• Log in with Facebook Log in with Twitter Log In with Google      Sign In    
  • Create Account
  LongeCity
              Advocacy & Research for Unlimited Lifespans


Adverts help to support the work of this non-profit organisation. To go ad-free join as a Member.


Photo

BioViva

liz parrish bioviva

  • Please log in to reply
204 replies to this topic

#1 Link

  • Guest
  • 120 posts
  • 53
  • Location:Australia

Posted 29 March 2015 - 02:46 AM


Interesting article about this company that is supposedly offering experimental anti-aging therapy out of South America.

http://hplusmagazine...utside-the-u-s/

For people who have a few hundred thousand dollars to spend and are willing to take on the risks of an “early adopter” and travel to South America, options are now becoming available that were inconceivable just a few years ago. A new company is leapfrogging over the time-consuming process of testing and regulatory approval, and offering the best-established and most promising experimental anti-aging technologies in the near future. This is a new vision for combining research with treatment, for treating diseases that have no proven therapies, and for aging itself.

#2 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 04 April 2015 - 01:27 AM

BioViva is a new company offering experimental medical services outside US borders.  Their team includes

  • a lab that provides genetically modified viruses with a gene payload, made to order.  (This has now become a reliable and predictable technology.)
  • A doctor who has experience with experimental gene therapy, and who had the courage to experiment on himself five years ago, with good outcome thus far.
  • Sites in Colombia and Mexico where doctors will administer therapies for which there is not yet FDA approval.
  • Most important, a Scientific Advisory Board that includes two of the most prominent, senior biochemists who developed the science of telomerase in the 1990s and before.  They are Bill Andrews and Michael Fossel.
  • What they offer is gene therapy with hTERT and a proprietary myostatin inhibitor “in the same family with GDF-11,” according to CEO Elizabeth Parrish.

http://hplusmagazine...utside-the-u-s/

 

http://www.bioviva-science.com/

http://www.bioviva-s...ects-1-1-1-1-1/


  • like x 2
  • unsure x 1

#3 ceridwen

  • Guest
  • 1,292 posts
  • 102

Member Away
  • Location:UK

Posted 04 April 2015 - 04:06 AM

What! Mice have loads of telomerase and only live 2 years if they are lucky! There's something wrong there. Forgive my ignorance


  • Good Point x 2

sponsored ad

  • Advert

#4 ceridwen

  • Guest
  • 1,292 posts
  • 102

Member Away
  • Location:UK

Posted 04 April 2015 - 04:44 AM

It's really exciting though



#5 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 04 April 2015 - 08:37 AM

What! Mice have loads of telomerase and only live 2 years if they are lucky! There's something wrong there. Forgive my ignorance

 

Mice have long Telomeres Ceridwen, but they use them up at a faster rate than we do.

 

Also I feel that most here are missing a very important in in that the long telomere ends of the DNA strand curl round and affect genes closer to the centre of the strand in a epigenetic way.

So its not simply a case of trying to keep the critically short telomeres from causing 'glitches in the program'.  

There are also other positive effects from longer telomeres.

 

http://www.longecity...ene-regulation/

http://www.longecity...me-alterations/

http://www.longecity...lar-senescence/

http://www.longecity...-telomere-loss/

 


  • like x 1

#6 pleb

  • Guest
  • 462 posts
  • 47
  • Location:England

Posted 04 April 2015 - 10:11 AM

I came across a couple of references to this a while ago on various bb sites while looking up myostatin blockers.
From the photos of a few guys that had this done using the virus modified to produce GDF 8 presumably under the radar of the fda. it mentioned that it stayed active for up to 56 months in one subject.the virus increased in the body after the initial injection. You still need to pump iron and take in the protein . But the results were amazing. And taking a fraction of the time normaly needed to put on muscle.

#7 corb

  • Guest
  • 507 posts
  • 213
  • Location:Bulgaria

Posted 04 April 2015 - 02:37 PM

It's interesting to see where this would go. What effects it would have on human health.

It's not often something moves from mouse to man in a couple of years.

 



#8 Iporuru

  • Guest
  • 216 posts
  • 221
  • Location:Europe

Posted 04 April 2015 - 05:39 PM

John Schloendorn, a member of BioViva's Scientific Advisory Board, is a member of LongeCity?

 

http://www.longecity...hn-schloendorn/

http://www.longecity...tudents-corner/

 

 

 



#9 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 04 April 2015 - 09:19 PM

What! Mice have loads of telomerase and only live 2 years if they are lucky! There's something wrong there. Forgive my ignorance

 

Wait-a-minute!?    :)

If mice have plenty of telomerase There is no mention of mice and the experiment had such positive results; that means it will work  better in humans, not so?



#10 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 04 April 2015 - 09:41 PM

I came across a couple of references to this a while ago on various bb sites while looking up myostatin blockers.
From the photos of a few guys that had this done using the virus modified to produce GDF 8 presumably under the radar of the fda. it mentioned that it stayed active for up to 56 months in one subject.the virus increased in the body after the initial injection. You still need to pump iron and take in the protein . But the results were amazing. And taking a fraction of the time normaly needed to put on muscle.

 

Interesting!  I wonder where they got it from and what it cost.
I suppose the initially infected cells will eventually die off but as I understand it; dividing cells (stem etc) will be 'infected' too an one injection/treatment is all that's reqd?

 

Theres a thread here somewhere, which I cant find, where Elizabeth Parrish asks how many people would be willing to pay $100 000 for this type of treatment!

So... what will it cost??



#11 pleb

  • Guest
  • 462 posts
  • 47
  • Location:England

Posted 04 April 2015 - 09:44 PM

I should have said GDF8 ( myostatin ) blockers or decoys that bind it and stop it reaching the muscle cell receptors. This allows muscle stem and satellite cells to proliferate and build new muscle with exercise.
From memory I think it was ACE 031. Not it's full name but that's the name they use to sell it as a peptide.

Edited by pleb, 04 April 2015 - 10:12 PM.


#12 zorba990

  • Guest
  • 1,601 posts
  • 315

Posted 04 April 2015 - 10:44 PM

Like this?
http://www.ergo-log....ollistatin.html
Double muscles for life with just one injection of follistatin gene

#13 pleb

  • Guest
  • 462 posts
  • 47
  • Location:England

Posted 04 April 2015 - 10:58 PM

Yes same method just a different protein the one I was trying to remember was actR2b

#14 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 05 April 2015 - 01:02 AM

I think there is some confusion here Pleb.

BioViva uses a genetically Modified virus, so the treatment is a once of deal that is permanent, not a protein that wears off after a while.

Th one injected, modded virus adds an telomerase gene to each cel.

The other is a "proprietary myostatin inhibitor in the same family with GDF-11"

 

I assume these are simply 2 of the genes that can be added, while the list is almost endless.



#15 zorba990

  • Guest
  • 1,601 posts
  • 315

Posted 05 April 2015 - 01:14 AM

Any way to get more detail on this part?
"A doctor who has experience with experimental gene therapy, and who had the courage to experiment on himself five years ago, with good outcome thus far."
My concern would be with increased cancer, but that doesn't stop me from using high dose astragalus with added cyclo so maybe it's not a concern.

#16 pleb

  • Guest
  • 462 posts
  • 47
  • Location:England

Posted 05 April 2015 - 01:41 AM

Yes your right logic about the peptides ACE031 is a proprietary peptide whilst Follistatin is found naturally in the blood. But can be obtain like ace031 as a peptide.
The peptides and proteins are a different method to obtain the same results at building muscle as that using the virus. The increase in telomerase I hadn't read it that way other than in the link. There is some different things mentioned It's more than likely gene expression using a modified virus can be used for many things the way it mentions it was tried and tested for quite sometime to see the results. The one mentioned in the article in the link from cerdwein (excuse spelling) is the myostatin decoy/blocker as it mentions inhibition of GDF8 which is myostatin. The injectables that can be bought from peptide suppliers are a cheaper way of doing it but appear to be nowhere near as effective unless you take massive amounts.
It's likely that using the virus method would be preferable to older people suffering from sarcopenia which is a muscle wasting disease .

Edited by pleb, 05 April 2015 - 02:12 AM.


#17 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 05 April 2015 - 03:57 AM

Yep:

One is a peptide that needs to be repeated, the other is a permanent addition/change to your DNA.

(I suppose they could inject a 2nd modded virus to negate the effects of the 1st..?)

 

The Ergo Log link Zorba 990 posted  is to a modified virus and is probably what BioViva is planning to use.

Heres a link to the paper:

http://www.pnas.org/...05/11/4318.full

 

 

Zorba 990:

You seem to have missed this thread on taking out senescent cells:

http://www.longecity...nds-healthspan/

This is def something to consider just before doing any telomerase activation.

 


Edited by Logic, 05 April 2015 - 03:59 AM.


#18 pleb

  • Guest
  • 462 posts
  • 47
  • Location:England

Posted 05 April 2015 - 09:14 AM

Another one I read about at the time is MGF (mechano growth factor) that was also introduced into mice piggy backed on to a virus. But is also available as a peptide. But has a very short life once it's injected so is also available as PEG-MGF which increases its life.
Yes the worry when the virus method was first used was if it would continue working and the guy would just continue building muscle and end up like the incredable hulk.

Edited by pleb, 05 April 2015 - 09:16 AM.


#19 zorba990

  • Guest
  • 1,601 posts
  • 315

Posted 05 April 2015 - 05:44 PM

Yep:
One is a peptide that needs to be repeated, the other is a permanent addition/change to your DNA.
(I suppose they could inject a 2nd modded virus to negate the effects of the 1st..?)

The Ergo Log link Zorba 990 posted is to a modified virus and is probably what BioViva is planning to use.
Heres a link to the paper:
http://www.pnas.org/...05/11/4318.full


Zorba 990:
You seem to have missed this thread on taking out senescent cells:
http://www.longecity...nds-healthspan/
This is def something to consider just before doing any telomerase activation.


I see, looks pretty simple then. May go Quercetin only sundays for a while :-) Might as well make a liposome too..
http://roguehealthan...enescent-cells/
"The dose of quercetin used was 50mg/kg body weight. (From the full paper in PDF.) That would be about 3.5 grams for a 70 kg man. "

Maybe this for the skin http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23669037
In this study, we developed a 2-step delivery system to enhance transdermal permeation of quercetin and its glycoside rutin, an antioxidant. Liposome-in-hydrogel complex systems were prepared by incorporating ceramide liposomes, which consist of biocompatible lipid membranes, into cellulose hydrogel. We evaluated the encapsulation efficiency, in vitro release behavior, and skin permeability of formulations that remained stable for over 3 weeks. Rutin had greater encapsulation efficiency and better in vitro release properties than quercetin. However, quercetin demonstrated greater skin permeability than rutin. We also found that liposome-in-hydrogel complex systems (quercetin, 67.42%; rutin 59.82%) improved skin permeability of quercetin and rutin compared to control (phosphate buffer, pH 7.4) (quercetin, 2.48%; rutin, 1.89%) or single systems of hydrogel (quercetin, 31.77%; rutin, 26.35%) or liposome (quercetin, 48.35%; rutin, 37.41%). These results indicate that liposome-in-hydrogel systems can function as potential drug delivery systems to enhance transdermal permeation of the water-insoluble antioxidants quercetin and rutin.

Edited by zorba990, 05 April 2015 - 05:49 PM.


#20 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 05 April 2015 - 10:36 PM

NB: Off Topic

 

This should be here:

http://www.longecity...althspan/page-5
 

I see, looks pretty simple then. May go Quercetin only sundays for a while :-) Might as well make a liposome too..
http://roguehealthan...enescent-cells/
"The dose of quercetin used was 50mg/kg body weight. (From the full paper in PDF.) That would be about 3.5 grams for a 70 kg man. "


Nope; there is a formula for working out a HED (Human equivalent dosage:

From the study:
"...A single dose of D+Q (D: 5 mg/kg body weight and Q: 50 mg/kg by oral gavage
here and in the following studies)..."
(Mice)
http://onlinelibrary.../acel.12344/pdf

HED (mg/kg) = Animal Dose (mg/kg) x [Animal Km / Human Km]*
Human Km = 37
Mouse Km = 3
Rat Km = 6
http://www.longecity...nimal-to-human/

So
HED for D is: 0.4054054054054054 mg/kg = 28.4mg/70kg human
HED for Q is: 4.054054054054054 mg/kg = 283.8 mg/70kg human
 
There may be differences in bioavailability that need to be taken into account.,
I await feedback here:
http://www.longecity...ndpost&p=722108
 
(Interesting info on the transdermal quercetin.  Thx)
 
Now lets try keep this on topic! :)
Thats not easy, what with everything being related.



#21 Logic

  • Guest
  • 2,659 posts
  • 586
  • Location:Kimberley, South Africa
  • NO

Posted 08 April 2015 - 02:13 AM

Links to BioViva's partner sites:

 

Neuralgene

http://www.neuralgene.com/

 

"Neuralgene is a biotechnology company with its’ flagship gene therapy platform a neurotropic AAV gene therapy designed to treat the neurodegenerative disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Neuralgene has partnered with Helica Labs to begin production of several AAV gene therapies in its' R&D pipeline for the treatment of other neural diseases such as Parkinson’s, Adronoleukodystrophy and ALS. Neuralgene has initiated initial human testing in it’s gene therapies for ALS and ALD.

 

Biotroveinvestments

http://biotroveinvestments.com/

 

"...We will become a platform for researchers to seek our investors and investors to seek our researchers. We hope to develop these integral networks to employ procedures and find real solutions to cure disease."

 

As none of theses companies have posted on Longecity; one has to wonder what the opinion of these types people  is of Longecity..?

 



#22 niner

  • Guest
  • 16,276 posts
  • 2,000
  • Location:Philadelphia

Posted 08 April 2015 - 02:39 AM

As none of theses companies have posted on Longecity; one has to wonder what the opinion of these types people  is of Longecity..?

 

Well, the list of companies that haven't posted here is pretty long.  Their opinion of us is probably null.  Our opinion of them is that they should master the diabolical complexity of the punctuation element known as the "apostrophe".


  • Cheerful x 2

#23 Mind

  • Life Member, Director, Moderator, Treasurer
  • 18,997 posts
  • 2,000
  • Location:Wausau, WI

Posted 16 April 2015 - 08:43 PM

John Schloendorn, a member of BioViva's Scientific Advisory Board, is a member of LongeCity?

 

http://www.longecity...hn-schloendorn/

http://www.longecity...tudents-corner/

 

Yes, he is a former director, in fact.



#24 relativityboy

  • Guest
  • 19 posts
  • 2
  • Location:USA

Posted 30 June 2015 - 03:08 AM

What! Mice have loads of telomerase and only live 2 years if they are lucky! There's something wrong there. Forgive my ignorance

 

There's nothing wrong. Long telomeres will help. It's not the end, but it's a good beginning.



#25 alc

  • Validating/Suspended
  • 208 posts
  • 102
  • Location:Columbus, OH
  • NO

Posted 01 October 2015 - 08:44 PM

http://www.benzinga....o-reverse-aging


  • Informative x 1
  • like x 1

#26 niner

  • Guest
  • 16,276 posts
  • 2,000
  • Location:Philadelphia

Posted 02 October 2015 - 03:59 AM

Wow, they did it.  Now the waiting begins...   What do you guys think will be the outcome?



#27 resveratrol_guy

  • Guest
  • 1,315 posts
  • 290

Posted 02 October 2015 - 05:05 AM

That press release was loaded with font faults and typos. Try this one instead. Nevertheless, alc, you rock for sharing this!

 

It's really too bad that we're left to guess, from previous public discussions, what particular therapy was applied to what particular pathology. (I'm thinking this is the aged hand skin test, if memory serves. But the article says nothing to that effect.) I suppose the idea is that when the diseased area gets better, they will then be able to claim some degree of rejuvenation. And rightly so, but I hope this will be more impressive than, say, watching a sunburn heal.

 

I'm not really that hopeful, on account of their bizarre proposed Alzheimer's therapy, which attemps to macroautophagize phosphotau deposits by extending the telomeres of microglia. They seem to think that merely adding telomeres will be enough to reverse senescence in these immune cells, enabling them to gobble up phosphotau. Again, if I'm not mistaken, I believe this relates to the subject of their current experiment. Nevertheless it's one thing to say that old cells with short telomeres are less functional than young cells with long telomeres. But it's quite another to assert that reversing that defficiency alone stands to ameliorate, let alone cure, any disease.

 

But ignore all that because we need gunslinging outlaws who bypass the FDA by experimenting on themselves or in ethical offshore trials, in the hopes that one of their many experiments might bring desperately needed therapies to life. I don't care about the self-aggrandizing projections or the myopic Singularity groupies. If they pull off a breakthrough that benefits millions of people, I will love them just the same! And if they fail, we'll at least learn what doesn't work.

 


  • Enjoying the show x 1

#28 reason

  • Guardian Reason
  • 1,101 posts
  • 241
  • Location:US

Posted 02 October 2015 - 10:57 AM

BioViva is one of the small groups interested in bringing telomerase therapies to humans sooner rather than later. It seems they have started in on their small long-term trial of human gene therapy for telomerase activation, and have treated the first volunteer.

I should say that at any given time there is a fairly large gap between what can be done in human medicine, the technology that actually exists and works, and what is being done in trials. Most of this gap is due to regulation, and the rest of it because development groups want to have a reasonable certain that what they are doing actually works, does more good than harm, and so forth. The regulatory process might last a decade, while the actually useful part of that testing (does it basically work, and is the risk profile sufficiently defined and acceptable to patients) is only a few years. As the cost of research and development in the life sciences falls, it will become increasingly untenable that a huge ball and chain slows progress thanks to regulatory risk aversion, and a growing number of initiatives will forge ahead and build anyway. Some years ago I proposed the Vegas Group fable, something that I think will happen in the fullness of time: alternative roads that bypass official regulation in favor of faster progress, an inevitability in an environment of low-cost research. Also, I think, a necessity.

What about the science here? I've never been a big fan of telomere lengthening approaches, as average telomere length as it is measured today in immune cells looks very much like a marker of the progress of aging, an end stage consequence far removed from root causes. Telomeres shorten with cell division and new long-telomere cells are delivered into tissues by stem cell populations. Thus average telomere length in immune cells reflects some combination of immune health and stem cell activity, both of which are known to decline with age. You can't argue with the fact that telomerase gene therapy has been shown to extend life in mice, however, though you can certainly note that the size of the effect has been getting smaller as the research groups have refined their data and approaches.

How does this work to slow aging in mice? At this point I lump enhanced telomerase activity into the general category of approaches that either probably work or intend to work by boosting the activation of old stem cell populations, resulting in increased repair and tissue maintenance and thus a slower decline into frailty and organ failure. More telomerase doesn't seem to raise cancer risk in mice, but mice have very different telomere dynamics and cancer risk profiles than we humans. The fastest way to figure out what is going to happen in humans is of course to try it, and kudos to anyone volunteering at this stage, but I'd be waiting for a few more years of testing first in animal or tissue models closer to human telomere dynamics. In part that decision would be driven by the fact that I don't think that this is the best approach to move ahead with practical applications, to push ahead and get things done. I absolutely agree that pushing ahead to get things done needs to happen, but I'd rather see this sort of boldness for SENS treatments like senescent cell clearance.

BioViva USA, Inc. has become the first company to treat a person with gene therapy to reverse biological aging, using a combination of two therapies developed and applied outside the United States of America. Testing and research on these therapies is continuing in BioViva's affiliated labs worldwide. BioViva CEO Elizabeth Parrish announced that the subject is doing well and has resumed regular activities. Preliminary results will be evaluated at 5 and 8 months with full outcome expected at 12 months. The patient will then be monitored every year for 8 years.

Gene therapy allows doctors to treat disease at the cellular level by inserting a gene into a patient's cells instead of using the regular modalities of oral drugs or surgery. BioViva is testing several approaches to age reversal, including using gene therapy to introduce genes into the body. Although not generally considered a disease, cellular aging is the leading cause of death in the developed world. Side effects like muscle wasting (sarcopenia), grey hair and memory loss are the well-known hallmarks. And the aging cell is also responsible for the diseases of aging, including Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and cancer. BioViva is leading the charge to treat the aging cell and reverse aging. "The aging cell is a key factor that has been overlooked for too long. Companies have put millions of dollars into treating the diseases of aging, such as dementia, frailty, kidney failure and Parkinson's disease, and we still do not have a cure. Aging involves multiple pathways. We wanted to target more than one for a better outcome."

Link: http://www.prweb.com...web12995323.htm


View the full article at FightAging
  • like x 1

#29 Mind

  • Life Member, Director, Moderator, Treasurer
  • 18,997 posts
  • 2,000
  • Location:Wausau, WI

Posted 02 October 2015 - 06:59 PM

Glad to see someone moving speculative treatments forward. Might not work, but at least we will learn something.


  • Good Point x 2
  • Agree x 1

#30 niner

  • Guest
  • 16,276 posts
  • 2,000
  • Location:Philadelphia

Posted 02 October 2015 - 09:19 PM

But ignore all that because we need gunslinging outlaws who bypass the FDA by experimenting on themselves or in ethical offshore trials, in the hopes that one of their many experiments might bring desperately needed therapies to life. I don't care about the self-aggrandizing projections or the myopic Singularity groupies. If they pull off a breakthrough that benefits millions of people, I will love them just the same! And if they fail, we'll at least learn what doesn't work.

 

I mostly agree, but along with learning that something works or doesn't work, there are some other possible outcomes.  The worst would be that the experiment ends in some hideous catastrophe that casts a pall over the entire field.  Gene therapy has gone through such a thing before, and it slowed progress.    Another possibility is that they don't get it quite right, and something that might have worked instead falls flat.  This might cause other researchers, perhaps with better technical skill, to look elsewhere.  I really would like to see them have a spectacularly great result.  I hope they've partnered with people who really know what they're doing, because so far I haven't seen the kinds of things out of BioViva that give me a lot of confidence in them.  I'll go ahead and hope that I'm just missing something on that. 

 

It would certainly be nice if they'd provide a basic outline of what they did.   OTOH, if they keep it secret, that would solve the problem of a bad result causing trouble-- they could just bury it.  So maybe it's better if they don't talk about it for a while?  These are certainly exciting times.


  • Agree x 3





Also tagged with one or more of these keywords: liz parrish, bioviva

1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users