Retro Bioscience, a startup researching AI-based treatments to extend human lifespan by 10 years, raises $1 billion in funding from OpenAI and others
Retro Biosciences, a startup that aims to use AI to aid in drug development, is reportedly raising $1 billion to support its research, with investors including OpenAI, which has previously backed the company.
Retro Biosciences, backed by Sam Altman, is raising $1 billion to extend human lifespan | TechCrunch
Sam Altman reportedly backs $1B round for AI healthcare startup Retro Biosciences - SiliconANGLE
Retro Bioscience is a startup launched in mid-2022 with the goal of extending the average human lifespan by 10 years. According to their website , they are conducting research into replacing hematopoietic stem cells through bone marrow transplants and pursuing rejuvenation through plasma exchange.
At the time of launch, Retro Bioscience received an initial investment of $180 million (about 28 billion yen) from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and has a close relationship with OpenAI, such as using OpenAI's AI models to develop medicines targeting diseases such as Alzheimer's.
In January 2025, OpenAI and Retro Bioscience announced that they had jointly developed an AI model called 'GPT-4b micro' specialized for protein design. They reported that they had used the model to study the '
OpenAI develops protein design model 'GPT-4b micro' to redesign proteins involved in iPS cells - GIGAZINE
According to Retro Bioscience, the researchers will interact with GPT-4b micro using a method called 'few-shot prompting.' Few-shot prompting is a method of eliciting answers by including a question and an example answer in one prompt. It is said that the quality of answers can be improved by not only explaining the task but also providing an example.
Retro Bioscience, which is expected to make great strides in the field of new drug development by developing its own AI models with funding from OpenAI, said it will use the funds raised to develop three new therapeutic drugs. One is a method to rejuvenate blood cells, and the other is a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, the latter of which is reportedly set to begin early-stage clinical trials in Australia in the second half of 2025. The last one has not been made public.
'We want to move fast by discovering and developing drugs in the 2020s,' said Joe Betts-Lacroix, CEO of Retro Biosciences.
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