Calico Labs, LLC

Calico LLC, often called Google Calico, is a US-based biotech company founded on September 18, 2013 by Bill Maris and backed by Google. According to their 2013 launch press release, the company “will focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases.” Additionally, in Google’s 2013 Founders Letter, Larry Page described Calico said the company would be focused on “health, well-being, and longevity”. The company’s name is an acronym for “California Life Company”.

In 2018, Calico published an interesting research paper that announced that the naked mole rat was essentially a “non-aging mammal” and that this animal did not suffer the detrimental effects of aging as we and most other species do. This is known as Negligible senescence, a term first coined by biogerontologist Caleb Finch to indicate organisms that do not exhibit evidence of biological aging.  This includes measurable criteria such as a reduction in reproductive capability, functional decline, or an increasing mortality rate with advancing age.

Calico Labs have published a number of studies in recent years, most of which appear to focus either on AI or on foundational biology of aging but without any clear transnational intent. Some speculate that this is simply laying the groundwork for something grand in the future; we will have to wait and see.

In parallel, they have formed partnerships with several companies to develop therapies that target the diseases of aging, some of which target the biology of aging:

• In 2014, Calico announced a collaboration with 2M Companies to advance research on P7C3 compounds, a class of drugs that activate NAMPT, the rate-limiting step in NAD salvage. The original proposed indications were in neurodegenerative diseases of aging, and subsequent papers have reported efficacy in animal models of osteoporosis and traumatic brain injury. Many of these studies have not involved Calico, and the C2 Companies’ status is unclear.
• Also in 2014, Calico announced an R&D partnership with Abbvie focused on aging and diseases of aging, including neurodegenerative aging diseases and cancer. As of 2021, the two companies had committed more than US$1 billion into the collaboration.
• In 2015, Calico announced additional partnerships with the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard University, the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and QB3 at UCSF.
• In 2015, Calico licensed ISRIB from UCSF, a small molecule Integrated Stress Response Inhibitor” that restores protein translation in aging and injured neurons and has been shown to reverse cognitive deficits in physiologically aging mice as well as mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases.
• In 2024, Calico and Abbvie began a clinical trial of a different integrated stress response inhibitor that directly targets eIF2B called fosigotifator (ABBV-CLS-7262) for Vanishing White Matter Disease (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05757141).
• In 2025, Calico and Abbvie launched a clinical trial of  ABBV-CLS-628 against autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease. ABBV-CLS-628 is a monoclonal antibody against pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), which cleaves the IGF-1 binding proteins IGFBP-4, thereby increasing IGF-1 bioavailability; thus, inhibiting PAPP-1 lowers IGF-1 signaling. PAPP-A knockout mice may have increased lifespan, on weak evidence. In animal models, this candidate reduced kidney volume and improved kidney function.
• In 2025, Calico secured the rights to 9MW3811 and other interleukin-11 (IL-11)-targeting therapeutics from Mabwell Bioscience. 9MW3811 is an investigational antibody that targets IL-11, a cytokine whose inhibition was reported by others to robustly extend lifespan and improve multiple healthspan metrics in aging mice. Mabwell had already launched Phase I trials for 9MW3811 against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and has an active investigational new drug application (NDA) for 9MW3811 with FDA,