BioAge Labs, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on metabolic diseases through aging biology, has launched a comprehensive initiative to profile and analyze samples from Norway's HUNT Biobank. The collaboration with Norwegian diagnostics company Age Labs AS will generate molecular profiles from more than 17,000 individual samples collected over decades from 6,000+ HUNT participants.
The partnership aims to generate millions of molecular readouts that will significantly expand BioAge's proprietary human aging data platform. The company has secured exclusive access for drug discovery purposes to all data generated through this collaboration.
Targeting Disease Transition Points
BioAge will focus its analysis on a targeted subset of HUNT participants whose long-term medical records document the transition from health in middle age to various chronic conditions. According to the company, more than 50% of participants developed cardiometabolic disease, while over 35% experienced cognitive decline or dementia later in life.
"The HUNT Biobank is the perfect complement to our aging-focused discovery platform," said Eric Morgen, MD, COO and co-founder of BioAge. "By deeply profiling thousands of participants at multiple points across their lives, we can watch the shift from health to early and then advanced disease, and uncover the molecular factors that keep some people healthy as they age."
Advanced Molecular Profiling Technology
The initiative will employ Standard BioTools' SomaScan assay to quantify thousands of proteins in each sample. BioAge plans to apply machine-learning models to connect molecular changes with disease onset, progression, and aging patterns. This approach is designed to identify the biological mechanisms that maintain physiological resilience and counter age-related disease development.
Integration with Existing Discovery Platform
The molecular profiling insights from HUNT will feed directly into BioAge's established discovery platform, which already encompasses over 50 million molecular measurements collected over five decades. This expansion builds on the company's existing network of biobank partnerships and is expected to accelerate the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
Morgen emphasized that these insights "will point us to novel therapeutic targets that address the root biology of aging and the diseases it drives."
Current Pipeline Development
BioAge's lead product candidate, BGE-102, is a potent, orally available, brain-penetrant small-molecule NLRP3 inhibitor being developed for obesity. The compound has demonstrated significant weight loss in preclinical models both as monotherapy and in combination with GLP-1 receptor agonists. The company plans IND submission and initiation of a Phase 1 SAD/MAD trial for mid-2025, with initial SAD data anticipated by year-end.
The company is also developing long-acting injectable and oral small molecule APJ agonists for obesity, alongside additional preclinical programs that leverage insights from its proprietary discovery platform built on human longevity data.
