SBC Medical Initiates Development of a DNA Methylation Test to Estimate Biological Age

SBC AI Longevity Innovation will lead the work, drawing on the Waqoo Group’s regenerative medicine research capabilities.

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Leveraging the Waqoo Group’s research and technology ecosystem to establish a new personal baseline for proactive health and longevity

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated (Nasdaq: SBC) (“The Company” or “SBC Medical”), a Medical Services Organization (MSO) providing management support across a wide range of healthcare fields, today announced that it has commenced in-house development of a test designed to estimate an individual’s biological age using DNA methylation analysis.

SBC Medical Initiates Development of a DNA Methylation Test to Estimate Biological Age

Development will be led by the Company’s AI and longevity-focused subsidiary, SBC AI Longevity Innovation, Inc. The initiative will leverage the regenerative medicine research and technology base established by Waqoo, Inc. (TOKYO: 4937), a consolidated subsidiary of SBC Medical, and its subsidiary Cell Pro Japan Co., Ltd. (together, the “Waqoo Group”). The test aims to provide insight into an individual’s physical condition that chronological age alone cannot capture, offering a personal baseline for data-driven wellness and lifestyle adjustments.

The Global Shift: From Lifespan to Healthspan
Modern healthcare is undergoing a paradigm shift from extending lifespan (years lived) to optimizing healthspan (years lived in good health). Global capital and scientific research are rapidly converging on the longevity sector, a key field for SBC Medical’s expansion.

• Market Growth: The global longevity market is projected to grow from approximately $800 billion in 2025 to approximately $2 trillion by 2035¹.
• The Longevity Imperative: As one of the world’s oldest populations, Japan is well positioned to lead the development of accessible healthspan solutions.

Bridging Molecular Research with Clinical Expertise
While public interest in proactive wellness continues to grow, objective and repeatable ways to track the body’s internal condition over time remain limited. SBC Medical aims to address this gap by bridging science with seasoned clinical execution.

• Scientific Base: Integrating the cellular and molecular research competencies built by the Waqoo Group through its regenerative medicine operations.
• Clinical Scale: Leveraging SBC Medical’s extensive clinic operations infrastructure and customer experience know-how derived from its core MSO operations.

Why DNA Methylation?
Unlike an individual’s genetic code, epigenetic markers such as DNA methylation can change with environment, diet, stress, and lifestyle. This makes DNA methylation a promising marker to track over time, helping individuals see the real-world impact of lifestyle changes.

Scientific understanding of epigenetic clocks has advanced since the first landmark methodology was published in 2013². Notably, in 2025, researchers demonstrated a method to estimate the ages of 11 distinct organs and physiological systems from a single blood draw³.

Strategic Development Focus
Building on these research advances, SBC Medical’s development roadmap centers on three core pillars:

1. Organ-Specific Mapping: Assessing biological age by organ system to identify where in the body aging-related changes are progressing.
2. Non-Invasive Modalities: Researching highly accessible, consumer-friendly measurement methods that do not require blood draws.
3. Japan-Specific Data: Building a robust evaluation framework based on data from Japanese cohorts.

A New Standard for Personal Health
Rather than delivering a static, isolated metric, the test is designed to serve as a dynamic “personal baseline.” By enabling individuals to measure their biological age before and after implementing lifestyle changes, SBC Medical aims to establish a continuous feedback loop that visualizes changes in the body, supporting long-term health literacy and engagement.

1 Report Ocean, “Global, US & Japan Longevity Market” (published March 2026)

2 Horvath S. DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types. Genome Biology. 2013;14:R115.

3 Sehgal R, et al. Systems Age: a single blood methylation test to quantify aging heterogeneity across 11 physiological systems. Nature Aging. 2025;5:1880–1896.

Note: The information in this release is based on current plans and is subject to change.

About SBC AI Longevity Innovation, Inc.
Location: Shinjuku Island Tower 12F, 6-5-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Representative Director and President: Yuya Yoshida
Business: Planning and development of products and services in the AI and longevity fields; provision of AI solutions and operational support for medical institutions
Website: https://sbc-ai-longevity.com/

About Waqoo, Inc.
Location: 2-14-1 Kamiuma, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Representative Director and President: Bumpei Samata
Listing: Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market (Securities Code: 4937)
Business: Medical support business; D2C and subscription business
Website: https://en.waqoo.jp/

About Cell Pro Japan Co., Ltd.
Location: Shonan iPark, 2-26-1 Muraoka-Higashi, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
Representative Director and President: Bumpei Samata
Business: Regenerative medicine-related business
Website: https://cellprojapan.com/

About SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated
SBC Medical is a Medical Services Organization providing management support across a wide range of healthcare fields, including advanced aesthetic healthcare, dermatology, orthopedics, fertility treatment, gynecology, dentistry, hair loss treatment (AGA), and ophthalmology. The Company manages a diverse portfolio of clinic brands and is actively expanding its global presence, particularly in the United States and Asia, through both direct operations and medical tourism initiatives. In September 2024, the Company was listed on Nasdaq, and in June 2025, it was selected for inclusion in the Russell 3000® Index, a broad benchmark of the U.S. equity market. Guided by its Group Purpose “Contributing to the well-being of people around the world through medical innovation,” SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated continues to provide safe, trusted, and high-quality medical services while further strengthening its international reputation for quality and trust in medical care.

For more information, visit https://sbc-holdings.com
For more insights and updates from SBC Medical, follow us on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts or statements of current conditions, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events and performance, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to, among other things, the Company’s plans and strategies for service expansion; growth in revenue and earnings; and business prospects. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “contemplates,” “estimates,” “believes,” “plans,” “projected,” “predicts,” “potential,” “targets” or “hopes” or the negative of these or similar terms. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which are current only as of the date of this release and are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. The Company does not undertake or accept any obligation to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of them; such factors include, among other things, changes in global, regional, or local economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory conditions, and those listed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261022474590/en/

Hikaru Fukui / Head of IR Department; E-mail: ir@sbc-holdings.com
Akiko Wakiyama / Chief Public Relations Officer; E-mail: pr@sbc.or.jp

Source: SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated

Key Terms

dna methylation medical

A chemical tag added to DNA that acts like a sticky note on a recipe, changing whether a gene is read without altering the underlying genetic code. For investors, DNA methylation matters because these tags can serve as measurable biomarkers for disease diagnosis, risk prediction, and treatment response, and they can be targets for drugs or diagnostic tests—factors that influence clinical value, regulatory approval, and market potential.

healthspan medical

Healthspan is the portion of a person’s life spent in good health, free from chronic illness or major physical decline, rather than simply the total number of years lived. For investors it matters because improvements in healthspan can reduce long‑term medical costs, boost worker productivity and create demand for drugs, devices and services aimed at keeping people healthy longer—think of it as extending the useful, high‑performance years of a battery rather than just making the battery last longer overall.

epigenetic clocks medical

Epigenetic clocks are tests that estimate biological age by measuring chemical marks on DNA that change as tissues age, like a yardstick for how ‘old’ cells appear compared with calendar years. Investors care because these clocks are used as fast indicators of whether drugs, health products or lifestyle interventions affect aging, making them potential tools for faster clinical results, consumer services and new markets in longevity and diagnostics.