Immunis Named Semifinalist in National Academy of Medicine’s Healthy Longevity Global Competition for Muscle Health Innovation
Immunis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing multi-active biologics designed to restore muscle health and function, has been selected as a semifinalist in the Grand Prize Phase of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) Healthy Longevity Global Competition. The recognition highlights the company’s progress in developing innovative approaches to age- and disease-related muscle decline and its efforts to support healthier aging through regenerative medicine.
The Healthy Longevity Global Competition is a seven-year international initiative established to accelerate research, innovation, and entrepreneurship focused on helping people live longer, healthier lives. The Grand Prize Phase represents the culmination of the initiative, bringing together projects previously recognized through its Catalyst Award program to identify innovations with the greatest impact, or potential for impact, on healthy longevity in humans.
Immunis was selected to advance from an eligible group of 720 Catalyst Award recipients worldwide whose projects received recognition from NAM and its international partners between 2020 and 2025. The competition will award a $1.5 million Grand Prize to the project demonstrating the greatest impact or potential impact on healthy longevity in humans.
At the center of Immunis’s submission is IMM01-STEM, an investigational multi-active biologic being developed to address the biological processes underlying muscle deterioration associated with aging and disease. Unlike conventional therapeutic approaches that focus on a single biological pathway, IMM01-STEM contains a naturally occurring combination of factors intended to influence multiple pathways involved in muscle health, repair, and function.
The company believes that targeting these interconnected mechanisms could offer a differentiated approach to preserving and restoring muscle function, an important consideration as populations worldwide continue to age. By advancing IMM01-STEM through clinical development, Immunis aims to explore whether multi-active biologics can help address the underlying biology of muscle decline rather than simply manage some of its consequences.
Dr. Hans Keirstead, Chairman of Immunis, said the semifinalist recognition reflects the progress the company has made toward developing a different approach to healthy aging.
“Living longer only represents progress if we can also preserve the strength and physical function that allow people to remain independent and engaged in their lives,” Keirstead said.
He added that the recognition from the National Academy of Medicine highlights Immunis’s efforts to develop a multi-active biologic intended to restore muscle health and function. The company believes regenerative medicine could eventually change how age-related physical decline is addressed, although the clinical benefits of IMM01-STEM will need to be established through further research.
IMM01-STEM Targets Multiple Mechanisms Involved in Muscle Decline
Age-related muscle decline represents an important challenge in healthy aging. Maintaining muscle health is essential for physical strength, mobility, balance, and the ability to perform everyday activities independently. As people grow older, changes in muscle mass, strength, and function can affect their quality of life and ability to remain physically active.
Muscle deterioration can also occur in association with certain diseases and other biological changes. These processes may involve multiple mechanisms, including alterations in tissue repair, cellular signaling, metabolism, and the body’s ability to maintain muscle integrity.
Traditional treatment strategies frequently focus on individual biological pathways or specific manifestations of muscle deterioration. However, the complexity of muscle biology has encouraged researchers to investigate approaches that could influence several mechanisms simultaneously.
Immunis is pursuing this strategy through IMM01-STEM, an investigational multi-active biologic designed to address the biological processes associated with age- and disease-related muscle decline.
According to the company, the candidate contains a naturally occurring combination of factors intended to act across multiple pathways involved in muscle health, repair, and function. This distinguishes the approach from therapies designed to influence only one target.
The scientific rationale behind multi-active biologics is that complex biological processes may not be adequately addressed by modifying a single pathway. Muscle health depends on interactions among multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms, and disruptions across these systems may contribute to declining physical function.
By seeking to influence several relevant pathways at once, IMM01-STEM is being developed as a potential therapeutic approach for preserving and restoring muscle function.
The company’s strategy also reflects a broader interest in regenerative medicine, which seeks to support the repair, maintenance, or restoration of biological functions affected by aging, injury, or disease.
Nevertheless, IMM01-STEM remains investigational. Its ability to improve muscle function, preserve independence, or produce meaningful benefits in people experiencing age-related or disease-related muscle decline will depend on the outcomes of clinical studies. Further research will also be needed to establish the treatment’s safety profile, appropriate patient populations, and potential long-term benefits.
From Catalyst Award Recognition to Clinical Development
The semifinalist selection builds on Immunis’s earlier participation in the Healthy Longevity Global Competition. The company previously received a Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award for research exploring the potential of multi-active secretomes to reverse muscle atrophy and metabolic decline.
That initial recognition supported the company’s work in an area of research focused on understanding how naturally occurring combinations of biological factors might influence muscle health and metabolic function.
Since receiving the Catalyst Award, Immunis has advanced its technology into clinical development, generated human clinical data, and continued developing IMM01-STEM as a potential therapeutic approach for preserving and restoring muscle function.
This progression from earlier-stage research toward clinical investigation represents an important element of the company’s development strategy. Moving a therapeutic concept into clinical development enables researchers to begin evaluating its safety and potential effects in humans, building on the scientific rationale established through earlier research.
Human clinical data can also help guide subsequent development decisions, including the selection of study designs, relevant outcome measures, and patient populations for further investigation.
Although the company has reported progress since its original Catalyst Award recognition, the announcement does not provide specific clinical trial results, patient numbers, efficacy measurements, or detailed safety findings for IMM01-STEM. Accordingly, the semifinalist selection should be understood as recognition of the project’s potential and development progress rather than confirmation of clinical effectiveness.
The Grand Prize Phase offers Immunis an opportunity to present its work alongside other innovations focused on extending healthy lifespan and improving health outcomes as people age.
For the company, the recognition also places its muscle health program within a wider international effort to identify approaches that could help address the medical and societal challenges associated with an aging population.
National Academy of Medicine Competition Focuses on Healthy Longevity
The National Academy of Medicine established the Healthy Longevity Global Competition in 2019 to encourage research, innovation, and entrepreneurship aimed at extending human healthspan.
Healthspan refers to the period of life spent in relatively good health, with the ability to maintain physical, cognitive, and functional independence. The concept emphasizes that progress in longevity should be measured not only by increased life expectancy but also by the preservation of health and quality of life.
The distinction is particularly relevant as populations age worldwide. Longer lifespans can bring opportunities for continued participation in family life, employment, and communities, but they can also increase the number of people living with chronic conditions, functional limitations, and age-related health challenges.
The Healthy Longevity Global Competition was established to encourage the development of scalable innovations that could help address these challenges. The initiative brings together scientists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders, policymakers, and members of the public to support research and solutions intended to improve healthy aging.
Between 2020 and 2025, NAM and its international partners conducted six Catalyst Award cycles, distributing more than $36 million to 720 projects across more than 50 countries and territories.
The program has supported a broad range of ideas aimed at improving health outcomes as people age. Through its international structure, the competition seeks to encourage innovations that can be developed and applied across different populations and healthcare environments.
Immunis’s work on multi-active biologics for muscle health aligns with the initiative’s focus on identifying new approaches to maintaining physical function and improving the experience of aging.
The company’s development program addresses one dimension of healthy longevity: the preservation of muscular health and functional capacity. Maintaining strength and mobility can be important for helping older adults remain independent and participate in everyday activities.
However, translating a promising scientific concept into a broadly applicable treatment requires evidence of clinical benefit, practical delivery, safety, and accessibility. These considerations are central to determining whether an innovation can make a meaningful contribution to healthy longevity.
Grand Prize Evaluation Emphasizes Impact, Access, and Scalability
The Grand Prize Phase is intended to identify the project demonstrating the greatest impact, or potential impact, on healthy longevity in humans. The competition will award $1.5 million to the selected Grand Prize recipient.
NAM evaluates projects according to several criteria, including their impact in humans, global applicability, access and scalability, demonstrated progress, and future vision.
These criteria extend beyond the scientific promise of an innovation. They also consider whether a project has demonstrated meaningful progress, whether its potential benefits could be relevant across different populations, and whether the solution could be scaled to reach people who might benefit from it.
For Immunis, advancing IMM01-STEM through clinical development is relevant to the criterion of demonstrated progress. The company has moved its technology beyond earlier research recognition and has reported generating human clinical data.
The potential global applicability of a muscle health therapy would depend on the population for which it ultimately proves safe and effective, as well as its accessibility and suitability for different healthcare settings.
Scalability would also be an important consideration if the treatment advances successfully through clinical development. The manufacturing, distribution, administration, and cost of a future therapy could influence the extent to which it becomes available to patients.
At present, IMM01-STEM remains an investigational candidate, and its eventual clinical role has not been established. Further studies will be necessary to determine the populations that could benefit, the magnitude and durability of any treatment effects, and the feasibility of broader use.
The competition’s evaluation framework nevertheless provides an opportunity to consider how scientific innovation could translate into practical benefits for individuals and healthcare systems.
Immunis Highlights the Importance of Preserving Physical Function
Dr. Keirstead emphasized that extending life expectancy alone does not capture the full objective of healthy aging. Maintaining physical strength and function can be equally important to ensuring that people remain independent and engaged throughout their lives.
“Being selected as a semifinalist by the National Academy of Medicine is meaningful recognition of the progress we have made toward a different approach to healthy aging,” Keirstead said.
He explained that Immunis is pursuing a strategy designed to address muscle decline through a multi-active biologic rather than focusing exclusively on managing its consequences.
“We believe regenerative medicine has the potential to fundamentally change what growing older looks like,” he added.
The company’s approach reflects growing scientific interest in therapies that could preserve or restore biological functions affected by aging. Instead of focusing only on individual symptoms, regenerative medicine research seeks to investigate whether underlying biological processes can be influenced to support tissue health and function.
For muscle health, this objective is particularly relevant because physical function contributes to independence and the ability to perform daily activities. Muscle deterioration can create challenges that extend beyond strength alone, potentially affecting mobility, participation in social activities, and overall quality of life.
A therapy that safely and meaningfully improves muscle function could therefore have important implications for healthy aging. However, establishing such benefits requires carefully designed clinical trials that measure outcomes relevant to patients, rather than relying solely on laboratory findings or biological markers.
IMM01-STEM’s further development will help determine whether the multi-active approach can translate into measurable improvements in muscle health and function.
Healthy Longevity Global Innovator Summit Scheduled for October 2026
The Grand Prize Phase will conclude with recognition of the winners in connection with the Healthy Longevity Global Innovator Summit on October 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
The summit is expected to provide an exclusive networking opportunity for scientists, innovators, investors, policymakers, and other leaders working to advance healthy longevity.
The gathering will offer a forum for participants to discuss emerging research, explore potential collaborations, and consider how scientific and technological innovations could contribute to healthier aging.
For Immunis, participation in the Grand Prize Phase provides an opportunity to bring attention to its work on muscle health and its broader goal of developing treatments designed to preserve and restore physical function.
The competition also highlights the importance of collaboration across scientific research, biotechnology development, investment, healthcare, and public policy. Advancing healthy longevity requires more than identifying promising biological targets; it also requires translating discoveries into solutions that can be evaluated clinically and potentially made accessible to the populations that need them.
Advancing a Potential New Approach to Healthy Aging
Immunis’s selection as a semifinalist in the National Academy of Medicine’s Healthy Longevity Global Competition marks a further milestone in the development of its multi-active biologic technology.
The company’s work on IMM01-STEM focuses on the biological processes associated with age- and disease-related muscle decline, with the aim of supporting muscle health, repair, and function through a combination of naturally occurring factors.
The recognition follows an earlier Catalyst Award for research into multi-active secretomes and reflects the company’s subsequent progress into clinical development and the generation of human clinical data.
The $1.5 million Grand Prize will recognize the project judged to have the greatest impact, or potential impact, on healthy longevity in humans. Final evaluation will consider clinical impact, global applicability, accessibility, scalability, demonstrated progress, and future vision.
While IMM01-STEM’s clinical benefits and long-term role remain to be established, the program represents Immunis’s effort to explore a therapeutic approach that addresses multiple biological pathways involved in muscle decline.
As the Healthy Longevity Global Competition reaches its conclusion, the company’s advancement to the semifinalist stage places its research among a group of internationally recognized projects seeking to improve the quality of life associated with longer lifespans. Further clinical development will determine whether IMM01-STEM can deliver meaningful benefits for people experiencing muscle deterioration and ultimately contribute to the broader goal of helping individuals remain stronger, healthier, and more independent as they age.
Immunis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class multi-active biologics designed to restore muscle function lost through aging and disease. Leveraging the body’s innate repair biology, Immunis’ proprietary secretome platform targets multiple pathways simultaneously to improve muscle health, metabolic function and overall healthspan. The company’s lead investigational therapy, IMM01-STEM, is being evaluated as a potential treatment for sarcopenia and other age-related conditions, with the vision of helping people live healthier, stronger and more independent lives for longer.
About the Healthy Longevity Global Competition
Founded by the National Academy of Medicine in 2019, the Healthy Longevity Global Competition is a worldwide initiative designed to accelerate research, innovation and entrepreneurship in healthy longevity. The competition has supported hundreds of innovators around the world pursuing transformative approaches to improving physical, cognitive and social health and well-being as people age. The 2026 Grand Prize Phase will award a $1.5 million Grand Prize, as well as second place, third place and honorable mention awards, to projects demonstrating exceptional impact or potential impact on healthy longevity in humans.