Can We Live Forever?
As the baby boomer generation continues to age, there’s an increasing focus on longevity and anti-aging. This has led to a boom in startups that are working on products and services to help people live longer and healthier lives.?
The evolving sector is expected to be the largest and most sophisticated of all time. It sits at the intersection of several subsectors from biotech and pharmaceuticals, to fintech and insurtech , among many others.
Longevity is now about which methods will make you live for up to 120 years of age with a decent healthspan as well.
In today’s edition, I’m exploring the potential for the anti-aging industry to help decline the development of age-related diseases.
Let's dig in.
The Scope of the Anti-Aging Industry
Longevity-focused entrepreneurs are trying to find ways to meet the demand of rich folks who want to live longer.
The obvious answer would be to exercise regularly and eat right. But having a healthy lifestyle won’t make you live a good extra 50 years.
As the anti-aging industry continues to grow, there’s going to be opportunities for people to “up-level” themselves and live longer.
There are new scientific breakthroughs that allow us to take control of the aging process and reverse some physical declines typically seen in 50 year olds.
Some of these methods include:
Let’s take a look at what some of these startups are achieving to help us live for longer.
Longevity and Anti-Aging Startups Around the World
Here are some of the new longevity startups with high valuations that I’ve come across in my research.
?? Google’s research and development company Calico Life Sciences is on a mission to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan. They want to use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives.
Funding: $1.5B Total Funding
?? Insilico Medicine , headquartered in Hong Kong, is an AI drug development platform focused on cancer and age-related diseases.
Funding: $300M Total Funding
?? Florida-based Aviv Clinics created a first of its kind treatment that triggers the body’s natural process of generating new stem cells. The brain performance company’s number-one mission is to improve the aging process by optimizing cognitive and physical performance.
Funding: $52M (Series B)
?? Juvenescence based in Dublin is a biotech longevity company that helps the world get more life out of a lifetime. The company does this by developing therapies and products to modify aging and help people live longer.
Funding: $11M (Series C)
Longevity and Anti-Aging Startups in MENAP
Although the potential is large in the region, there seems to be a lack of longevity and anti-aging startups.
However, there are some projects in the works happening in Saudi Arabia and UAE which I’d like to mention.
?? Saudi Arabia: Hevolution
The Hevolution Foundation is a new non-profit organization started by members of the Saudi royal family who want to find ways for people to live healthier lives and experience increased longevity.
The foundation is stepping up with an ambitious plan. They have committed $1 billion per year on research into extending human health spans through basic science studies that investigate aging processes such as DNA damage or protein loss associated risk factors like diabetes.
Former Mayo Clinic encorinologist Mehmood Khan is managing the fund for the project.?
?? UAE: Pure-Health
With the rising elderly population, UAE has been working to develop policies for longevity by embracing data analytics and focusing on healthy aging.
PureHealth introduced science-driven healthcare solutions so that people can enjoy longer lives and healthy lifestyles. With aging being such a huge epidemic around the world, they plan to use cutting edge treatments like stem cell therapy which has already shown success with treating certain kinds types physical ailments among many others things that can help people lead healthier lives.
Untapped Opportunities in the Region
The market size of the longevity sector in UAE has surpassed $19 billion, and it's projected to grow at at a CAGR of 8.5% over thenext four years before hitting $32 billion by 2026.
According to James Peyer, CEO of US-based Cambrian Biopharma , the Middle East can come to the fore by supporting and fostering the industry with clinical trials, a major obstacle to the development of new drugs to treat aging-related diseases.
“I think there is a real opportunity [in the Middle East] because the US and UK regulatory agencies have been very slow to attempt to support and foster the innovation with clinical trials,” Peyer said.
This means there’s a bright future for the sector.
The sector of longevity in the MENA region has a lot of potential to grow, and I believe that it is an untapped market.
Until next time. ????
Founder CEO @ Rupt | Account Sharing Prevention & Monetization
2 年What a fascinating field! I would recommend a book and a movie to anyone interested in this: 1. "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande. 2. In Time (movie) - depicting a post-aging-related death world.
Chief Executive Officer
2 年baby boomers?!