Squirrels, AI, and Big Pharma: How Fauna Bio is reimagining drug development

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Introducing Longevity Builders

Say hello to the LEVITY newsletter’s latest member: Longevity Builders. There are so many incredible longbio startups pushing the boundaries of what's possible, and I want to bring their stories directly to you.

Once a month (give or take), I'll dive deep into a longevity startup that has captured my attention. But I won’t limit myself to startups - Longevity Builders might also explore exciting academic research and noteworthy innovations from more established companies.

Longevity Builders will primarily be a perk for paid members (it costs less than a latte a month!).

Primarily? Yes! For the time being, I’ll make new Longevity Builders articles temporarily available to all subscribers after publication. This way, you can decide if LEVITY’s premium content is worth supporting for unlimited access. Of course, paid members will always get exclusive content in advance of everyone else.

Here’s what our Premium membership offers:

✅ Ad-free experience.

✅ Unlimited access to the archive.

✅ Unlimited access to exclusive content.

✅ My deep gratitude for your support.

With that out of the way, let’s jump into our very first Longevity Builders profile: Fauna Bio.

Fauna Bio at a glance

• Fauna Bio, from Emeryville, California, is a biotech startup that develops new medicines by studying animals with extraordinary abilities.

• Their lead drug candidate targets heart failure and they recently signed a $494M deal with Eli Lilly to develop obesity treatments.

• Modern technology has made their approach possible - what cost billions and took a decade in 2003 now costs thousands and takes weeks.

In a galaxy far, far away from Bryan Johnson’s meticulously optimized routine, imagine this: You feast. Like devouring food. Your were lean in the spring but come harvest season you’ve doubled your body weight by accumulating fat. You’re like Luigi Cornaro before he turned renaissance biohacker.

But in this galaxy, you get to have your cake and eat it too. No metabolic syndrome, no diabetes risk, and your heart stays in perfect shape. Concerned about how you’ll look at the beach next year? Don’t be. Just take a long nap, and when you wake up, not only will the excess fat be gone, but you’ll have built more muscle - effortlessly. That’s right: no gym, no weights, just pure metabolic magic.

Sound too good to be true? Sure. But how about this: The blueprints for the machinery needed to perform these extraordinary feats are sitting in your DNA right now.

Subscribe to LEVITY Premium to read the rest.