Immunis Named Semifinalist in National Academy of Medicine’s $1.5 Million Healthy Longevity Global Competition Grand Prize

Recognition highlights Immunis’ novel approach to restoring muscle health and function as a critical component of extending healthspan

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Immunis, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing multi-active biologics to restore muscle health and function, today announced that it 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, a seven-year initiative that helped catalyze a global movement to accelerate research, innovation and entrepreneurship in pursuit of longer, healthier lives.

The Grand Prize Phase represents the culmination of NAM’s global initiative to accelerate transformative advances that could enable people to live healthier as they age. Immunis was selected to advance from an eligible field of 720 Catalyst Award recipients worldwide whose projects were recognized by NAM and its global partners between 2020 and 2025.

The competition will award a $1.5 million Grand Prize to the project demonstrating the greatest impact—or potential for impact—on healthy longevity in humans. NAM evaluates projects based on their impact in humans, global applicability, access and scalability, demonstrated progress and future vision.

Immunis is advancing IMM01-STEM, an investigational, multi-active biologic designed to address the biological processes underlying age- and disease-related muscle decline. Unlike traditional approaches that target a single pathway, IMM01-STEM contains a naturally occurring combination of factors intended to simultaneously influence multiple pathways involved in muscle health, repair and function.

“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,” said Dr. Hans Keirstead, Chairman of Immunis. “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. Rather than simply managing the consequences of muscle decline, we are developing a multi-active biologic designed to restore muscle health and function. We believe regenerative medicine has the potential to fundamentally change what growing older looks like.”

Immunis previously received a Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award through the NAM competition for its work exploring the potential of multi-active secretomes to reverse muscle atrophy and metabolic decline. Since that initial recognition, Immunis has advanced its technology into clinical development, generating human clinical data and continuing development of IMM01-STEM as a potential therapeutic approach for preserving and restoring muscle function.

The Healthy Longevity Global Competition was founded by NAM in 2019 to catalyze research, innovation and entrepreneurship aimed at extending human healthspan. Over six Catalyst Award cycles from 2020 through 2025, NAM and its international partners awarded more than $36 million to 720 projects across more than 50 countries and territories.

According to NAM, The Healthy Longevity Global Competition was created to:

• “Comprehensively address the challenges and opportunities presented by global population aging
• Catalyze breakthrough ideas and research that will extend the human healthspan
• Generate transformative and scalable innovations worldwide; and
• Build a broad ecosystem of support by enabling scientists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, health leaders, policy makers, and the public to work together to achieve the promise of healthy longevity.”

The Grand Prize Phase concludes the seven-year Healthy Longevity Global Competition. Winners will be recognized in connection with the Healthy Longevity Global Innovator Summit on October 20, 2026, in Washington, D.C., which will provide an exclusive networking opportunity for scientists, innovators, investors, policymakers and other leaders aiming to advance healthy longevity.

About Immunis

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.