Investing in Longbio True Believers (Sebastian Brunemeier, Healthspan Capital & ImmuneAge Pharma)

In today’s episode, Chris welcomes Sebastian Brunemeier, a biotech VC and company builder focused on longevity and regenerative medicine. Sebastien is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Healthspan Capital, a longevity VC firm that invests in biotechnology startups developing therapies to slow or reverse aging, and the CEO and Co-Founder of ImmuneAGE Pharma, a new company based on a drug discovery platform for immune rejuvenation. At Healthspan Capital, Sebastian is looking to invest in fellow “true believers” in longevity and regenerative medicine—companies that understand the importance of aging as a focus for biotech and won’t pivot away from longevity as a focus.  Sebastian’s newest venture, ImmuneAge Pharma, is focused on rejuvenating the immune system. With over 100 years of combined drug discovery expertise, the company aims to systematically identify small molecules that rejuvenate hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). As Sebastian points out, the goal of longevity and regenerative medicine is not to extend lifespan at any cost, but rather to increase quality-adjusted life years. The Finer Details of This Episode:  Healthspan Capital and the importance of aging as a focus for biotech Investing in fellow believers who won’t pivot away from aging Alzheimer's drug development and the “amyloid mafia” ImmuneAge Pharma and immune aging  The importance of restoring immune function Key misunderstandings of regenerative medicine Quotes:  “We noticed that there was a gap in the market for more traditional structured VC, the longevity biotech space, and actually I and my co-founders launched Healthspan because we were looking to invest our own money into a broadly diversified portfolio and a long bio space, and there was no way to do it. So we had to create it ourselves.” “I would argue that if you have a drug that enhances robustness and resilience and extends lifespan, and it works in multiple different animal models and disease, contrived or not, that is a much stronger preclinical