Well, all the money in the world won’t stop you from being hit by a bus- if you don’t look both ways! Fascinating article by Jessica Hamzelou in #MITTechnologyReview. The optics may not have been perfect, but #LongevityInvestorConference in the Swiss Alps surely underscored the energy and billions of dollars being invested in the #longevity field. Newsworthy- the long-awaited #metaformin clinical trial of Nir Barzilai will receive $9 million funding from #Hevolution. Here’s the thing, the new WHO ICD-11 code recognizing aging as a treatable medical condition represents a paradigm shift. Biological aging is the major contributing factor of chronic disease. Biological aging research and its translation will contribute the health & well-being, not only for the “one percenters”, but for about 7-8 billion other people sharing our planet. In September this year, Melissa King and I launched a new nonprofit Healthspan Action Coalition to create an action plan for a new global societal movement promoting healthspan—healthy longevity. The innovative & converging technologies, the new pillars of medicine of cell & gene therapies, plus the immense global movement that moved the funding and regulatory needle for #stemcells & #regenerativemedicine will raise hope, increase education and worldwide public awareness. Stakeholders will demand breakthrough medicine and treatments for all-sooner rather than later. We need a cogent policy agenda. Without broad public support the “future of medicine” might take forever to be realized- and that surely would not be a healthy outcome for the longevity investors.
Bernard Siegel
Article By Jessica Hamzelou – MIT Technology Review
“Who wants to live forever?” The immortal words of Freddie Mercury blast from the speakers as blue lights swivel around the room and a smoky mist floats up from the stage in front of me. If the audience is anything to go by, the answer to his question is: the mega rich.
I’d come to Gstaad, a swanky ski-resort town in the Swiss Alps, to attend the first in-person Longevity Investors Conference. Over the two-day event, scientists and biotech founders made the case for various approaches to prolonging the number of years we might spend in good health. And the majority of them were trying to win over deep-pocketed investors.
There were 150 people at this meeting, and its organizers told me that 120 of them were investors with millions or even billions of dollars at their disposal—and at least a million dollars ready to pump into a longevity project. Plenty of would-be attendees were denied a $4,500 ticket because they didn’t meet this criterion, an event co-organizer tells me.
The conference was unlike any academic meeting I’ve ever attended. The location was stunning. The food was exquisite. The champagne came with a backstory. Not only was the meeting held at one of the poshest hotels in one of the richest countries in the world, it was also a hotbed of hype and self-experimentation.
