Juvena Therapeutics

Juvena Therapeutics is a company that is developing protein-based interventions that are derived from stem cell secretions. Many of the benefits of some stem cell therapies are caused by the proteins and exosomes that these cells release systemically or into the local microenvironment rather than by replacing lost somatic cells or filling a niche. These signaling proteins cause the cells around them to behave in more youthful ways.

Recent studies suggest that very few of these proteins are required to kick-start the process of tissue rejuvenation, and Juvena is working out which ones they are, with the intention of developing them as therapies for regenerating tissues and organs. Its drug discovery platform, JuvNET, is a machine learning platform built to conduct high-throughput screening and identify the regenerative signaling proteins responsible for these effects.

JUV-161
JUV-161 is a fusion protein derived from an engineered human Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 (IGF2), modified for subcutaneous injection. IGF2 binds differentially to insulin to the two insulin receptor (IR) isoforms and mimics insulin’s function. The company characterizes it as a potential “insulin for muscle,” activating and restoring AKT signaling downstream of the insulin receptor. The AKT pathway regulates cell survival, growth, and metabolism, and is often dysregulated in muscle-wasting diseases and aging.

By activating AKT, the company says that JUV-161 exerts “s pro-myogenic, insulin-resistance modulating, and anti-inflammatory properties” and enhances “muscle fiber formation, counter[s] muscle atrophy, enhance[s] muscle strength and endurance, and improve[s] muscle metabolism in multiple preclinical disease models ranging from models of dystrophies to models of sarcopenia resulting from aging, obesity, diabetes, and inflammation.”

The company originally declared its first target to be sarcopenia (age-related loss of muscle mass and function independently of exercise) and to help aging people heal from traumatic injuries. However, it currently describes JUV-161 as a “pipeline in a product,” which it intends to initially target Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 (DM1), and lists sarcopenia, Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, and diabetes as potential follow-on indications. FDA designated JUV-161 an Orphan Disease Drug for DM1 in 2024.

In May 2025, Juvena announced that that it was enrolling participants into its clinical trial evaluating JUV-161 in healthy young- to early middle-aged adults.

Body Composition
In June, Juvena announced that it had entered into a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company “to discover, develop, and commercialize drug candidates that improve muscle health and body composition” using JuvNet. Juvena co-founder and CSO Jeremy O’Connell said that they “aim to accelerate innovation that advances the standard of care in obesity management and helps people live their best lives” — that is, to reduce the weight loss-associated loss of muscle mass during therapy with Lilly’s tirzepatide and similar incretin agonists. This was the same motivation behind Lilly’s purchase of bimagrumab. In this case, “Lilly is providing an undisclosed upfront payment, equity investment and [up to $650 million in] milestones through the deal.” Juvena’s pipeline page indicates that this project is pursuing multiple targets and is in the preclinical development phase.

JUV-112
JUV-112 is said to directly target  lipid metabolism to promote weight loss. It is said to not work via appetite suppression, unlike incretin agonists, but to be potentially complementary to them. Juvena says that it is effective at promoting weight loss while sparing muscle in preclinical models.

Multiple Targets
Juvena’s pipeline diagram indicates it has multiple “platform-driven” candidates already in preclinical development for fibrosis, inflammation, osteoarthritis, and undisclosed indications that are in multiple partnering discussions.

At Ending Age-Related Diseases 2020, Dr. Hanadie Yousef explained Juvena Therapeutics’ approach to the secretome and how her company intends to use stem cell secretions as a basis for future therapies.