I’ve been following Altos Labs since its inception. The institution has intriguing, ambitious goals. For that reason, it’s been interesting that in terms of news on Altos, things have been relatively quiet for the last 4+ years. Some big changes have happened recently though.
Altos Labs is high on talent, but nicely low-key on PR
More broadly, you mostly don’t hear of any drama at Altos or even see the typical (over)exuberant press releases within the regenerative space. I appreciate their lack of hype and sticking to data.
At the same time with the quietness, it can be a little hard to know what’s up there.
Technically maybe Altos isn’t a longevity biotech/institution, but their objective of cellular rejuvenation is definitely linked into aging-related conditions.
A recent NY Times article on longevity prominently featured both Altos and Harvard professor David Sinclair. The article had more balance than most in this space, but still faced some pushback. Of Sinclair, it both praised his work and said, “but he has also developed a reputation for overhyping the state of longevity science.”
Getting back to Altos, as I said some things have recently changed. There seems to have been some kind of reorganization. Possibly some layoffs and key leaders have left.
Peter Walker left Altos Labs, Steve Horvath too
I heard through the grapevine that key investigator Steve Horvath departed Altos a few months ago.
Horvath’s LinkedIn page lists his work at Altos as having ended this February. I couldn’t find any listing for Horvath on the Altos Labs website either. An email to his former Altos email generated a reply saying he’s no longer there.
Horvath is a leader in the area of epigenetic clocks. What’s next for him? It’s not 100% clear if he retains a UCLA appointment as a professor of Human Genetics and Biostatistics as he did before, but he’s still on the website and UCLA was listed as an affiliation on a paper just a few months ago.
Wherever he ends up, I wish him well.
Another Altos leader, Peter Walter, recently left Altos Labs and joined the Buck Institute.
Apparently quite a few others have left Altos as well.
Looking ahead
How might these departures impact the momentum of the institution? Why the changes?
Altos Labs seems to have shifted focus with relatively more weight on computational work (think AI) for drug discovery. Scanning through the PIs still listed at Altos, it sure feels like there used to be quite a few more. Maybe the website needs updating?
The new Altos Institute of Computation (IoC) also suggests a move away from wet-lab work.
Overall, the longevity space may become more focused on AI-based approaches.
Could this reflect a broader trend in the biomedical sciences of slightly less wet-lab work?