Organization Description
Lento Bio, Inc. is a preclinical pharmaceutical company focused on developing small-molecule therapeutics to target molecular damage that drives diseases of aging. Its initial focus is on developing pharmaceutical eyedrops that break advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) involved in stiffening the lens of the eye. This stiffening leads to presbyopia (age-related farsightedness), so breaking these AGE is expected to restore the lens’ flexibility and thus prevent and reverse this common disorder of vision.
Lento Bio’s founder and CEO, Dr. Kris Barnes, received his Ph.D. from Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and has worked as a consultant for pharmaceutical and biotech companies in areas that include immunology, ophthalmology, rare blood disorders, and cardiology. “He brings experience in ophthalmology basic science research as well as disease-indication-specific industry knowledge.”
Lento Bio was launched in 2022, supported and incubated by Ichor Life Sciences, initially at Clarkson University’s Peyton Hall Biotechnology Incubator; later that year, Ichor led an oversubscribed $680,000 seed round.
Upon successful completion of its first project, Lento Bio plans to apply its anti-glycation products more widely to include systemic diseases of aging.