Lengthening longevity

On the surface, it might seem like a fairly straightforward decision. Presented with the following two alternatives, which would a middle aged person opt for: guaranteed life until age 95, or bet on scientific advancements extending it to beyond 100?

Current lifespan statistics potentially tilt towards the former option. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global average life expectancy for a woman is 74 years and 68.9 for a man¹. In 2024, there were a total of 722,000 centenarians among a global population of 8.2 billion²,³.

One person opting for the latter, however, is Dr. Alexander Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Hong Kong-headquartered Insilico Medicine. Speaking at Bank of America’s Breakthrough Technology Dialogue in Singapore, in February 2025, he predicted that it will not only become commonplace to live to 120 (lifespan) but to live well to 120 (healthspan).

Dr. Zhavoronkov says:

A recent study in Nature Ageing argued that such an extension of human lifespans beyond the current upper 122.45 year limit recorded by France’s Jeanne Calment is “implausible in this century”⁴.

So too, DNA tests that highlight genetic risks and blood tests that generate personalized biomarkers, are providing the foundations for the kind of precision medicine, which will enable individuals to enjoy longer, healthier lives. Understanding the biomarkers of aging means that it is now possible to pinpoint whether someone’s biological age is higher or lower than their chronological one without looking at their outward features.

Dr. Zhavoronkov, explains:

The possibilities are almost infinite given the existence of more molecules in the known universe than stars⁶. But finding the ones with the potential to benefit human health by changing the behavior of specific proteins in the body is a time-consuming process.

And it is one that has always been subject to a very high failure rate. Data shows that more than 90% of all clinical drug development fails⁷.

AI’s ability to analyze huge datasets and its modeling capabilities are starting to change this, turbocharging drug discovery. Quantum computing may then take this to the next level since it adheres to the same principles of quantum mechanics that all living matter are subject to.

Jonathan Tobin, a partner at Australian life science venture capital firm Brandon Capital, believes the biggest investment opportunities within the healthcare sector lie in discovering new molecules and the novel mechanisms of disease.

For Dr. Zhavoronkov this means dual purpose therapeutics, which simultaneously target the fundamental pathways of disease and aging. His company uses generative AI to find them and is currently in the process of developing a drug candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an age-related lung disease with an average age of onset around 65⁸. Phase 2a clinical trials in China were completed in September 2024⁹.

Perhaps the most famous example of a dual purpose therapeutic is glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs, which were originally developed to treat diabetes but are now used to tackle obesity.

As Tobin reflects:

For Tobin, GLP-1 drugs are having the same transformative effect that vaccinations and antibiotics did when they were first introduced. BofA Global Research has also evaluated the downstream effects of broad adoption.

It predicts less snacking, less unhealthy food and alcohol consumption thanks to lower appetite and reduced cravings, plus a positive impact on the apparel retail sector as consumers replace their wardrobes with smaller sizes.

Brandon Capital’s Tobin also notes that age-related neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia are generating a lot of investment interest. He highlights one investment in a UK-based start-up that is investigating how to boost glymphatic flow within the brain: the clearance of toxins and memory consolidation that occurs during deep sleep. This weakens as neurodegenerative diseases progress.

Dr. Simone Fishburn, editor in chief of analytics company BioCentury, agrees that neuroscience is a huge focus of investment.

She comments:

One of the biggest challenges has been developing drugs able to cross the blood/brain barrier. “We’re starting to see some breakthrough technologies enabling this,” she continues. “It will open up the whole panoply of therapeutic modalities that can be used in treating Central Nervous System diseases.”

Another target for longevity medicine is cellular rejuvenation – prompting cells to revert to their younger state, and developing drugs that remove older senescent cells, which have not died and may be damaging younger cells around them, contributing to age-related conditions.

One target is another potential dual purpose therapeutic – metformin,, which has been authorized to treat diabetes since the mid 1990s¹⁰. A 2024 study published by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Cell demonstrated its anti-aging effects on monkeys¹¹. They discovered that metformin not only slowed down age-related indicators such as inflammation, fibrosis and cell death but also had geroprotective effects such as enhancing cognitive abilities and DNA repair.

Dr.. Zhavoronkov views cell and gene therapies as extremely effective and promising therapeutics. “Gene editing and the prospect of genetically-modified cells being put back in the body are at the very frontier of longevity medicine”, he remarks. “We see massive disruption in this space, but the initial market will be small due to the high costs involved.”

In the meantime, a number of studies show that the psychology of aging is also important. A landmark study by Dr. Becca Levy at Yale University found that people who had more positive perceptions of aging lived an average 7.5 years longer than those who did not¹². Or as the famous quote once put it: “age is an issue of mind over matter”.

¹ WHO. (2024, August 2). Life expectancy at birth (years) data

² Schaeffer, Katherine. (2024, Jan 9). US centenarian population is projected to quadruple over the next 30 years. Pew Research Center.

³ UN. (2024). World population prospects 2024 report.

⁴ Olshansky, S, Jay., Willcox, Bradley, J., Demetrius, Lloyd., Beltrán-Sánchez, Hiram. (2024, October 7). Implausibility of radical life extension in humans in the 21st century. Nature Aging.

⁵ Hacker, Karen. (2024, January 20). The burden of chronic disease. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes.

⁶ University of Glasgow. (2021, September 24). Assembly theory could spell good news for drug discovery. University News.

⁷ Sun, Duxin., Gao, Wei., Hu, Hongxiang., Zhou, Simon. (2022, July) Why 90% of clinical drug development fails and how to improve it. Science Direct, Volume 12, Issue 7.

⁸ Collard, Harold, R. (2010, April 15). The age of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Volume 181, Issue 8.

⁹ Insilico Medicine. (2024, November 12). Insilico Medicine announces positive topline results of ISM001-0055 for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) developed using generative AI.

¹⁰ Corcoran, Calette., Jacobs, Tibb, F. Metformin. National Library of Medicine.

¹¹ Yang, Yuanhan., Lu, Xiaoyong., Liu Ning., Ma, Shuai., Zhang, Hui., Zhang, Zhiyi., Yang, Kuan., Jiang, Mengmeng., Zheng, Zikai., Qiao, Yicheng., Hu, Qinchao., Huang, Ying., Zhang, Yiyuan., Xiong, Muzhao., Zhao, Qian., Lei, Jinghui., Sun, Shuhui., Ying, Jing., Li, Jingyi., Cai, Yusheng., Fan, Yanling., (…..)., Liu, Guang-Hui. (2024, October 31). Metformin decelerates aging clock in male monkeys. Cell, Volume 187, Issue 22.

¹² Levy, Becca, R., Slade, Martin, D., Kunkel, Suzanne, R., Kasl, Stanislav, V. (2002, August). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology.