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A record-breaking $101 million prize has been launched to dramatically advance the science of healthy ageing. The XPrize Healthspan, the largest longevity-focused award ever, is a seven-year competition aiming to “shatter the limits” of ageing by rejuvenating three key areas of human health: muscles, immune function, and cognitive ability. Led by Jamie Justice, Executive Director of XPrize, the project is backed by the XPrize Foundation and the Hevolution Foundation. On Monday, it announced 40 semi-finalist teams chosen from over 1,000 global applicants.
To win, teams must demonstrate that their intervention can restore biological functions by 10 to 20 years in people aged 50 to 80, with results ready to scale globally within a year of the prize’s final decision in 2030. The innovation must be affordable and widely accessible—not a niche, expensive therapy. Unlike most modern medicine, the focus is on targeting the root causes of biological ageing, rather than treating age-related diseases after they appear.
Proposals range from stem cell therapies and immunotherapies to gene reprogramming, repurposed drugs like metformin and rapamycin, and neuromuscular stimulation devices. Nutritional solutions, such as nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and various nutraceuticals, are commonly paired with tailored exercise and mental wellness regimes. Yet, despite the cutting-edge technology, Justice insists that personalised diet and physical activity remain core to successful healthy ageing
The XPrize is part of a broader surge in funding and innovation around longevity. Other major initiatives include the Methuselah Mouse Prize, the Rejuvenation Startup Challenge, and Saudi-funded Hevolution Foundation’s $1 billion commitment to ageing research—all aiming to improve not just how long we live, but how well.
