About Ora Biomedical
Ora helps drug and skin-care developers find compounds that may extend life or help damaged tissue recover. It screens possible treatments in tiny roundworms called C. elegans, tracks survival automatically, and checks promising hits in human cells. It turns results into skin-care ingredients, clinical candidates, and confidential screening services for partners.
Based in Seattle, Ora grew from the University of Washington longevity-science community. Ben Blue is chief executive officer and co-founder; Blair Zhao is chief scientific officer and co-founder. The platform has tested about 10,000 compounds, produced about one million roundworm observations, and checked hundreds of hits in human cells. Ora has two skin-health programs.
Funding Rounds (SEC Form D)
| First sale | Filed with SEC | Amount sold | Investors | Avg. check | Terms | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 19, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 | $205,000of $1.0M target | 5 | $41,000 | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Jan 19, 2024 | Jan 26, 2024 | $720,000of $1.0M target | 6 | $120K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Jun 9, 2022 | Jun 13, 2022 | $100,000of $750K target | 1 | $100K | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
| Total, three offerings | $1,025,000 | |||||
First sale is the date the first investor in the offering committed to invest. Companies must file Form D within 15 days of that date, so filing dates run later.
What the SEC Filings Show
- Benjamin Blue first appears as a director on the Form D that Ora Biomedical filed on November 13, 2026. [9]
- Tim Engle first appears as a director on the Form D that Ora Biomedical filed on November 13, 2026. [9]
- Mitchell Lee is listed as a director only on the Form D that Ora Biomedical filed on January 26, 2024. [10]Form D filings that name Mitchell Lee (2):
- Ora Biomedical, CEO and director: Jun 13, 2022 · Jan 26, 2024
- John Sabey first appears as a director on the Form D that Ora Biomedical filed on January 26, 2024. [10]Form D filings that name John Sabey (2):
- Ora Biomedical, board · Investor: Jan 26, 2024 · Nov 13, 2026
Who Invested in Ora Biomedical
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| Announced | Round | Amount | Lead | Other investors | On the Form D | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Pre-Seed Series (SAFE) | $395,000 in cash financing and in-kind support | — | — | [8] |
Announced amounts can differ from Form D figures: an announcement can combine several closings, and some money is raised without a Form D.
Why Investors Backed Ora Biomedical
Longevity research lacks a large public dataset of basic lifespan results, even for well-studied targets such as mTOR. Ora's investment case centers on one-protocol data, partner-sponsored screens, and an open database built for that missing evidence. [7][1][3][8]
Origin and Team
Ora grew from the University of Washington longevity-science community and launched from the Kaeberlein Lab. Its co-founders include Ben Blue, Blair Zhao, and Matt Kaeberlein. Brian Kennedy, Jason Pitt, and Mitchell Lee are also co-founders. Jan Gruber is another co-founder. Pitt invented WormBot. Kaeberlein was founding director of the UW Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute. Kennedy was formerly president of the Buck Institute. Mitchell Lee served as chief executive in 2023 and remains a co-founder. [2][6][8]
Product and Technology
The screen measures survival across an entire life in C. elegans, which lives about three weeks. Robots handle large parallel populations while cameras capture continuous images. Computer-vision models identify hits, rank them, and fit dose-response curves. Researchers work out mechanisms later in human cells. [1]
The library spans approved or off-patent drugs, natural products, and peptides. Top hits move into human skin cells and human skin tissue. Clinical candidates then advance to mammalian studies. [1]
The consumer program studies botanical ingredients for visible signs of sun-related aging. Partners handle formulation and consumer development. The clinical track starts with radiation dermatitis, then may expand into injury repair and longevity medicine. [1]
Confidential library screens return survival curves, dose-response results, and ranked hits with raw images. Sponsored tests feed the Million Molecule Challenge open database. Its dashboard gives aging researchers access to crowd-funded data from more than 20 countries. [3][6]
An exclusive University of Washington license covers WormBot robotics, animal-tracking and analysis software, and initial drug-screen data. Ora patents promising interventions, develops them for aging or disease uses, then out-licenses them to health companies. [8]
By summer 2023, Ora's database held 1,825 treatment records across 928 unique compounds and reflected more than 148,900 animals. [8]
RadBot will screen a natural-product library for ultraviolet resilience in roundworms and validate the strongest hits in human cells. [4]
The 601-compound mTOR project seeks interventions that extend lifespan in model animals more strongly than rapamycin. [5]
Use of Funds
- The proposed $5 million seed financing was intended to develop initial drug hits, expand screening capacity, and test one million interventions within three years. [8]
Milestones
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| Date | What happened | Source | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 2026 | Ora received a one-year Phase I National Institute on Aging award for RadBot, its third federal Phase I grant. It followed Air Force radiation-resilience work and an NIH program for the screening platform. | [4] | — |
| Mar 24, 2026 | Rapamycin Longevity Labs and Ora reached the full funding goal for a lifespan analysis of 601 mTOR modulators. | [5] | — |
| Apr 8, 2025 | A $50,000 campaign fully funded the first mTOR subproject to test 301 inhibitors. | [7] | — |
| Apr 8, 2025 | Fundraising continued for a second subproject covering 300 inhibitors, which required another $40,000. | [7] | — |
| Apr 2023 | Ora moved from the UW CoMotion incubator into a South Seattle research facility. | [8] | — |
| Apr 2023 | Ora started wet-lab drug discovery at the new facility during its first month there. | [8] | — |
We wrote this summary from public statements by Ora Biomedical and its investors. It is not investment advice.
Leadership Team
Executive officers and directors listed on Ora Biomedical's Form D filed Nov 13, 2026.
Earlier filings also listed Mitchell Lee (ceo and director, last listed Jan 2024).
Sources
- CompanyOra Biomedical home page · linked above ↑
- CompanyOra Biomedical team
- CompanyOra Biomedical contact and partnerships
- CompanyOra Biomedical RadBot award announcement
- CompanyOra Biomedical mTOR funding announcement
- ResearchOra Biomedical geroscience abstract
- PressmTOR Inhibitors Lifespan Project press release
- CompanyOra Biomedical Summer 2023 newsletter
- SECOra Biomedical Form D, filed 2026-11-13 · linked above ↑
- SECOra Biomedical Form D, filed 2024-01-26 · linked above ↑
- SECOra Biomedical Form D, filed 2022-06-13 · linked above ↑
- SECOra Biomedical, Inc. filing history