This episode features Jamie Justice, Executive Vice President of the XPrize Healthspan, discussing the groundbreaking $101M XPrize aimed at restoring muscle, cognitive, and immune function in ageing adults. She shares insights on how this competition seeks to drive innovation, attract investment, and reshape ageing research.

Key Points:

The XPrize Healthspan competition represents a moonshot for ageing research, encouraging global collaboration and innovation. While challenges remain in funding, regulation, and validation, the initiative could accelerate the development of life-extending and health-enhancing therapies.

• Global Competition for Longevity Science: The XPrize Healthspan competition has drawn over 550 teams from 55 countries, exceeding initial expectations. The goal is to incentivize breakthroughs in therapies that can reverse functional decline in ageing adults.
• Targeting Muscle, Mind, and Immunity: The competition focuses on restoring muscle strength, cognitive abilities, and immune function, chosen for their direct impact on quality of life and ageing resilience.
• Structured Milestone-Based Funding: Teams must demonstrate effectiveness through clinical trials, with a $1M reward for finalists and up to $81M for the grand prize. The structure ensures scientific rigor and investor confidence.
• Diverse Therapeutic Approaches: Competing teams are working on repurposed drugs, novel biologics, gene therapies, AI-driven drug discovery, and biomarker-based interventions, among others.
• Bridging the Gap Between Research and Investment: The competition acts as a launchpad for biotech startups, providing visibility to investors at summits and enabling commercial viability for promising therapies.
• Challenges in Ageing Research and Drug Regulation: Traditional drug approval pathways focus on treating specific diseases, while ageing therapies target multiple systems, making regulatory approval more complex.
• Potential Impact on Longevity Science: The XPrize aims to redefine ageing research, driving the creation of new biomarkers, validated clinical trials, and a broader acceptance of ageing as a treatable condition.
• Lessons from Past Aging Trials (TAME Trial): The TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) trial, designed to prove ageing as a valid therapeutic target, stalled due to funding issues and scientific resistance to composite ageing endpoints.