News and Events

December 14, 2011: NU SKIN ENTERPRISES ACQUIRES LIFEGEN TECHNOLOGIES
PROVO, Utah, Dec. 14, 2011 — Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. today announced that it has closed the transaction to acquire LifeGen Technologies, LLC, a genomics company based in Madison, Wisconsin for $11.7 million. The Nu Skin purchase will result in the transfer of substantially all of the assets of LifeGen to Nu Skin, including its proprietary tissue bank and gene expression database, patents and other intellectual property related to anti-aging gene research. The company also initiated new research and development contracts, consulting and non-competition agreements with LifeGen co-founders, Richard Weindruch, Ph.D., and Tomas Prolla, Ph.D., who will both manage and provide scientific leadership at the Madison-based research facility and continue to serve on the Nu Skin Anti-aging Scientific Advisory Board.

Press Release

October 21, 2010: LifeGen Technologies Awarded NIH Grant to Identify Biomarkers of a Calorie Restricted Diet in Adipose Tissue
MADISON, Wis. — LifeGen Technologies, LLC has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research grant from the United States National Institute on Aging. The project is focused on identifying a robust panel of genes in adipose tissue (fat) that are regulated by a calorie restricted diet. According to Dr. Jamie Barger, Director of Operations at LifeGen, the technology developed under the NIH grant will allow LifeGen to screen for compounds that have beneficial effects on adipose tissue in a manner similar to that of a calorie restricted diet.

Caloric restriction is the only dietary intervention proven to increase both maximum and average lifespan in mammals, as well delaying age-related diseases. Because caloric restriction reduces body fat and markers of inflammation related to disease, it is thought that metabolic alterations in fat may underlie many of the health benefits associated with this dietary intervention. “Several decades of research support the concept of caloric restriction as an effective intervention in aging retardation. This research grant clearly validates the enormous potential of LifeGen’s technology in discovering the next generation of anti-aging compounds, based on caloric restriction science,” said LifeGen cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Tomas A. Prolla.

October 22, 2009: NU SKIN SIGNS RESEARCH AGREEMENT WITH LIFEGEN TECHNOLOGIES
PROVO, Utah—Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a research agreement with LifeGen Technologies, a genomics company based in Madison, Wis.

Nu Skin will collaborate with LifeGen in an exclusive agreement by leveraging LifeGen’s proprietary methods regarding gene expression profiling and pathways affected by aging. LifeGen’s pioneering research has resulted in several pending patents, and ongoing research undertaken in collaboration with Nu Skin is expected to yield further important intellectual property. LifeGen’s patent for the use of “gene expression profiling” as a method to measure the aging process at the molecular level in individual organs will be a key component of the partnership.

January 2009: LifeGen Co-founder Richard Weindruch featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes news story on resveratrol and calorie restriction
1/25/2009 Link to story and video

Watch CBS News Videos Online

July 2008: LifeGen researchers report that short-term treatment of mice with a commerically-available nutraceutical mixture containing a low dose of resveratrol mimics the cardiac gene expression profile of mice subjected to long-term calorie restriction. The study was published online in the “Articles in Press” section of the journal Experimental Gerontology

June 2008: Landmark publication describing the effect of a low dose of resveratrol on the gene expression profile of normal aging. LifeGen scientists reported a striking overlap in gene expression between mice treated with resveratrol and mice consuming a calorie-restricted diet. Full text of the study is available at http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0002264

April 2004: Chasing The Youth Pill Drugs that might extend human life are one of the hottest topics in biotech. Some of them are already here. (FORTUNE Magazine)

February 2002: LifeGen Technologies appoints its Board of Directors

November 2001: LifeGen Technologies is founded as a LLC.