SAN FRANCISCO, California — Junevity, a biotechnology company focused on extending lifespan and healthspan through cell reprogramming, announced that it has raised an additional $10 million in new funding, bringing its total Seed financing to $20 million. The round was led by Goldcrest Capital and Godfrey Capital and will support advancement of the company’s lead siRNA program, JUN_01, for type 2 diabetes and obesity through IND-enabling work and into first-in-human studies.
JUN_01 is positioned to become the first therapeutic candidate to reprogram metabolism using siRNA. In preclinical studies, the drug has demonstrated reductions in blood glucose, improved insulin sensitivity, significant weight loss, maintenance of lean mass and a long dosing interval of once every six months.
“JUN_01 is a next-generation siRNA candidate for type 2 diabetes and obesity and the first cell reprogramming candidate with siRNA for metabolism,” said John Hoekman, co-founder and CEO of Junevity. “By reprogramming metabolic tissue to a healthy state, we see profound and durable benefits beyond today’s standard of care. We look forward to bringing this to patients in our initial clinical studies.”
John Bamforth, PhD, former chief marketing officer at Eli Lilly and an advisor to Junevity, noted that the JUN_01 profile could support long-term disease management. “JUN_01 offers a unique and promising combination of improved insulin sensitivity and weight loss, with dosing every six months,” he said. “This profile could fill an important need for effective and tolerable long-term diabetes and weight management either alone or in combination with GLP-1s.”
JUN_01 targets a novel, confidential molecular regulator identified through Junevity’s RESET platform, which integrates human disease data, genetic linkages, omics, machine learning and siRNA screening. The target is implicated in chronic metabolic dysfunction, insulin signaling and appetite regulation. Preclinical models suggest strong efficacy potential, low side effects, resistance to post-treatment weight regain and compatibility with GLP-1 therapy at reduced doses or frequency. First-in-human trials are expected in the second half of 2026.
The RESET platform is based on research by co-founder Dr. Janine Sengstack at the University of California, San Francisco. The platform enables targeting of transcription factors, long considered “undruggable,” by using siRNA to reprogram diseased cells toward healthier states. This work led to the founding of Junevity to develop siRNA-based reprogramming therapeutics.
Junevity is expanding its pipeline of siRNA candidates across metabolic disease and neurodegeneration. The company’s long-term goal is to apply siRNA-driven reprogramming across major tissues involved in complex diseases.
