longevity community:

Bulls argue that the scale of investment and caliber of talent will inevitably produce breakthroughs, and that the company’s patience allows for rigorous science rather than rushed development.

Bears worry that the secretive culture prevents scientific feedback, that the broad mandate lacks focus, and that even $3 billion can’t buy success in a field where the biology remains poorly understood.

Neutrals note that it’s simply too early to judge—the company is barely three years old, and the science is genuinely difficult. Check back in 2028.

The Bigger Picture

Regardless of Altos’s specific outcomes, its existence has transformed the longevity field. It legitimized cellular reprogramming as a therapeutic approach, attracted top talent from academia, and demonstrated that serious investors believe aging can be addressed.

Even if Altos fails to deliver a commercial product, the research infrastructure, talent development, and scientific progress it generates may seed the next generation of longevity companies.

For now, the longevity community watches and waits. The world’s biggest bet on aging is playing out behind closed doors—and the results, when they come, will shape the field for decades.