VitaDAO, the longevity-focused decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), has launched a biotech company for clinical cancer research.
Called Matrix Biosciences, the launch of this new biotech startup follows a proposed collaboration with Dr. Vera Gorbunova, Professor of Biology and Medicine and Co-Chair of the Center for Research on Aging at the University of Rochester, which was approved by governance decentralized VitaDAO in a vote that closed at the end of March of this year with more than 99% of the votes in favor.
In the governance proposal, VitaDAO explained that Matrix Biosciences would focus on cancer research to improve people's life expectancy.
The biotechnology startup aims to take advantage of the anti-cancer and prolong-life effects discovered in high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMW-HA) from the naked mole rat (RMN) to develop new cancer treatments in humans and, in this way, increase longevity.
According to studies carried out so far, the life expectancy of the naked mole rat is about 40 years, which is about 13 times longer than that of ordinary rats. The goal of the startup is to transfer the findings found in the HMW-HA of this species of rat to the clinic to develop new compounds that can be used for the treatment of cancer and to increase the health and life expectancy of people suffering from this disease.
“VitaDAO is launching a new company with the Gorbunova laboratory, called Matrix Bio.”
The Longevity DAO has allocated initial funds in the order of $300.000 to fund Matrix Biosciences' cancer research.
With this initiative, VitaDAO has become the first DAO to launch a biotechnology company that will contribute to the longevity and health of humans. Through X, the organization highlighted the important role that blockchain technology and the community are playing in advancing the construction of decentralized science, also known as DeSci.
In the launch of Matrix Biosciences, VitaDAO has used Molecule's IP-NFT technology, a decentralized biotechnological protocol that transfers intellectual property to Web3 in order to accelerate the work that decentralized organizations have been developing in the DeSci space.
It is important to highlight that VitaDAO is a decentralized organization backed by Pfizer, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
In January, the DAO raised $4,1 million in a financing round participated by Pfizer through its investment arm Pfizer Ventures. Companies from the crypto industry also participated in the financing round, such as L1D, BeakerDAO, SpaceshipDAO and the American entrepreneur and investor who promotes the use of Bitcoin, Balaji Srinivasan, among others.
Today, VitaDAO has become one of the most prominent DAOs and communities of scientific researchers in the DeSci space. Its governance token, VITA, has grown more than 6% in the last few hours, after the launch of Matrix Biosciences was announced. At press time, the VITA token is trading at around $1,78 in the market.
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