Good day. “Spare Parts,” a short, punchy play running off-Broadway through the end of the month, features a satellite-internet billionaire who, with the assistance of his young protégé, hires a pair of scientists to conduct an unproven procedure that he hopes will make him live forever.

We spoke with the playwright, David J. Glass, who is also a medical doctor, a researcher at a biotech company where he studies aging and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Glass’s Frankenstein-esque drama hits on topics familiar to those who follow the influx of Silicon Valley capital into longevity research, the rise of biohacking and the cuts to federal funding of university research. The play also addresses age-old questions, from the essence of individuality to romantic manipulation.

Please see below excerpts of our interview, edited for length and clarity.

WSJ Pro: There’s a lot of money in Silicon Valley and a lot of interest in longevity. What do you believe is the most productive and ethical way for the rich to use their resources in this arena?

Glass: I think focusing on age-related diseases and loss of function—heart function or cognitive abilities or walking up three flights of stairs—and proving that a particular therapeutic modality can either reverse these problems or prevent the further loss of those properties, that’s the best way to move forward.

WSJ Pro: What does writing a play give you the chance to do that other types of writing don’t?

Glass: One thing that happened while I was writing the play was there were all these threatened cuts to federal funding of research. What the play illustrates is what the effect is on working scientists if you don’t have an ability to fund your work. What some people are trying to do is court these wealthy people. That might sound OK, but you are sort of beholden to the whims and particular priorities of that class of people. The play is a dramatic way of showing that scientists are human beings, and they will adapt to what’s going on, and that may not be in everyone's best interest.

WSJ Pro: What are some of the recent scientific discoveries you are most excited about?

Glass: There has been really dramatic change over the last several years in the ability to treat cancer with CAR-T therapy and immune modulation. And from the aging perspective, the possibility of fighting sarcopenia by maintaining skeletal muscle mass. [That’s the focus of Glass’s research.] The number of centenarians has dramatically increased. That’s some evidence that we are unlocking genetics, we are taking away all the things that caused people to die, so that their innate genetics can let them live.

WSJ Pro: How did you become both a playwright and a scientist?

Glass: I was always interested in writing. At the same time that I was doing my postdoc, I was taking classes and learning how to write plays. I had a few plays that were staged off-off-Broadway in the ’80s. I didn’t go back to that until the pandemic. At the beginning of my medical career, I was taking care of the first wave of HIV patients. All the confusion about the pandemic reminded me of that time. I wrote “Love + Science,” which was performed at [New York] City Center. There was a 34-year gap between my plays.

WSJ Pro: Are you already working on your next play?

Glass: I started “Spare Parts” the day after “Love + Science” closed. I have to start the next one the day “Spare Parts” closes.

And now on to the news ...

Mission-driven work. Solo general partner Ben Freeberg has raised a $62 million second fund for Oncology Ventures, the cancer-focused venture firm he launched after facing the disease himself. Austin, Texas-based Oncology Ventures beat its $50 million fundraising goal for its second partnership, which nearly doubles its $32 million debut fund closed in 2024. Freeberg drew strategic and financial backers to this latest fund, which he began raising in January and closed in late March.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers. Now, there are some new experimental medicines with the potential to change that. New data from two drugs showed it might be possible to keep the disease in check for longer than ever before. One drug, developed by Revolution Medicines, shrank tumors in roughly half of people who used it as a first treatment. And an mRNA vaccine made by Germany-based BioNTech and Genentech kept most patients who responded to it alive six years—an unusually long stretch for a cancer that normally leaves only around one in eight people alive five years after diagnosis.

The Medicare agency will extend a short-term program that will pay for weight-loss drugs such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, guaranteeing access to the popular medications will continue for seniors next year. The decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services comes after big Medicare insurers signaled that they didn’t initially plan to join a separate, longer-term payment model for the drugs that was supposed to launch at the start of 2027, throwing its future into question.

People

Drug developer Paratus Sciences appointed Alicia Secor as president and chief executive officer, and Jeffrey Young as chief financial officer. Both Secor and Young joined Paratus from Atalanta Therapeutics.

LiquidCell Dx, a startup building a blood-based platform for tumor microenvironment profiling, appointed Mirna Jarosz as chief executive officer.

Ray Therapeutics, a Berkeley, Calif.-based startup developing optogenetic therapies to restore vision in patients with retinal degenerative diseases, closed a $125 million Series B round. Janus Henderson Investors led the investment, which included 4BIO Capital, Norwest, Novo Holdings and others.

Tortugas Neuroscience, a Framingham, Mass.-based startup developing medicines that address diseases of the brain, raised $106 million in seed and Series A funding from investors including Cure Ventures, The Column Group and AN Venture Partners.

AcuityMD, a Boston-based medtech intelligence platform, landed $80 million in Series C funding. StepStone Group led the round, which included participation from Redpoint Ventures, Iconiq and others.

Courier Health, a New York-based startup helping to improve the patient experience for people living with a chronic condition or rare disease, secured $50 million in Series B funding. Oak HC/FT led the round, which included participation from Norwest and Work-Bench.

Serif Biomedicines, a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup whose initial focus is on genetically-defined diseases and reprogramming the immune system, picked up a $50 million investment from Flagship Pioneering.

Amperos Health, a New York-based startup using agentic AI to recover insurance revenue, closed a $16 million Series A round. Bessemer Venture Partners led the investment, which included contributions from Uncork Capital and Neo.

Zócalo Health, a Kenmore, Wash.-based primary care provider focusing on underserved populations, completed a $15 million Series A round. EO Ventures led the funding, which saw participation from Vamos Ventures, Animo Ventures, Sorenson Ventures and others.

Omeza Holdings, a Sarasota, Fla.-based regenerative wound-care platform, snagged $8.5 million in Series A funding co-led by Astanor and BluKap Ventures. Henry Gazay of BluKap joined the company’s board.

Sleuth Insights, a San Francisco-based AI decision platform for pharmaceutical and biotech intelligence teams, emerged from stealth with $8 million in seed funding. Bison Ventures led the investment, with Partner Caleb Appleton joining the board.

10x Science, a San Francisco-based AI-native platform for protein characterization across life sciences, was seeded with a $4.8 million investment. Initialized Capital led the funding, which included additional support from Y Combinator, Civilization Ventures and others.

ViewsML, a startup building a virtual biomarker library, nabbed a 4.9 million Canadian dollar (about $3.6 million) seed round led by Wittington Ventures.

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This newsletter was compiled by Matthew Strozier and Zachary Cole. 

Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, and Brian Gormley.

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