Over the past decade, an ecosystem of companies has emerged that seeks not only to "cure diseases," but also to delay or even reverse aging itself. What began as fringe science now attracts billions of dollars from investors like Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth funds. The common goal: to make aging a treatable disease.
The best-known company is Calico Labs (Alphabet/Google), founded in 2013 with an initial budget exceeding $1.5 billion. Its approach is fundamental: understanding the molecular mechanisms of aging (cellular senescence, chronic inflammation, mitochondrial DNA damage) in order to intervene before the typical pathologies of old age appear.
Meanwhile, Altos Labs, launched in 2022 with $3 billion (including contributions from Bezos and the Russian Yuri Milner), is heavily invested in cellular reprogramming. Their star researchers are Spanish biologist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte and Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka. They use “Yamanaka factors” (OSKM) to return adult cells to a pluripotent state and then differentiate them again, achieving tissue rejuvenation (eyes, skin, kidneys) in mice without causing cancer.
Another approach is the elimination of senescent cells (“zombie cells”). Unity Biotechnology (funded by Bezos and Thiel) develops senolytics: drugs that selectively kill these cells. Their lead candidate, UBX1325, has shown improvement in retinal function in patients with diabetic retinopathy in phase 2 trials and shows promise for applications in osteoarthritis and lung diseases.
In the field of youthful blood transfusion, Alkahest (Grifols) and Elevian (founded by Harvard researchers) are working with plasma factors such as GDF11 and TIMP2, which rejuvenate brain and muscle in animal models. Meanwhile, NewLimit (co-founded by Brian Armstrong of Coinbase) and Shift Bioscience are focusing on epigenetic editing to "reset" the cellular biological clock.
In Spain, Retro Biosciences (formerly led by Ilya Sutskever of OpenAI) stands out, collaborating with the CNIO (Spanish National Cancer Research Centre) and companies like Senolytic Therapeutics (Barcelona) and the Valencian startup Revel Pharmaceuticals, which develops drugs against collagen cross-links.
Although results in humans are still preliminary, the progress is undeniable: by 2025, phase 2-3 clinical trials were already underway with senolytics, mTOR inhibitors (such as low-dose rapamycin), repurposed metformin, and NAD+ boosters (Elevant, MetroBiotech). Organizations like the FDA have created the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) category to test, for the first time, whether delaying aging reduces the incidence of multiple diseases simultaneously.
The projected market for 2030 exceeds $600 billion. The question is no longer whether we will be able to intervene in aging, but who will do it first and at what ethical and social cost. For now, longevity has ceased to be science fiction and has become the largest biotechnology industry of the 21st century.
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