LifeMine raises $263 million for LIFE-001 to protect transplants

LifeMine has raised $263 million for LIFE-001, a long-acting injection designed to protect transplants from rejection

On August 6, LifeMine announced two venture financing rounds: $75 million raised in late 2025 and $188 million raised in a new round. The funds will support LIFE-001, a long-acting injection intended to protect transplanted organs and cells from immune attack. The program is already in its first clinical phase. The company then plans studies in kidney and islet cell transplantation.

Transplanting a donor organ or cells is not enough. The immune system recognizes the foreign tissue and sends T-cells, a type of immune cell, to attack it. The resulting inflammation damages the transplant, so recipients take medicines for years to weaken this response. These medicines also create another problem: immune suppression and organ toxicity become part of life after transplantation.

Calcineurin is an enzyme inside T-cells that transmits the signal that triggers an immune attack. Standard drugs, tacrolimus and cyclosporine, suppress this signal through intermediary proteins called immunophilins. LifeMine is developing LIFE-001 as a long-acting injection. The company says that the molecule binds calcineurin at a different site and keeps the enzyme inactive. Through this mechanism, LifeMine is trying to suppress T-cell signaling without involving immunophilins.

The program has a defined path into clinical testing. A first-phase trial involving 160 healthy adults is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. Participants receive different doses of LIFE-001 or placebo, while researchers measure adverse events and the concentration of the drug in the blood. This stage should provide an initial practical assessment of dosing and safety before trials proceed to people with transplanted tissue.

The company plans to begin a second-phase kidney transplantation trial and a phase Ib islet cell transplantation trial in early 2027. Islet cells are pancreatic cells that produce insulin. The financing is intended to support this transition from testing doses in healthy volunteers to evaluating LIFE-001 in people with transplanted tissue.