The Fast-Growing Longevity Industry Holds Strong Promise for Investors

5 Min Read

Research Advancements and Increased Interest Support Ongoing Success in This New Sector

The quest to live longer, healthier lives has been a driving force in human nature for centuries. Over the past one hundred years, the advent of vaccines, antibiotics, cancer screening, mobile medicine, and more, have contributed to increased longevity. And in just the past 24 years, life expectancy has jumped from age 66 to 73.¹

Poised to be a competitor with incumbent life sciences and healthcare organizations, the growing longevity industry is showing signs of being an exciting and profitable investment opportunity. The overall longevity market, encompassing complementary and alternative medicines, gene sequencing, and anti-aging therapies and products, generated $65 billion in revenue in 2023 and is projected to reach $314 billion by 2030.² Fueled by an influx of funding from investors, academic institutions, biotech leaders, and entrepreneurs, the longevity market is rapidly growing into a multibillion-dollar industry with a forecasted compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.2% through 2030.³

Longevity Industry Investor Insights

Drivers Include Scientific Developments, Personalization, and Consumer Interest

Although still in early stages, a substantial “longevity ecosystem” is developing. This expanding network of researchers, companies, healthcare providers, policymakers, and consumers are focused on building and delivering healthy aging solutions.⁴

Private equity investors are taking notice, and exploring opportunities in this burgeoning market. Recent analysis by Deloitte shows the top 50 longevity ecosystem players raised more than $1 billion in venture funding leading up to 2020.⁵ In the Fall of 2023, the longevity-focused technology company Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI) announced its completion of an oversubscribed $39.8M Series B round led by TVM Capital Healthcare. The transaction included several new and existing investors, such as Panacea Venture and Emerging Technology Partners.⁶

Additional factors driving industry expansion and investor interest include:

• New Science and Treatments: Growing areas, like cellular senescence and telomere biology, are identifying new ways to slow the aging process at a core level. Scientists are developing senolytic drugs to eliminate harmful senescent cells (or cells that have stopped dividing with age).⁷ Further research explores how these drugs may also indirectly address telomere shortening, in which the protective caps at the end of chromosomes deteriorate, contributing to cellular aging. These efforts may slow the accumulation of senescent cells, which are often triggered by telomere shortening, and reduce some of the negative effects tied to telomere erosion and cellular senescence.⁸
• Opportunities for Personalization: Much like health care, longevity is highly personalized. Companies like InsideTracker are using blood tests and AI to prescribe specific, personalized recommendations on what to eat, how to exercise, and supplements for optimal results. Building on the healthcare trend of expanding personalization, the goal of personalized longevity care will be to boost both life expectancy and healthspan—so later years are free from chronic disease and retain a high quality of life.⁹
• AI and Machine Learning Push the Pace: The pairing of AI and machine learning is revolutionizing drug research and discovery. With these tools, researchers are able to quickly and efficiently develop novel therapies. Showing strong progress, investors are jumping in and pouring billions of dollars into longevity research, by funding biotech and life sciences companies like Calico Labs (backed by Google) and Altos Labs (supported by Jeff Bezos).¹⁰
• The Expanding Wellness Market: At a consumer level, rising interest in the well-being market is driving the development and sales of longevity products and services, including:
  • NAD+ boosters, for cognitive therapy and anti-aging
  • Metformin, which treats type 2 and gestational diabetes
  • Hyperbaric oxygen chambers for blood oxygenation
  • Cryotherapy to address tissue removal and regeneration.¹¹
• The cryotherapy segment alone is currently valued at approximately $295 million, and is anticipated to reach nearly $623 million by 2034 and growing at a CAGR of 11.3%.¹²

A Robust Competitive Landscape Shapes the Longevity Sector

Four primary areas contributed to the competitive landscape of the longevity space:

• Biotechnology Companies: Responsible for creating new drugs, therapies, and genetic interventions, biotech companies like Calico Labs, Unity Biotechnology, and BioAge Labs are working on solutions to help slow or stop aging.
• Research Institutions: Government institutions, like the National Institute on Aging, as well as academic organizations, such as the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, are driving the fundamental aging research required for developing new interventions.
• Healthcare Providers and Pharmaceutical Companies: Key players like Rubedo Life Sciences are helping to shape the longevity industry, by incorporating longevity medicine into their practices.
• Technology Companies: The ability to monitor health, track biomarkers, and deliver personalized interventions will all help propel longevity—making companies like Altos Labs and their AI and wearable tech important to industry expansion.¹³

Human Longevity, Inc., the global leader in the longevity sector, integrates a variety of the above areas into their work.¹⁴

Reprogramming Could Be the Key to the Longevity Industry’s Success

“Longevity reprogramming” is the science behind reversing or significantly slowing down the aging process through the manipulation of cellular mechanisms—and is the focus of much research in the longevity sector. Epigenetic modifications, which “reprogram” cells to a more youthful state, show promise for extending lifespan and improving healthspan.¹⁵

The processes that involve introducing specific genes or chemicals to alter gene expression patterns associated with aging are showing notable success. According to an article published by Morgan Stanley, biotech companies using CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology stand to benefit most from these advancements.¹⁶

Additionally, the high price tag of reprogramming research and implementation may be short-lived. This innovative technology is gaining significant attention as governments grapple with the growing societal challenges posed by an aging population and the potential costs of traditional anti-aging treatments. For instance, age-related social expenditures in Europe are expected to increase to 26% of GDP in 2050 (up 19% from 2000).¹⁷

Longevity and reprogramming studies will need more time and funding to move forward with any momentum. This presents a unique early-stage investment opportunity to support ventures driving the critical research needed to advance cellular reprogramming.

The Future of the Longevity Market

The longevity industry is still in development, but with continued advancements in medicine, technology, and AI, the market is strengthening. Get in touch with us today to learn more. We connect private equity clients with seasoned advisors who deliver the insights you need to make smart investment decisions.

Resources:
¹World Life Expectancy 1950-2024. Macrotrends.
²Cracking Longevity Science: Strategies to Remain Competitive in an Aging World. Deloitte.
³Ibid.
⁴Ibid.
⁵Ibid.
⁶Human Longevity, Inc. Completes an Upsized $39.8M Series B Financing to Expand its Precision 100+ Longevity Care Program. Healthcare IT Today.
⁷Towards Healthy Longevity: Comprehensive Insights from Molecular Targets and Biomarkers to Biological Clocks. International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
⁸Telomere dysfunction in ageing and age-related diseases. National Library of Medicine.
⁹Precision and Personalized Medicine: How Genomic Approach Improves the Management of Cardiovascular and Neurodegenerative Disease. Personalized Diagnostic Tools and Methods to Assess Genetic Predisposition in Human Disease.
¹⁰The Search for the Fountain of Longevity, Not Youth. BioSpace.
¹¹Epigenetic reprogramming as a key to reverse ageing and increase longevity, Ageing Research Reviews. National Library of Medicine.
¹²Cryotherapy Market to Reach US$623.4 Million by 2030, Coherent Market Insights. BioSpace.
¹³Meet Altos Labs, Silicon Valley’s Latest Wild Bet on Living Forever. MIT Technology Review.
¹⁴Human Longevity, Inc. Completes an Upsized $39.8M Series B Financing to Expand its Precision 100+ Longevity Care Program. Healthcare IT Today.
¹⁵Epigenetic reprogramming as a key to reverse ageing and increase longevity, Ageing Research Reviews. Science Direct.
¹⁶The New Technologies for Longer, Healthier Lives. Morgan Stanley.
¹⁷The cost of aging: Economic growth perspectives for Europe. National Library of Medicine.