Oisín Biotechnologies

Oisin Biotechnologies is working to harness a proprietary genetic delivery system to develop longevity therapeutics, including destroying senescent and cancer cells, and more recently, therapies to combat metabolic disease and sarcopenia. Their gene-based senolytic approach may offer higher selectivity compared to drug approaches and could also reduce side effects.

Oisín was founded in 2016 by CEO Matthew Scholz, a longevity biotech pioneer who founded Immusoft Corporation in 2009 and served as its CEO until 2018; Chair Gary Hudson, space tech entrepreneur and early Methuselah Foundation donor; and CSO John Lewis, the Bird Dogs Chair in Translational Oncology and Professor at the University of Alberta, and founder and CEO of Entos Pharmaceuticals. The Methuselah Foundation and LRI (then SENS Research Foundation) provided the company with seed funding. In May 2021, Oisin announced that it had raised $9.5 million in seed funding to move its candidates towards clinical trials. In July 2024, Oisín announced the first close of a $15 million Series A financing round to advance its portfolio of longevity therapeutics, with the first close led by AbbVie Ventures.

The company’s platform is built on Entos’ Fusogenix Proteolipid Vehicle (PLV) delivery system, which Oisín licensed to develop therapies for diseases of aging. The Fusogenix PLV system is formulated with proprietary fusogenic FAST (Fusion-Associated Small Transmembrane) proteins, which the company asserts to be the smallest known fusogens, to drive direct fusion with target cell membranes and intracellular delivery of therapeutic payloads without necessitating endosomal escape. Entos reported in 2024 that systemically-administered FAST-PLVs enabled extensive extrahepatic biodistribution and effective delivery of either mRNA or DNA in mouse and nonhuman primate models, with low immunogenicity and sustained activity following repeat dosing.

SENSOlytics (OB-001)
SENSOlytics is Oisín’s proprietary system for targeting senescent cells for destruction based on their expression of the senescence-associated protein p16. Senescent cells accumulate with age, drive chronic inflammation, and spur various age-related diseases; accordingly, numerous rejuvenation biotechnology companies are pursuing small-molecule senolytics to remove them as a way to prevent and treat such diseases.

By contrast, Oisín is working to develop reversible “suicide gene” therapies that would be activated in cells that express the senescence-associated protein p16. Their lead product candidate, OB-001, is similar to the INK-ATTAC system that first demonstrated the rejuvenating effects of destroying senescent cells in aging mice, with two important differences. First, Oisín’s construct is delivered in Fusogenic PLVs via intravenous infusion in adult organisms rather than requiring embryonic transgenesis as is done with INK-ATTAC mice. Second, Oisín’s OB-001 is a plasmid rather than an integrating gene therapy, thus giving it the safety of being short-acting rather than a permanent modification of the genome and of not risking disruption of the patient’s genome during integration.

On a previous version of their website, Oisin stated that they had successfully transduced cells both in culture and in aged mice with OB-001, resulting in up to an 80% reduction in senescent cells in cell culture and significant reductions in the aged mice. Oisín has stated that their initial indication for OB-001 will be chronic kidney disease. As of September 2005, OB-001 is not mentioned on their website, and senescent cell targeting is only briefly mentioned among other targets.

Muscle and Obesity Indications
The current (September 2005) version of Oisín’s website says that “Oisín has a robust pipeline targeting multiple drivers of age-related conditions. We have programs that target frailty by stimulating muscle growth, selectively kill[ing] fat cells, and remov[ing] senescent cells.” No further details are given.

However, Entos’ Pipeline Partners chart lists OB00X as under development by Oisin for body composition. A joint paper by scientists affiliated with Entos, Oisin, and other Entos-affiliated companies reported an animal study of a follistatin plasmid DNA gene therapy, delivered to mice via intravenous FAST-PLVs and under a liver-specific promoter. The animals’ follistatin levels rose rapidly for the first day and returned to baseline within a week. At the fifteen-week mark, the animals were visually substantially more muscular than saline-injected control mice and had approximately 13% higher grip strength, and at 34 weeks, they had larger muscles by weight and cross-sectional muscle fiber area. These are notable resuls, although it bears noting that the mice were juveniles rather than middle-aged or older as is the presumed target population.

“Selectively kill[ing] fat cells” is more obscure, although one of the original uses for the technology underlying INK-ATTAC was FAT-ATTAC, which did just this.