NorthStrive Biosciences Initiates Phase III Of AI Development Program With Yuva Biosciences Under Development And License Agreement

• Phase III is intended to generate meaningful biological data on potential drug compounds prioritized by YuvaBio's classifier, which applies proprietary machine-learning methods to identify candidates targeting muscle preservation through improvements in mitochondrial function.
• Experimental work designed to identify candidates that may upregulate ANT1, a key gene involved in metabolic function and muscle integrity.
• Phase III is expected to accelerate discovery on small-molecule candidates which may promote mitochondrial health and support muscle preservation: using an exclusive dataset on mitochondrial biogenesis, the AI prioritization focuses experimental testing on the most promising candidates, reducing the number of compounds advanced for subsequent development.
   

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NorthStrive Biosciences Inc. ("NorthStrive Biosciences"), a subsidiary of PMGC Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ELAB) ("PMGC" or the "Company"), today announced the initiation of Phase III of its AI Development Program ("AI Development Program") with Yuva Biosciences, Inc. ("YuvaBio") under the Development and License Agreement ("Agreement") between the parties. Phase III will advance AI-driven compound identification in Phase II of the AI Development Program to experimental validation, marking a significant step towards advancing NorthStrive Biosciences' pipeline of therapies addressing obesity and related metabolic conditions.

Phase III is intended to build on the results of Phase II, in which YuvaBio used its proprietary mitochondrial science-focused artificial intelligence platform, MitoNova™, to identify a shortlist of small-molecule candidates, prioritized through computational screening, with potential to promote mitochondrial health and support muscle preservation. This is a concern of growing importance in obesity treatment, particularly for patients using GLP-1 receptor agonists. YuvaBio will now begin generating biological data on these AI-selected compounds, including cytotoxicity screening and ANT1 expression testing at multiple timepoints. Phase III is expected to take approximately 6 to 9 weeks.