Healthspan Science May Enable Healthier Lives for All

Over the past six decades, for every additional year of life expectancy gained, approximately six months have been spent in poor health. Age-related diseases and conditions — including cardiovascular disease, cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, and musculoskeletal conditions account for approximately one-third of the total global disease burden. There is growing scientific and commercial interest in whether biomedical innovations could target the biological aging process itself, rather than treating individual diseases in isolation a field known as healthspan science.

Investment in this field has quadrupled over the past decade and clinical trial initiation has grown significantly, yet no healthspan-related drug or clinical intervention has yet reached the market. This report examines the state of the field and the conditions needed for it to advance from early-stage research to scalable, accessible interventions. It focuses exclusively on biomedical innovation rather than behavioral or environmental drivers of health, and estimates that addressing even half of the age-related disease burden could recover trillions of dollars in GDP annually.

Seven dimensions are identified across which stakeholders can accelerate progress: establishing a shared definition and narrative for healthspan; coordinating global research efforts and data sharing; validating biomarkers that define aging trajectories; accelerating clinical development; establishing clear regulatory approval pathways; developing financing models suited to the field's long time horizons; and building practitioner talent and broadening public access to emerging interventions.

The report calls for coalition-building across pharmaceutical companies, biotech, universities, hospitals, life sciences investors, governments, philanthropies, and foundations each contributing their distinct capabilities to a field that holds significant promise for healthy longevity at population scale, but requires concerted action to realize that potential.