Hi, I’m Sebastian Brunemeier, CEO and founder of Immune Bio. We are rejuvenating the immune system by targeting your bone marrow stem cells and other immune cells like T-cells. Together with our collaborators in Switzerland and elsewhere, we have built a drug discovery platform to identify new molecules that rejuvenate the immune system. Previously, I helped launch several companies, including co-founding Cambrian Biopharma, which is one of the largest aging-focused companies today. I also founded Samsara Therapeutics, the most advanced autophagy company today. I helped launch Apollo Health Ventures as an early employee, which is the largest aging-focused fund in the world with over $200 million under management. Additionally, I help run Healthspan Capital, which is the most active investor in longevity biotech and regenerative medicine.
How did your experience lead to the founding of Immune Bio?
Sebastian Brunemeier: Across all those different roles, plus many years as a lab scientist doing longevity research, I thought I had seen it all. I believed I had encountered the most interesting ways to extend lifespan. Then I came across this work on young-to-old bone marrow transplants. It turns out you can increase lifespan by up to about one-third in animals, which is the world record for any therapeutic intervention. This led us to develop a platform that allows us to expand the number of bone marrow stem cells—hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and mesenchymal stem cells—rejuvenate them outside the body, and then re-infuse them. It’s a non-invasive outpatient procedure where we mobilize the cells in your bloodstream, expand and rejuvenate them in a dish, bank them, and then re-infuse them. This approach applies to many different immune conditions and to aging itself.
Why should organizations become Vitalist?
Sebastian Brunemeier: Organizations should become Vitalist because aging is the leading threat to every individual and society. We are 100% guaranteed to die from aging if something else doesn’t get us first, and we are 100% guaranteed to face this global demographic aging crisis, often called the “silver tsunami,” where the population is getting older and no government has a credible plan to deal with it. One of the reasons I’m in the longevity biotech field, working to slow the aging process, is because it buys time for more medical and technological advancements to address this looming threat. The silver tsunami is a greater threat than climate change or wars because it’s 100% guaranteed to happen unless we intervene. Vitalism allows us to come together and prioritize the importance of improving the pace of biomedical science. We can make biomedical science more efficient by targeting the root cause of disease, which is aging itself.
Are we on track to solve aging in your lifetime, given current resourcing?
Sebastian Brunemeier: Given current resourcing, it looks unlikely. There’s a lot of discussion about longevity biotech being hot and interesting, but when you look at the numbers, only a couple of billion dollars have been deployed in this space over several years. For context, the American population spends about $60 billion a year on beer. Our priorities are not aligned. That’s why my colleagues at the Longevity Biotech Fellowship, Healthspan Capital, and Vitalism are doing everything we can to bring more capital and talent into this space and to explore totally new paradigms—outside of the dogma—to slow the aging process.
How long do you want to live?
Sebastian Brunemeier: Ideally, as long as I’m in good health, I’d like to live as long as possible. I do not envision ever getting bored of life. I don’t imagine I’d ever get tired of celebrating holidays with my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or even great-great-grandchildren. As long as I’m happy and healthy, there’s never going to be a point where I’d say, “I’m over it.” But it’s always an option, right? You can always choose to end your own life, even today. So why not give people the option of living as long and as healthfully as possible? There are significant economic benefits to doing this as well. It’s good for everyone if we’re living longer and healthier lives. For example, government healthcare budgets, which are threatening to bankrupt countries like the United States, could be reduced. The greatest national security threat to the U.S. isn’t China, Russia, or anything else external—it’s our own poor health and mismanaged healthcare system. If people can work even a couple of extra years while remaining cognitively productive, the benefits are massive—amounting to many trillions of dollars. And beyond economics, it’s just inherently good. Life, once you’re already born, should be as pleasant, long, and healthy as possible.
