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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 11d

And now, you can own a piece of that mission, no investor accreditation required.

👉 Our community round is officially live:
🔗 netcapital.com/companies/ve...

🎙️ Check out the podcast:
🔗 www.bioinformaticscro.com/podcast/davi...

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 11d

At Vertical Longevity Pharma, we’re developing a first-in-class senolytic immunotherapy to target the drivers of aging and heart disease, with the broader vision of extending human healthspan across multiple age-related conditions.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 11d

Thrilled to have our CEO DavidScieszka be a guest on the podcast and grateful for Grant Belgard being such an incredible host.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

We are building therapies that strike the balance: measurable in the clinic and meaningful in life. If you have an interest in human longevity, follow along. We are just getting started.

Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

Vertical Longevity Pharma focuses on a replaceable cell subset, where senescent clearance restores function and safety margins are high.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

Target too many senescent cell types and you risk injury, especially when environmental insults like wildfire smoke can push sensitive cells toward senescence. Target too few and benefit is negligible.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

A practical route is selective removal of senescent cells that are replaceable by stem cells. Not all tissues qualify. In the heart, many cardiomyocytes are irreplaceable, so indiscriminate killing would do harm.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

Clinically, patching every leaking lysosome sounds elegant, but biology is not a single screw to tighten. The pathways are complex and intertwined, and broad repair is not ready for safe human use.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

This damage aligns with other hallmarks of aging, like genomic instability, epigenetic drift, mitochondrial dysfunction, loss of proteostasis, dysregulated nutrient sensing, oxidative stress, and impaired autophagy. Importantly, senescent cells have measurable markers, including acidity.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

Inside every cell are acid-filled recyclers called lysosomes. They dissolve worn-out parts into building blocks the cell can reuse. With age, lysosomes can leak, and escaped acid injures mitochondria, DNA, and the protein factories, tipping cells toward senescence.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

Senescence often follows accumulated stresses, like DNA damage, chronic inflammation, and reductions in the protective end-caps on DNA (telomeres). The cell survives, but its behavior changes.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · 28d

Zombie cells are real, just not undead. Scientists call them senescent cells, and they are a hallmark of human aging. They resist death, cause inflammation, and reduce tissue function, all while spreading the senescence to other cells.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Sep 18

Thrilled to have our CEO Dr. David Scieszka presenting at the A4LI Longevity Investor Summit where he'll be discussing our longevity immunotherapy.

If you're going to be in the LA area on October 16th, check out the registration link t.co/hFPY7YN8na. Investor tickets are free

Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

We longevity biotechnologists fight aging not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. We audaciously seek to restore the metropolis of life, fighting decay and boldly disregarding those telling us that potholes in roads are a natural part of life. Join us, and join the fight against aging.

Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

We’ve taken a hard look at the science, and we view senescence as a driver of many other civic breakdowns. Crucially, these cells can be cleared, and their removal allows districts to repopulate with young, fit workers eager to build, repair, and protect.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

• Altered intercellular communication: phone and internet lines fail.

Over time, these failures compound. Infrastructure cracks, districts weaken, and citizens lose capacity. But decline is not destiny.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

• Loss of proteostasis: trash builds up, tools jam, machines break down.
• Deregulated nutrient sensing: gauges misread demand.
• Mitochondrial dysfunction: the grid falters and blackouts follow.
• Stem cell exhaustion: academies empty, leaving few apprentices to fill open jobs.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

• Cellular senescence: hostile citizens sabotage gear and poison blocks.
• Genomic instability: blueprints are corrupted.
• Telomere attrition: business licenses expire, shops go dark.
• Epigenetic alterations: records are misfiled and wrong instructions spread.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

So what are the Hallmarks of aging? basically, civic breakdown.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

The heart is a pumping station moving resources highways. Lungs are an air purification district bringing in oxygen and venting carbon dioxide. The liver is an industrial zone refining and detoxifying. The kidneys are waterworks and sanitation, and the brain is city hall coordinating operations.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 27

Picture the human body as a vast, bustling city. Millions of citizens (our cells) each with their own trade, work together to keep the metropolis thriving.

A high aerial view of Centuripe, a hill town in Sicily, at dusk. The town’s warm streetlights sketch a clear human figure across the landscape, with outstretched arms, a torso, and two legs formed by glowing roads and tightly packed buildings. A brighter knot of lights sits near the “chest,” like a heart where main streets meet. Dark, rugged hills encircle the luminous body-shape, and an orange sky fades to deep shadow along the horizon. Large white title text at the top reads, “What are The Hallmarks of Aging?” The image supports the post’s metaphor of the body as a city: streets as arteries, districts as organs, and aging as civic breakdown. It hints at the solution the post discusses, where clearing senescent “bad actors” would reopen clogged routes, stabilize the grid, and let healthy neighborhoods repopulate, restoring the metropolis of life.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 7

Each hallmark contributes to the gradual loss of function we call aging. To treat aging as a whole, we must approach it on a systems level. But by targeting one of its most influential drivers, we take a meaningful step toward reversing the chronic conditions that claim millions of lives each year.

Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 7

But of course, senescent cells are only one part of a much larger story. Aging is a complex breakdown of multiple interrelated hallmarks—loss of genomic stability, mitochondrial decline, disrupted communication between cells and systems.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 7

We aim to quiet inflammation before it spreads, preventing dysfunction before it manifests. What’s more, studies have shown that the removal of senescent cells can revive tissue function, returning it to a state more characteristic of youth.

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Vertical Longevity Pharma @velopharma.bsky.social · Aug 7

At Vertical Longevity Pharma, we focus on one of the most actionable hallmarks: cellular senescence. We are developing immunotherapies designed to identify and clear these malfunctioning cells, restoring the tissue environment to a more optimal state.

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