Can a Senolytic Vaccine Slow Ageing? Dr David Scieszka on Senescent Cells and Longevity

What if a vaccine could help the immune system clear senescent “zombie” cells — damaged cells linked to ageing, chronic inflammation and age-related disease? In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna Stern sits down with David Scieszka, PhD, MBA, a biomedical scientist, computational biologist, and Founder and CEO of Vertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals (VeLo Pharma). His route into longevity has been anything but conventional, spanning service in the US Army, wet-lab science, computational biology and, eventually, biotech entrepreneurship. VeLo Pharma is developing a senolytic vaccine designed to help the immune system recognise and remove senescent cells. Often described as “zombie cells”, these are damaged cells that have stopped dividing but remain active. As they accumulate with age, they can contribute to chronic inflammation, tissue dysfunction and age-related disease. The company’s first focus is atherosclerosis, where plaque builds up inside the arteries. The aim is to target senescent cells within the vasculature — the network of blood vessels that carries blood around the body — as a potential new way of tackling vascular ageing and cardiovascular disease. But this conversation goes far beyond one experimental vaccine. David and Daphna explore one of the biggest problems in longevity science: why so many promising discoveries look exciting in the lab, yet so few make the difficult journey into treatments that patients can actually use. They discuss where artificial intelligence can genuinely help drug development — and where the hype may run ahead of the science — what animal and primate studies can and cannot tell us, and what evidence would be needed before an approach like this could move towards human trials. David also talks candidly about the business of building a biotech company: learning how to approach investors, getting the fundraising ask wrong, understanding what investors actually need to see, and building a company around a mission that goes beyond simply creating another expensive longevity treatment. Running through the conversation is an even bigger question: if we do find effective ways to slow parts of the ageing process, who gets access to them first? Will longevity medicine remain something available primarily to those who can afford it — or can longevity eventually become something for everyone? Guest David Scieszka, PhD, MBA Biomedical scientist, computational biologist, and Founder and CEO Vertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals (Velo Pharma) Vertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals LinkedIn - Vertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals Reach out to David on LinkedIn to find out about the upcoming “Ask VeLo Pharma Anything” 00:00 Welcome and Big Question 00:25 Meet David Cheska 02:53 Army Roots of Longevity 04:38 Choosing Biotech Path 05:49 Wet Lab Meets Computation 08:48 AI Promise and Limits 13:19 Longevity for All Mission 16:54 Vascular Ageing Explained 19:29 Senescent Cells 101 22:31 Lytic Vaccine Overview 24:11 Dosing and Study Strategy 26:12 How VLP Vaccines Work 29:02 Safety and Public Trust 29:58 Vaccine Safety Basics 31:14 Senescent Cells Strategy 32:42 Evidence So Far 35:35 Primate Trial Goals 36:40 Why Translation Fails 39:55 Personalised Longevity Care 42:41 PhD MBA Path 44:51 Fundraising Lessons 49:35 Mission-Driven Team 51:32 Longevity Next Decade 53:16 Rapid Fire Wrap 55:17 Final Takeaways