Nula Therapeutics Launches with up to $20 Million ARPA-H Award to Advance a New Class of Medicines Targeting the Nuclear Envelope of Cells

• Backed by Apollo Health Ventures, Nula aims to transform treatment of metabolic dysfunction
• ARPA-H award brings total funding to more than $30 million
• Company plans to initiate Phase 1b clinical study with its lead asset, NLT-101, in Q4 2026 focused on metabolic dysfunction
  

NEW YORK, April 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nula Therapeutics (previously called Apollo Alpha), a biotechnology company developing a new class of medicines targeting the nuclear envelope of cells in order to treat chronic disease and extend healthspan, today announced its launch with an up to $20 million award from the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) under its PROSPR (PROactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience) program, bringing total funding to more than $30 million. Additionally, Nula Therapeutics announced its plans for a phase 1b clinical trial with its lead, small molecule asset NLT-101 in Q4, 2026 in metabolic dysfunction, as the company works to address a broad spectrum of chronic, age-related diseases.

Nula is built on a fundamental insight: the integrity of the nuclear envelope, the structure that organizes DNA and governs gene expression, plays a central role in maintaining cellular identity and metabolic homeostasis. Degeneration or dysfunction of the nuclear envelope results in metabolic dysfunction and age-related decline. Restoring function of the nuclear envelope represents a novel strategy to treat chronic disease biology. By developing targeted small molecules that restore the nuclear envelope, Nula aims to treat unmet patient needs and extend healthspan across conditions including metabolic disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and neurodegeneration. With a clinic-ready asset, NLT-101, and a clinical study planned to begin later this year, Nula is positioned to generate meaningful data in support of its vision of next-generation medicines for chronic diseases.

“The nuclear envelope is one of the most fundamental and underexplored regulators of cellular health, and we believe it represents one of the most promising frontiers in medicine,” said Christopher R. Shepard, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Nula Therapeutics and Principal Investigator on the Award. “Today’s announcement marks not only our debut as a company, but a significant external validation of our science. The ARPA-H award will allow us to rigorously explore NLT-101’s potential to preserve functional health across multiple organ systems, while our core clinical program in metabolic dysfunction moves forward in parallel.”

Nils Regge, Founder and General Partner at Apollo Health Ventures, added, “PROSPR is highly relevant to our mission at Apollo Health Ventures. Establishing the evidence base and a clear regulatory pathway for therapeutics that improve healthspan, intrinsic capacity, and functional resilience is foundational to the field of longevity biotechnology. We are excited to see Nula’s program paving the way, and we look forward to seeing the company demonstrate the potential of NLT-101 beyond its initial clinical indication, with implications across multiple age-related conditions.”

About the ARPA-H PROSPR Award

Under the ARPA-H PROSPR program, Nula Therapeutics will pursue a concurrent work stream designed to evaluate NLT-101’s impact on intrinsic capacity – a composite measure of physical, cognitive, sensory, and psychological function across multiple organ systems. Specific program objectives include:

• Evaluation of NLT-101 in aged preclinical models across multiple intrinsic capacity domains
• Advancement of NLT-101 through translational pharmacology and IND-enabling studies
• Development of biomarker-driven strategies to quantify functional preservation and therapeutic response
  

This program integrates functional performance measures and systems-level biomarker analysis to build a robust translational dataset supporting potential clinical development in healthspan-focused indications, while Nula’s primary clinical development program in metabolic dysfunction advances along a well-established regulatory path.

The program culminates in a 12-month, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study in healthy older adults, with Intrinsic Capacity as the primary endpoint. By assessing intrinsic capacity alongside emerging surrogate biomarkers, the initiative aims to help define measurable, regulatory-relevant endpoints for therapeutics targeting aging biology and functional resilience, potentially accelerating and streamlining future development programs.

About Nula Therapeutics

Nula Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a new class of small molecules targeting the nuclear envelope – a key regulator of gene expression and cellular function implicated in chronic disease and the biology of aging. By developing targeted small molecules that correct cellular dysfunction at the level of nuclear organization, Nula aims to restore health and extend healthspan across a spectrum of age-related conditions, including metabolic dysfunction, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), neurodegeneration, and cancer. The company is advancing NLT-101, a clinic-ready asset with an existing clinical database, into a Phase 1b study in metabolic dysfunction, with plans to initiate the study in 2026. For more information, visit nulatx.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Apollo Health Ventures

Apollo Health Ventures is a global venture capital firm dedicated to building and investing in companies that target the biological mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases. The firm deploys capital across company creation, early-stage innovation, and later-stage clinical development, partnering with leading scientists, entrepreneurs, and management teams to advance therapeutics with the potential to extend healthy lifespan and functional resilience.

Media Contact
Adam Silverstein
SCIENT
adam@scientpr.com

Business Development or Investor Contacts:
Alexandra Bause, Ph.D.
Nula Therapeutics
Alexandra.Bause@nulatx.com

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