SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, 2024 – Launching today, Olden Labs emerges from stealth to  unveil a new approach to animal research. By harnessing artificial intelligence (AI), genetic  engineering and robotics, Olden Labs is building the world’s first automated animal research  lab. 

Olden Labs was founded by a multidisciplinary team of experts including a Harvard PhD  biologist, a Forbes 30 Under 30 AI developer and two engineers from 10X Genomics  and Apple, and is backed by CHMBR Partners, Healthspan Capital, and the Mercatus Center’s Emergent Ventures. 

“Animal research is critical for the development of therapies but has not received  much attention or innovation from the scientific community,” says Michael Florea, PhD,  Olden Labs co-founder and CEO. “Many of the methods in use date back to the 1960s.  While biologists can routinely get terabytes of digital data in genomics, imaging, and other  fields, animal studies are conducted by hand and results stored on paper. It was clear that  bridging this technology gap would have a profound impact on society.” 

The launch of Olden comes at a time when more than $36B dollars is spent annually on  animal studies, yet 90.4% of new drugs fail in human clinical trials This is partly because in  contrast to the rest of biology, where automated and data-rich methods are standard, animal  research is still performed manually, leading to high costs, poor reproducibility, and poor data  quality. 

To enable automated animal studies, Olden Labs has developed three first-in-class  technologies in robotics, AI and gene delivery. Olden Labs' first product, DOME smart cages  use AI to analyse health of multiple experimental animals in their home environment, giving a  complete and high-definition picture of their activity and behavior. This fundamental new 

capacity allows researchers to access a slice of the animal’s “phenome”, by continuously  and automatically measuring many parameters of health.  

“Labs in the United States use 111 million rodents per year,” says Charles Hirschler,  Managing Member of Olden Labs’ lead Seed investor CHMBR Partners, L.P. “Their upkeep  costs $16+ billion. I have experienced the challenges Olden Labs addresses firsthand as  well as the opportunities that innovations in AI, robotics, and data acquisition offer. Between  the large and intense unmet need for animal lab methods and the tailwind of rapidly  advancing automation, AI, and robotics, Olden Labs offers a great opportunity. CHMBR is  delighted to be part of it.”  

The logistical challenges and high costs associated with traditional animal studies can be  prohibitive. By combining AI with other advanced technologies, Olden Labs is improving the  success rate of animal research and lowering the cost of clinical translation. 

About Olden Labs 

Olden Labs, PBC is a public benefit corporation dedicated to radically improving animal  research for mankind. The first of its kind, Olden Labs uses three foundational technologies  in AI, robotics and genetic engineering to achieve low-cost data-rich studies with improved  animal welfare. Olden Labs incubated at Harvard’s iLab, Nucleate Boston and StartX  accelerators. Launch supporters include CHMBR Partners, L.P., Healthspan Capital,  Mercatus Center’ Emergent Ventures, Earthship Corporation and Foresight Institute. 

To learn more about how Olden Labs is transforming animal research, visit Olden Labs  website. 

State/province name: California 

Country: United States 

Website: https://oldenlabs.com 

Press kit: link here 

Media Contact: Michael Florea 

Email: info@oldenlabs.com 

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