Serina sells AgeX assets to shareholder Juvenescence to become debt-free

Serina Therapeutics is shedding a subsidiary to start the new year off debt-free. The Alabama-based biotech has sold UniverXome Bioengineering to antiaging company Juvenescence to clear away $11.2 million in debt.

Serina formed UniverXome to hold legacy assets from a reverse merger with AgeX Therapeutics. AgeX was a public company that had been struggling for years, warning persistently that it was running out of cash and flirting with the idea of a Serina merger. The pair finally sealed the deal in August 2023.

Meanwhile, Juvenescence had previously loaned AgeX tens of millions of dollars to help keep it afloat, with AgeX paying the bulk of it back by issuing shares to Juvenescence. Juvenescence is now the largest holder of Serina’s stock, according to a Dec. 23 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

UniverXome held all of the assets from AgeX and no others, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Biotech in an email, and, after the sale, Serina no longer owns any AgeX assets.

“This transaction underscores our commitment to maintaining a focused operational strategy centered on advancing SER-252, our lead candidate for advanced Parkinson’s disease, into clinical development,” interim Serina CEO Steve Ledger said in a Jan. 15  release. “By achieving a debt-free balance sheet, we have strengthened our financial foundation, enabling us to accelerate our patient-driven mission.”

Serina raised $10 million in December to help bring SER-252 into a phase 1 trial for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, with Juvenescence providing the funds. The firm's most recent timeline involves kicking off that study in the second half of 2025.

The move will also allow Serina to focus on developing its synthetic polymer platform in a variety of therapeutic modalities, Ledger said, including small molecules, lipid nanoparticles and antibody-drug conjugates. The platform uses a synthetic, water-soluble and low-viscosity polymer for targeted drug delivery.

Juvenescence’s pipeline is largely preclinical, with an oral PAI-1 inhibitor currently in a phase 1 trial in fibrosis.