Osman Kibar is no wizard. But his company Sumamed is on the front lines of developing products that sound very much like the Elixir of Life. The Turkish entrepreneur has been developing a range of technologies to restore aging-related health deteriorations, from osteoarthritis and baldness to cancer.
Before starting Samumed, Kibar was the scientific founder of oncology diagnostics company Genoptix and co-founder of E-Tenna, whose antennas and microprocessors were bought computer companies like Intel. In 2008, Kibar turned his attention to Sumamed, hoping to turn back the clock on old age.
Kibar’s magic entrepreneurial touch has attracted millions of investor dollars. And, it has earned the innovator on spot on Forbes Magazine’s billionaire list. The magazine currently lists his net worth at $1.4 billion.
Osman Kibar’s Time Machine
Kibar’s Sumamed research specifically targets the WNT Pathway, a nerve pathway responsible for tissue regeneration.
“Our approach to drugging the WNT Pathway is as natural as it gets, because we are not fighting the body’s own machinery or telling it to do something it wasn’t doing anyway,” Kibar explains.
A drug called Lorecivivint that helps repair joint damage from osteoarthritis has met with particular success and popularity. However, Kibar’s team is also developing potential treatments for hair loss, Alzheimer’s disease, and lung disease.
A Detour into Poker
Kibar attended Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey’s most prestigious boarding school, before moving to the US. He earned a masters and doctorate in biophotonics and optoelectronis from University of California, San Diego.
After two successful business endeavors, Kibar made a brief – and semi-accidental – detour into the world of professional poker. “While I’m playing, it’s you and the other players,” Kibar recalls. “The cards are irrelevant. [But] when you just stare at cards 12 to 14 hours a day, you get this hangover effect.”
Kibar soon re-focused his financial prowess on a gamble that mattered more to him – a new start-up. Instead of dealing with the bureaucracy of Big Pharma, Kibar used “sovereign funds, family offices, and the venture arm of Ikea” to jumpstart his project.
“I don’t think the traditional biotech investors would be a good match for us…Their timelines are much quicker in terms of arriving at a meaningful exit,” Kibar notes.
A Healthy Future for Osman Kibar
Because WNT signaling pathways are universal to human cells, Sumamed might have the key to all kinds of medical regeneration. In addition to their hair loss program that is predicted to launch in late 2021, Sumamed is also taking steps in reducing the tumors of pancreatic cancer.
Moreover, their regenerative technology is aiming towards solving other problems such as degenerated discs and blindness.
Ultimately, Kibar is leaving no cell unturned. From hair loss, to Alzheimer’s, to cancer, to blindness, Sumamed works to combat age. It fights the many aspects of health that decline with age to help more people enjoy life longer.
