We are on the eve of a real transhumanist industrial revolution. From research on the human-computer interface to the extension of our capabilities, dozens of companies are testing and developing solutions capable of making us transcend our limits.
The longevity goal is to pursue Itô from companies focused on aging, with the promise of defeating age-related diseases and extending our lives indefinitely, transforming death from certainty to possibility. From fate to curable disease.
Lots of money
The industrial field we are talking about is growing at a dizzying speed, but it is not composed only of companies specialized in the fight against aging. Such a revolution requires fine and technological solutions to support population growth and its age. A giant version of what is happening today in Japan, where the robotics industry is jumping through hoops to meet the increase of the elderly and long-lived.
For this reason, if we consider the theme in its entirety it is not surprising to know that in 2019 that longevity is an industry from 17 trillion euros, which will become 27 in 2026: they will account for more than 20% of world GDP.
Who pulls the sprint?
In this great "primordial soup" that prepares the evolution of the greatest human race against death, there are companies in the front line and gregarious companies: they all have the same importance in the future, but the first 10 on the list can play a role role of maximum importance.
Here are the top 10 of long-lived companies:
10. Rejuvenate Bio, let's start with friends
I start the ranking with a company that works on longevity for man's best friend. What is the use of living forever without the company of those we love? Rejuvenate bio develops solutions to allow our dogs to grow old with us and not leave us soon.
Led by the famous geneticist George Church (that I told you about here), Rejuvenate Bio has made a first DNA test for dogs, and with the collected data it has developed gene therapies against quadrupedal diseases. The first counteracts canine heart disease: conditions that also affect 80% of some breeds. The therapy consists of modifying the DNA to cause the body to make its own proteins that protect the heart.
9. Elevian, young blood
Elevian is linked to a practice considered controversial, one that includes young blood transfusions to live longer. It is inevitable that such a branch will attract doubt and controversy (with a certain amount of irony if you think that the rich can afford this expensive "vampire" treatment). However, there is peer-reviewed research that attests to the success of this practice (at least in mice). In any case, the company, founded in 2017, has collected small drops of… financing, with 5 and a half million euros.
8. Insilic, the AI that discovers new drugs
Insilico medicine is a company that uses artificial intelligence to discover new drugs, and has raised over 2014 million euros since its founding in 14. It is the first company to use an AI technique called GAN (in Italian Adversary Generative Networks): two neural networks "compete" against each other to obtain solutions from a common database. A list of substances or studies that are "crossed" to propose new combinations and new effects. Since its inception, Insilico has produced more than 150 scientific papers with more than 3000 citations.
7. Human Longevity, custom treatments with AI and Genomics
Human Longevity Inc., founded by Craig Venter in 2013 with around 300 million obtained from investors such as General Electric, reached a valuation of 1.6 billion euros before having some management slip. Venter himself left the company on suspicion of having brought some industrial secrets with him. Human Longevity's flagship longevity product is Health Nucleus, a personalized health program developed on the basis of each person's DNA and a battery of medical tests. Packages with a value of between 5000 and 25000 euros that provide the patient with the “maintenance booklet” of his body, to intervene where it is needed.
6. Unity Biotech, hunting for zombie cells
Unity Biotechnology it is perhaps the longevity company with the most practical activities at the moment. 210 million euros obtained and a mission: to hunt for senescent cells (some call them 'zombie cells'), those cells that have stopped replicating but accumulate in tissues and organs causing inflammation and other problems related to aging. Product testing is in Phase 2, with a knee osteoarthritis drug. The results of the application on 180 patients arrive in June 2020.
5. ResTORbio, a single path against age
resTORbio, based in Boston, joined NASDAQ after a 65 million euro grant. It is a "longevity" spinoff of the pharmaceutical company Novartis that tries to commercialize drugs inhibitors of mTOR, the enzyme that regulates cell growth, proliferation, motility and survival.
The drugs stimulate the release of the TORC1 protein, which according to the latest research is capable of "prolonging life expectancy, improving the immune system, protecting the heart, increasing mobility and memory, postponing age disorders".
ResTORbio has two advanced testing therapies: one for respiratory disorders and the other for Parkinson's.
4. Celularity, the postpartum placenta does wonders
Celularity has been dealing with regenerative medicine since 2016, cultivating stems obtained from the postpartum placenta with its proprietary platform called IMPACT. He has more than a dozen drugs in the initial testing phase and others in development.
Celularity therapy can be used to regenerate damaged tissues, produce new organs, strengthen the immune system and ultimately satisfy every longevist who has a natural desire to live longer.
3. Samumed, hitting old age to death
Samumed is perhaps the most quoted among the anti-aging companies: it has raised a sea of funds, over 650 million euros, and is valued at 12 billion euros. It is targeting only one of those responsible for aging, the so-called signaling route of Wnt.
It is a process involved in the control and regeneration of cells. Samumed has just finished phase 3 of the clinical trials.
2. Life BioSciences, versatility against death
Biosciences is a startup comprising 5 companies, each specializing in an aspect of aging. For example, Senolytic Therapeutics studies senescent cells, Selphagy Therapeutics tests drugs to induce autophagy, the process by which the body cleanses itself of all damaged cells by using them as "food" to build new and healthy cells. Together, the 5 companies aim to create complementary drugs that are part of a future therapy capable of systematically breaking down all the causes of aging and death.
1. AgeX, regenerative medicine for immortality
AgeX Therapeutics is a company with a capitalization of over 100 million euros founded in San Francisco in 2017 by Michael D. West. The scientific director of the company is Aubrey de Gray, gerontologist and founder of the SENS Research Foundation, a research company on regenerative anti-aging medicine.
AgeX's activity revolves around the capabilities of pluripotent stem cells, capable of "becoming" any type of cell or tissue needed to repair the body. Cells which due to their characteristics are virtually immortal.
All the drugs developed by the company are in the early stages of the approval process, which takes an average of 12 years to reach the public: my long-lived wish for the company is to survive long enough to make us all immortal or almost immortal.
In conclusion
Advances in genetics,artificial intelligence and in other apparently disconnected disciplines they are leading the world towards goals that only a few years ago seemed to belong to magic or science fiction. Some great scientists gamble resources and reputation by believing that not only will diseases like cancer be eradicated, but that the degeneration of our cells that leads to aging and then to death can be literally stopped.
