Retro Biosciences: Next Phase
When we started Retro, we set out to do something unusually ambitious: add ten years to healthy human lifespan.
We knew it would take deep scientific conviction and a willingness to build differently in order to meet the urgency of our mission. We also believed progress in biology could move much faster than people assumed if the right technologies, teams, and incentives were brought together under one roof.
Today, we’re announcing the initial close of our next financing round at a pre-money valuation of $1.8 billion, led by 4P Capital alongside a group of investors who believe Retro is uniquely positioned to translate the biology of aging into a new generation of medicines.
In three years, Retro moved from its first lab to a clinical candidate. In 15 months, RTR242 went from indication selection to first-in-human dosing. Alongside that progress, we’ve built cell therapy, tissue reprogramming, and AI-enabled protein engineering programs, all designed to support a growing pipeline of therapeutics targeting the underlying drivers of aging and age-related disease.
What we’re proud of
In a relatively short period of time, the team has:
Advanced RTR242, a first-in-class oral therapeutic designed to restart autophagy, into a Phase I clinical trial
Conducted multiple successful interactions with the FDA
Established a partnership with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, making Retro the only company in the world with the capability to develop autologous iPSC-derived hematopoietic stem cell therapies
Developed integrated AI and experimental platforms for protein engineering and therapeutic discovery
Built an in-house cGMP cell therapy manufacturing facility
Assembled one of the world’s largest concentrations of leading aging-biology scientists
Most importantly, we’ve built an organization designed to pursue hard problems over long time horizons while still operating with intensity and speed.
What this financing enables
Aging biology is reaching a translational inflection point. Scientific advances that once existed primarily in academia are primed to move into the clinic, creating the opportunity to develop entirely new categories of medicines.
Retro is built to help drive that transition.
With RTR242 entering the clinic in 2025, and additional first-in-human milestones planned for 2026 and 2027, we're focused on building not just individual therapies, but a repeatable process for turning advances in aging biology into medicines.
This financing gives us the ability to keep building beyond our initial programs by investing in new discovery efforts now that can become the next generation of therapies in the years ahead.
Thank you
We’re incredibly grateful to the investors, collaborators, advisors, and supporters who believe in this mission and are helping to make it possible.
We’re especially thankful to the people who understand what we're trying to build at Retro: a willingness to take on hard scientific problems with urgency, rigor, and a long-term view.
And most importantly, we’re grateful to the Retro team. The progress we’ve made is entirely a reflection of their talent, ambition, and persistence.
There is still an enormous amount of work ahead, but we believe the coming decade of aging therapeutics will look very different from the last, and we intend to help define it.
