Top Scientist Ditches UK Pharma Giant for Bezos-Backed Biotech Venture That Seeks to Reverse Ageing

The backers of the company where scientist Hal Barron is set to become chief executive and co-chairman reportedly include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner.

A prominent US scientist is about to quit his current job with British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to head a biotech firm involved in anti-ageing research.

According to The Guardian, the scientist, Hal Barron, is the highest-paid executive at GSK as their head of R&D, receiving a total package of $11.2 million (£8.2 million) in 2020 while the company CEO Emma Walmsley was paid only £7 million.

Barron is expected to remain on GSK’s board as a non-executive director and to provide advice on R&D, and will be replaced as the company’s chief scientific officer on 1 August by Tony Wood.

The company where Barron is going to become chief executive and co-chairman is called Altos Labs – its backers are said to include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner, MailOnline notes.

Incorporated in the United States and in the United Kingdom last year, the company was founded by Richard Klausner, former head of the National Cancer Institute in the US, and strives to discover the means to use "cellular reprogramming" technology to reverse ageing in animals and, potentially, in humans.

"We are building a company where many of the world’s best scientists can collaborate and develop their research with the speed, mission and focus of private enterprise," Klausner said.

Having received some $3 billion in funding last week, Altos is now on a “hiring spree” as it recruits scientists around the world, the media outlet adds.