TLDR; VitaDAO will tokenize the ArtanBIO IP-NFT with a goal of raising $300,000 for research advancement. In exchange, the community will be granted voting power to govern the IP, and participate in R&D decision-making and capital allocation

Summary

This proposal aims to assess community interest in tokenizing the “Mutation-Specific Codon Suppression for Aging and Longevity” IP-NFT, which provides funding to ArtanBio - one of VitaDAO’s two spinout companies of 2023.

Background

As part of VitaDAO’s mission to help build communities around promising longevity research and therapeutics, the VitaDAO community is being offered an opportunity to further support the work of ArtanBio through participation in the crowdsale of IP Tokens raising $300,000 USD in support of the project.

This is the second IP Token offering, after the Korolchuk Lab, for VitaDAO and represents one of the many interesting scenarios for IP tokenization - in this case, the offering supports research through an existing corporate entity, as compared to an academic project, for which further funding is required to advance the research.

Artan Bio has proposed a novel approach to address genetic and age-related diseases caused by nonsense mutations. These mutations lead to premature protein translation stops, resulting in incomplete and nonfunctional proteins. The solution involves an engineered suppressor system that specifically recognizes these codons and restores normal protein translation. This technology, delivered through clinically validated modalities, shows promising preliminary results and offers various clinical opportunities.

VitaDAO’s initial support for Artan Bio, via a Sponsored Research Agreement (SRA), has been to fund the design and validation of their engineered suppressor system (VDP-103) in cells with targetable mutations to confirm validity of the approach.

Artan Bio seeks to continue development of the engineered suppressor system beyond the initial project with VitaDAO to further the IP development, and further validate the system in animal models to support preclinical translation and establish a development candidate for use in clinical trials.

Specification

In June 2023, the EU brought into force Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 and Directives 2013/36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937.

Effective June 2024, all crypto-assets and crypto projects must be compliant with these regulations.

From July through September 2023, the Coordination Working Group has been assessing the implications around issuing IPTs within the framework of MiCA in anticipation of its implementation in June 2024, and the further development of the IP-NFT and IPT technology stacks and products by Molecule AG.

To that end, the issuance of IPTs for ArtanBio will be conducted in compliance with MiCA Title II: Crypto-assets other than Asset-Referenced Tokens or E-money Tokens. .

The draft Whitepaper for the IPT crowdsale, can be found here.

Per the Whitepaper above, the issue of IP Tokens (5 000 000 VITARNA tokens to be minted) contemplated in this proposal will result in 20% of the IP Tokens (1 000 000 VITARNA tokens) being issued to up to 499 current VitaDAO tokenholders, and distributing the remaining 80% of the IP Tokens according to the proportions approved in VDP-103 resulting in a distribution as shown below.

Implementation

Upon approval of this proposal, the Coordination Working Group will be empowered to mint IPTs for the ArtanBio IP-NFT using the Molecule Marketplace and implement the offering in accordance with the Whitepaper and the required legal review and regulatory requirements.

Budget

The temporary use of 21,000 USDC as part of preparing for the IPT crowdsale. This will be reimbursed to VitaDAO from the proceeds of the crowdsale between 90-120 days after the close of the offering.