Mito BioPharma is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on targeting mitochondria and cellular metabolism modulation for development of therapeutics. Mitochondria are at the center of cellular metabolism and alteration in mitochondrial function contributes significantly to many diseases such as NASH, type 2 diabetes, lipid disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and aging in general. It has long been proposed that these diseases could be effectively treated by modulating or correcting mitochondrial function. Mito BioPharma has a proprietary, small molecule-based technology and lead compounds that embody the therapeutic strategy of “correcting” or modulating such mitochondrial functions. The company expects this technology to have major impact on developing novel drugs in these therapeutic areas. Currently, the company is prioritizing liver-based diseases such as NASH, type 2 diabetes and certain liver-based orphan drug diseases. The company is currently in the lead finding phase with the anticipation of initiating IND-enabling studies in 2017. Moreover, the R&D team is generating an extended pipeline of candidate compounds suitable for other indications such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases in order to capture the full value of its platform technology. Mito Biopharma’s core technology has been exclusively licensed from Rutgers University.