GLP-1s will hit $100B in revenue in 2026.
Now imagine the market for drugs that treat aging itself, the root cause of ~80% of all deaths.
My bet: at least an order of magnitude larger.
Yet most biopharma, VCs and family offices are still asleep at the wheel.
Craig Venter has passed away.
He was a role model for me. At one of my workplaces way back in 2013 I had two portraits on the wall: his and @elonmusk's. I never got the chance to meet him in person, but I once had an email exchange with him that left me completely in awe at the time.
He tackled bold, often controversial questions. In 2000 his Celera raced the public HGP and co-announced the first sequencing of human genome. He later asked what minimum gene set is required for life. His group's answer: 473 genes. In 2013 he co-founded @humanlongevity with the goal of adding 50 years to human life through deep integration of genomic and phenotypic data. By then it was already clear: without phenotype, the genome alone says very little.
In the early 2010s, Craig was working on microalgae-based biofuels. With hindsight, we know the transition away from ICE is going toward electric vehicles. But back then, many more people were betting on biofuels for a simple reason: in theory, they let you reuse the existing engines and fueling infrastructure, while EV infrastructure barely existed outside of golf courses.
He was only 79. He himself hoped to break 100, claimed at 71 that his brain's biological age was 40, and at 67 that he claimed he still had at least 20-30 more years of career ahead.
Unfortunately, even people deeply immersed in the field, with access to the best tools, keep dying. We need to work way harder to stop aging and death
RIP Craig, thanks for inspiring me
Great pod, but these four facts about longevity need correction:
1) "Longevity Escape Velocity" was coined by mighty @aubreydegrey, not Diamandis. @PeterDiamandis did a great job popularizing it
2) "Multiple clinical trials" for epigenetic reprogramming? There's exactly one: @lifebiosciences Phase 1 that is just kicking off. Everything else is preclinical
3) There is no public data on Altos Labs raising $10B. Most sources claim $3B, with @PitchBook showing $5B. Still massive though
4) "250 human year equivalent" mouse claim has no published support. Epigenetic reprogramming has notoriously bad track record in mice lifespan extensions. Best result: ~7% total lifespan extension by Rejuvenate Bio and original Ocampo's 30% (but in progeria mice)
Directionally though @DavidFriedberg is right. Epigenetic reprogramming is very exciting and promising. Just don't oversell it, the subfield has enough hype already.
Also (this is very important) David's optimism might give the impression that we are close to solving aging, but it is not true. Progress is slow and field is drastically underfunded.
@ChrisWillx great work, great guest - I enjoyed this episode a lot!
As @JeffBezos famously put it: "No customer will ever say, 'I wish prices were higher' or 'I wish you'd deliver more slowly.'" @DoorDash CEO @t_xu echoes the same in recent @FoundersPodcast: "No consumer will ever ask us to increase our prices or lower our selection."
Let me add the longevity biotech maxim to this list:
No customer will ever want a shorter life.
No customer will ever want worse health.
The timelines are longer and the science is harder. But you never bet against market forces.
Our friends are launching Fund Longevity and taking longevity advocacy to the streets.
📍 one of 16 cities or online!
📣 spread the word!
@LinusPeters@vladileshko@longevitynastya
✨ Excited to have won the @HackAgingAI Agentic AI Against Aging hackathon's Rapid Adoption track, with our #ECMAgingAtlas — built using an agentic framework for bespoke data ingestion and processing.
Grateful to the team — @DanielKravtsov and Bob Walsh!
We gain ~0.1 healthy years per year today - how do we reach >1 per year?
@MartinBJensen has been thinking about them for 15 years and has structured his thoughts in a renewed @NornGroup Big Picture
MUST SEE if you are looking what to work on in longbio
https://t.co/nQtPFPhSLn
Meet @LauraMinquini — Jury Member at https://t.co/WFQGbhSNR7 Global Longevity Hackathon
Founder, @athena_DAO_ | Women’s Health & Longevity Innovation Expert and the ideological inspirer of Female Longevity Track!
A pioneer at the intersection of biotech, branding, and decentralized science, Laura is advancing innovation in female health research and funding.
As an expert jury member for the https://t.co/WFQGbhSNR7 Global Longevity Hackathon, Laura champions women’s health, longevity, and equitable innovation worldwide.
💜 Thanks for being part of our event!