About Us

Welcome To Mitotag

We are a Biotech Company that specializes in Mitochondria Targeted Antioxidants.
We develop targeting systems to deliver Antioxidants and other bioactive molecules to the cellular energy sources in order to protect them from damage.

Who We Are

Mitotag is a Portuguese startup that develops targeting systems to deliver antioxidants and other bioactive molecules to the cellular energy sources in order to protect them from damage caused by various sources, including oxidative stress

Mitotag is a spin-off of the University of Porto and the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra.

Currently, Mitotag has a fully equipped laboratory facility with 100m2 in Biocant Park,  6 Full time employees and is executing “TAG2020 Investigation of innovative antioxidants for introduction into cosmetics and animal health”, a national program financed by Centro2020, Portugal2020 and the EU’s Regional Development Fund.

Our Mission

We aim to develop innovative strategies to protect mitochondria, our cellular energy sources, from multiple aggressors, including oxidative stress, in order to delay or reverse aging and lifestyle-related diseases.

Our current main project is focused on the development of novel mitochondria-targeted dietary antioxidants. Unlike current market solutions, the enhanced natural antioxidants developed by Mitotag are able to target specific cellular organelles called mitochondria, achieving up to 5000 times greater accumulation when compared to traditional antioxidants. This ensures a much more powerful and specific antioxidant action, thus preventing and minimizing the undesirable effects of oxidative stress, a major cause of aging- and lifestyle-related complications and metabolic disorders.

Our mission is to use this platform technology and develop applications in diverse areas, namely: as active ingredients for anti-aging cosmetics, active principles for the treatment of liver and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as anti-aging food supplements for pets.

We are aiming for other innovative strategies to improve mitochondrial function in the context of various diseases and applications

What We Do

Our main areas of expertise are:

Our medicinal chemistry know-how that allows us to design new molecules based on dietary antioxidants by adding chemical tags that ensure specific targeting and delivery to mitochondria whilst maintaining the original antioxidant properties. This technology is being refined to apply it to other bioactive compounds of interest.

Also in our line of expertise is the capability to develop not only small scale synthesis strategies for these molecules but also to ensure that these strategies are scalable to industrial quantities with the appropriate modifications.

Our mitochondrial toxicology and oxidative stress pathophysiology  know-how allows us not only to evaluate candidate molecules ability to prevent the nefarious effects of oxidative stress on cellular mitochondria without exhibiting any kind of intrinsic toxicity but also to determine the application target that better suits the characteristics of said candidates.