FFWD.L Regulatory News (FFWD)

19 August 2019

FastForward Innovations Ltd / AIM: FFWD / Sector: Closed End Investments

FastForward Innovations Ltd

("FastForward", "FFWD" or the "Company")

Investee Company Update: Juvenescence closes Series B Funding at US$100 million target

FastForward Innovations Ltd, the AIM quoted company focusing on making investments in fast growing and industry leading businesses, notes the following announcement released on 19 August 2019 concerning investee company Juvenescence Limited ("Juvenescence"). This second (and final) tranche of the Series B funding is at the same US$24.70 price per share as the first tranche (see 15 January 2019 announcement), maintaining the implied value of approximately US$3.2million for FFWD's investment in 128,205 Juvenescence Series A shares.

The announcement is set out below without material changes or adjustments.

Juvenescence closes Series B round on target at $100 million, plans follow on and incremental investments in longevity drug development

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Juvenescence, a life sciences company utilising expert drug developers and artificial intelligence experts to create therapeutics and technologies to treat diseases of aging and to increase human longevity, is pleased to announce the successful closure of its Series B round at the targeted $100 million, including a total of $10 million from its founders and a further $10M each from four cornerstone investors, including Grok Ventures, the investment company of Mike Cannon-Brookes (Atlassian cofounder), and Michael Spencer's private investment company, IPGL . This brings the total to $165 Million that Juvenescence has raised in 18 months and speaks to the extraordinary opportunity as well as interest in developing therapeutics with the capacity to modify aging.

Juvenescence is creating a longevity ecosystem, with world class scientists, seasoned drug developers, machine learning experts and a strong team with financial acumen to navigate this emerging new biotech growth sector and to develop 12 therapeutic candidates within the field of healthy aging.

Dr. Greg Bailey, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"This has been such an exciting six months for Juvenescence. We have been able to add extraordinary people to the Juvenescence team who will bring our age modifying therapeutics to market. We have also augmented our team working on using machine learning for drug discovery and for drug development: culminating with closing on this $100 Million Series B financing which provides us with sufficient working capital to progress many of our programs to their initial inflection points".

Jim Mellon, Chair of Juvenescence, commented:

"We have recruited a group of sophisticated shareholders from around the world to further our common mission of improving human healthy lifespan. Juvenescence has now raised more money that any comparable company, which is testament to the depth of our team and the range of opportunities that we have assembled, in partnership with scientist/entrepreneurs and research institutions. As the science of longevity becomes mainstream, we expect significant investor interest and at some point, we anticipate taking Juvenescence public to further accelerate our development."

About Juvenescence Ltd.

Juvenescence Limited is a life sciences company developing therapies to increase healthy human longevity. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team are highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs and investors with a significant history of success in the life sciences sector. Juvenescence will create, partner with or invest in new companies with longevity-related therapeutics, by in-licensing compounds from academia and industry, or forming joint ventures to develop therapeutics for longevity. Juvenescence believes that recent advances in science have greatly improved our understanding of the biology of aging and seeks to develop therapeutics with the possibility of slowing, halting or potentially reversing elements of aging. 

Cautionary Statement

The AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential values, the future plans and objectives of FastForward Innovations Ltd. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, achievable or recognizable in the near term.

Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. FastForward Innovations assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

ENDS

For further information on the Company please visit www.fstfwd.co or contact: