Epstein-linked longevity guru Peter Attia leaves David Protein, and his own startup ‘won’t comment’

The founder of David Protein, maker of popular high-protein nutrition bars, announced on X on Monday that longevity guru Dr. Peter Attia “has stepped down from his role as Chief Science Officer at David.”

The announcement comes after Attia’s name appeared in more than 1,700 documents, including email correspondence, released on Friday as part of a massive file dump related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to The New York Times. Attia served on the executive team of the food startup and was also an early investor.

For those unfamiliar, Attia is a Canadian-American physician who has become one of the most prominent voices in longevity and preventive health. He’s best known for his bestselling book “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity” and his now seven-year-old podcast, wherein he explores optimization strategies. He was also hired just last month as a contributor to CBS.

Three-year-old, New York-based David Protein raised a $75 million Series A funding round in May of last year led by Greenoaks, with participation from Valor Equity Partners. The company has experienced significant growth since launching its flagship protein bar in September 2024, a product it describes has having 28 grams of protein, zero sugar, and 150 calories.

In a lengthy post on X, Attia wrote that he was “ashamed” of some of the crude content in his emails with Epstein, but he also said he was not involved in criminal activity and never visited Epstein’s island or traveled on his plane. Attia also discussed at length how he came to know Epstein and why he stayed involved with him even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.

The fallout appears to extend beyond David Protein. It also appears that Biograph, the health care testing and longevity startup that Attia co-founded with entrepreneur John Hering, may be distancing itself from the physician. The company declined to comment on Attia’s ongoing participation with the startup or about the pages on its website that used to mention him but now omit his name or return a “file not found” error.

Biograph came out of stealth a year ago, TechCrunch previously reported, with backing from investors that include Vy Capital, Human Capital, Alpha Wave, and WndrCo, along with angel investors including Balaji Srinivasan. Like a growing number of concierge medical service companies, Biograph offers premium preventive health services to subscribers who pay between $7,500 to $15,000 per year. Attia was previously named on the company’s press release and site as a co-founder.