Targeting the Plasma Proteome to Address Diseases of Aging

As people age, their bodies lose the ability to regenerate as well as they were able to when they were younger. Alkahest believes this is tied to changes in the mix of proteins that are present in the blood as we age. It is developing therapies for diseases of aging that seek to target specific proteins that are upregulated in diseases of aging, as well as providing a wide set of proteins drawn from purified human plasma as a therapeutic approach to counter the depletion of regenerative proteins. We spoke to Elizabeth Jeffords, chief commercial and strategy officer for Alkahest, about the science underlying the company’s approach, the controversy around others who have offered so-called “young-blood” transfusions, and the pipeline the company is pursuing.