hematopoietic-stem-cells
(2)
HexemBio
HexemBio is a New York- and Berkeley-based biotech building what it calls the first blood stem cell rejuvenation therapy. Its Synthetic Human Yolk Sac platform recreates the embryonic environment where blood stem cells first arise, temporarily placing a patient's own aged hematopoietic stem cells into that synthetic young niche before returning them by IV infusion - rather than gene-editing or chemically reprogramming the cells. The company launched publicly in April 2026 with a $10.4M seed round led by Draper Associates, holds an FDA Orphan Drug Designation for a bone-marrow-transplant program in blood cancers, and is targeting first-in-human trials in 2027.
Gabriel Tremblay
Gabriel Levesque-Tremblay is the CEO and co-founder of HexemBio, a New York and Berkeley biotech building what it calls the first scalable blood stem cell rejuvenation therapy. A synthetic biologist with a PhD from UBC and a postdoc at UC Berkeley, he is a two-time founder and Y Combinator alumnus who earlier co-founded the cultivated-meat startup Orbillion Bio. At HexemBio he turns aged hematopoietic stem cells young again by passing them through a recreated embryonic 'Synthetic Yolk Sac' before returning them by IV. The company closed a $10.4M seed round led by Draper Associates in April 2026 and is targeting first-in-human trials by 2027.