By McKinsey and Company –
Biomedical interventions that materially affect the aging process and improve health outcomes may emerge in the future. Stakeholders can shape their roles in this potentially transformative field now.
“Healthspan” refers to the years of life spent in good or great health and free from serious diseases or disabilities. An established body of evidence shows that nutrition, sleep, physical activity, appropriate stress levels, social connection, and a conducive environment allow people to live more years in good health and improve their overall longevity. Now, innovators are investigating complementary biomedical tools intended to help people remain healthy for longer. The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) has extensively examined the drivers that increase healthspan, with particular deep dives on the focus areas of brain health, metabolic health, and women’s health. This specific report will not look at behavioral or ecosystem drivers of health and instead focus entirely on biomedical innovation targeting biological aging processes—which could have implications for many angles of human health, including these areas.
Healthspan science, which focuses on biomedical innovations that target the biological aging process and contribute to healthy longevity, is a fast-growing field. The five-year average for investment quadrupled in the past decade, and clinical trial initiation has grown 27 percent over five years, leading to a pipeline of several hundred drug candidates. The field is expected to continue growing, but there is no consensus on when biomedical innovations that can meaningfully target fundamental aging processes are likely to emerge.
