BioAge Labs has appointed former GSK CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier as chair of its board of directors, bringing the pharma veteran back into the anti-aging space 16 years after he made a big bet on the sector.
Garnier worked as CEO of GSK, then called GlaxoSmithKline, from 2000 to 2008. Toward the end of his time heading up the company, Garnier oversaw the $720 million acquisition of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals. The biotech landed the buyout on the basis of evidence that resveratrol, a molecule in red wine, and other sirtuin-targeted drugs could extend healthy life spans.
Sirtris ran into problems in the years after the buyout, with programs failing and researchers at Amgen and Pfizer questioning the validity of the science underpinning the biotech. GSK shuttered Sirtris in 2013.
Garnier worked as CEO of Pierre Fabre for two years after departing GSK. Since leaving the CEO life behind, Garnier has held a series of board positions at biotechs including Actelion, Cellectis and Idorsia. BioAge sees benefits to being the latest biotech to bring Garnier onto its board.
“His extensive experience in leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies through critical growth phases will be invaluable as we progress our lead compound, azelaprag, through clinical development for obesity and advance our pipeline of metabolic aging therapies,” BioAge CEO Kristen Fortney, Ph.D., said in a statement.
BioAge put itself on the map in 2020 by raising $90 million to treat aging and age-related diseases. This year, BioAge raised a further $170 million to capitalize on the potential for its apelin receptor agonist azelaprag to combine well with GLP-1 drugs, boosting weight loss while preserving muscle mass. BioAge picked up the asset from Amgen.
Garnier’s reemergence on the anti-aging scene comes about two years after Hal Barron, M.D., stepped down as chief scientific officer of GSK to take the CEO post at another biotech with a longevity angle, Altos Labs.