BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product R&D

Raising the CohBar

CohBar and USC found a new mitochondrial peptide that could help treat diabetes

March 26, 2015 7:00 AM UTC

A recently discovered mitochondrial peptide with metabolic effects on skeletal muscle suggests mitochondrial DNA may deserve a second look as a source of therapeutic targets. A group from CohBar Inc. and the University of Southern California found the peptide encoded in the mitochondrial genome, showed it mimics the effect of exercise and believes it could help treat Type II diabetes.

It's far from clear how many therapeutic targets might be encoded in mitochondrial DNA, although that has been the basis of CohBar's platform since it was founded in 2007. In January, the company completed an IPO that brought in $11.25 million to develop the discoveries within the company's labs...