An article about the features of anti-aging companies and the main trends of their development.
The Business of Anti-Aging Science. - PubMed - NCBI
Authors: João Pedro de Magalhães, Michael Stevens, and Daniel Thornton
Abstract
Age-related conditions are the leading causes of death and health-care costs. Reducing the rate of aging would have enormous medical and financial benefits. Myriad genes and pathways are known to regulate aging in model organisms, fostering a new crop of anti-aging companies. Approaches range from drug discovery efforts to big-data methods and direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies. Challenges and pitfalls of commercialization include reliance on findings from short-lived model organisms, poor biological understanding of aging, and hurdles in performing clinical trials for aging. A large number of potential aging-associated interventions and targets exist, but given the long validation times only a small fraction can be explored for clinical applications. If even one company succeeds, however, the impact will be huge.
Trends
It is increasingly being recognized that directly targeting the aging process, as opposed to individual aging-related diseases or symptoms, is a viable strategy. This is leading to R&D with the ultimate aim of commercializing therapies directed at slowing aging itself.
Some therapeutic approaches – direct-to-consumer nutraceuticals and trial-tested scientific diets – do not require FDA approval, which can significantly reduce their time to market.
To slow the aging process, nonstandard therapies such as blood-based therapies are also being tried.
Big-data approaches are being harnessed in an attempt to build models of healthy aging.
Approaches are increasingly coming directly from aging results in model organisms.
