Betting on Better Years
From prevention to personalized medicine - how the longevity movement will birth the next billion-dollar opportunity
Longevity is going mainstream. Gene editing and regenerative medicine are opening new avenues for therapeutic interventions, while AI is powering personalized, predictive medicine. At the same time, digital health tools like wearables and sleep trackers are capturing troves of data that allow consumers to quantify their well-being.
Driven by recent scientific developments and evolving consumer behaviors, we’ve zeroed in on this longevity movement as the next frontier of consumer health. For us, longevity is about addressing health span (the quality of our years) in pursuit of lifespan (the quantity of our years).
What is longevity, really?
At its core, longevity is about the mechanisms of aging. In medical contexts, it’s usually centered on prevention, early detection, and personalization in service of healthy aging. There’s also significant interest, funding, and research being put toward regenerative medicines and gene therapies that aim to reverse aging. While explorations into how aging occurs on a cellular level are a critical piece of the longevity puzzle, we at Able are looking at the most promising billion-dollar opportunities in serving consumers today.
As consumer investors, we understand the power of great marketing. While the challenges in our healthcare system are multi-faceted, one of the most obvious is engagement. Improving consumer engagement with the healthcare system has the potential to reshape negative trends, delivering better outcomes and long-term savings across the entire healthcare ecosystem.
In many ways, longevity is a sexier, more compelling rebrand of preventive medicine. After decades of prevention being seen as boring or burdensome, we’re witnessing a rapid cultural shift. Longevity flips the script by focusing not on what you’re avoiding, but on what you’re optimizing. It’s not just about managing risk; it’s about extending vitality.
For the first time, consumers, investors, healthcare providers, and even payors are rallying behind a future where prevention is aspirational, not obligatory.
At the same time, the term ‘longevity’ likely doesn’t resonate with many consumers who are struggling to get their basic health care needs met. Due in large part to a growing discontent with the traditional health care system, people, not just the most privileged, are demanding more. They want more than 15-minute visits with a hurried provider, more than cursory bloodwork, and more than age-related barriers to preventive screenings.
Function Health, one of our portfolio companies, exemplifies this. Today, 65% of Function members are in a zip code where median income is less than $120,000, and 40% are in a zip code where the median income is less than $95,000. For their members, Function is health care. While this population should not have to pay entirely out of pocket, they are willing to pay for medical care that personalizes treatment and demystifies their health in a way that’s more accessible, transparent, and measurable.
Why Now for Longevity?
Interest in improving health span > lifespan
There’s a growing interest in extending the number of “good” years a person lives, independent of their total lifespan. This is driven by a confluence of factors, such as delayed parenthood, rising incidences of diseases like cancer and early-onset Alzheimer’s and a renewed focus on health thanks to the benefits of GLP-1s. Consumers are seeking tailored interventions and lifestyle modifications to prevent or delay age-related diseases, and there is a growing trend towards proactive behavior change, evident in the rise of strength training, growth in protein consumption and increasing adoption of wearables.
Growing curiosity around aging
To effectively shape longevity, we must first understand aging. Recent findings suggest that humans age in bursts—specifically around 44 and 60—providing a clear target demographic for companies to address. Precision medicine also enables us to respond to the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that influence an individual’s aging experience.
Advancements in technology enable the landscape
In a category that is inherently N=1, the field of longevity has struggled with limited data that can be hard to extrapolate. Longitudinal studies are rare, homogeneity is an issue, and there is a lack of standardization across studies. Fortunately, rapid advancements in technology have opened the door for innovation, including AI-powered insights, improved diagnostics, tools for upskilling providers, and accelerated drug discovery. As a result, longevity research is becoming more scalable.
Our illustrative landscape reflects a dynamic cohort of companies innovating across the longevity spectrum to address different consumer needs.
Venture-scale opportunities in longevity
As the longevity category continues to grow, we believe there will be several venture-scale outcomes. Here is what gets us excited:
AI-enabled precision medicine
Personalized medicine and the ability to identify biomarkers of aging are equipping researchers, doctors, and consumers with a wealth of data. By layering AI onto medicine, we can improve diagnostic accuracy, flag risks, and predict treatment efficacy. For example, AI-powered diagnostic tools can help identify age-related diseases earlier, enabling more effective interventions.
Aggregated data and insights for a personal health operating system
Developing personal health operating systems that aggregate data from wearables, annual physicals, at-home blood tests, and more can provide actionable insights for consumers. By leveraging contextual AI, these systems can recommend personalized exercise protocols, dietary changes, and sleep goals.
Science-led innovation
Effective longevity interventions require a foundation in empirical evidence and scientific rigor. Whether it is a supplement, treatment protocol or therapeutic, data-driven insights and robust clinical studies are necessary to help consumers distinguish between effective interventions and unfounded claims. SuppCo, one of our portfolio companies, recently shared that with over 100,000 users on their platform sharing their supplement stacks, there are approximately 20,000 products in the SuppCo system that are taken by only 1 user. This long tail reveals a highly fragmented, rapidly evolving supplement category with minimal regulatory oversight. Given that regulatory guidance trails consumer demand in this category, there is a unique opportunity for the companies that have built brand trust based on sound science.
Traditional healthcare partnerships to support scale and profitability
Longevity currently operates outside of the traditional healthcare system. While it shares the proactive ethos of conventional prevention, longevity distinguishes itself through more extensive screening protocols and interventions at earlier ages. Companies that can find relevant ways to strategically leverage the traditional healthcare infrastructure, like lab partnerships, billing relevant CPT codes, and clinical trials, could unlock early scale, profitability and in some cases, defensibility.
Public-private partnerships
Institutions like The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, The Stanford Center for Longevity, and The Mayo Clinic are investing more resources into aging. This is accelerating discoveries and nurturing a new generation of scientists, specialists, and operators in the longevity space. Government financing paired with private sector expertise creates an opportunity for public-private partnerships which, in turn, can shape future policy and regulatory frameworks.
Longevity’s open questions
As technological and scientific advancements progress, the field of longevity is rapidly evolving. Within this dynamic landscape, several key questions remain unanswered, and we’re actively exploring these open questions.
Full-stack versus point-of-care solutions
Some longevity companies aim to provide comprehensive, end-to-end care, while others focus on specific aspects, such as biomarker analysis or personalized insights. The full-stack approach involves managing all aspects of patient care, from diagnosis to treatment. In contrast, point-of-care solutions concentrate on specific, targeted interventions. It's unclear how these different models will impact profit margins, partnership opportunities, and ultimately, patient outcomes.
Provider supply and upskilling clinicians
The evolving expectations of consumers are driving demand for specialized longevity care. To meet this demand, doctors will require additional training and expertise. Online directories can connect patients with doctors specializing in longevity, but this solution doesn't address the systemic shortage of skilled clinicians. Upskilling physicians or establishing a dedicated longevity specialty within the medical field could help bridge this gap. A longevity specialty would empower providers to practice evidence-based, health span supporting medicine for patients at any life stage, complementing rather than replacing existing geriatric care. Geriatricians, who specialize in caring for older adults, would continue to play a vital role in addressing age-related health issues.
Navigating a murky regulatory landscape
The FDA's current stance is that aging is not a disease, which limits the development and approval of aging-related treatments. Recognizing aging as a disease would significantly impact the longevity industry, enabling more proactive and preventive care approaches. This, in turn, could increase access to regenerative therapies and other innovative treatments. However, it's essential to consider the potential implications of this classification, including the need for rigorous testing and validation of treatments.
The role of payors
Currently, longevity services are primarily cash-based, with some exceptions, such as hormone treatments and cancer screenings. Even when insurance coverage is available, consumers often opt to pay out-of-pocket due to high deductibles and limited perceived benefits. To change this dynamic, longevity businesses must demonstrate compelling outcomes data, enabling them to negotiate more effectively with insurance providers and healthcare partners. As payors recognize the economic burden of age-related diseases, which will continue to grow as the population ages, we can expect to see more longevity-focused practices emerge within traditional healthcare systems. Innovative models, such as Japan's Ningen Dock, which provides comprehensive, preventive care, and Korea's nationwide health exams, offer valuable insights into the potential for proactive, longevity-focused healthcare.
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The convergence of consumer demand and technological advancements is transforming the healthcare landscape. As individuals gain access to personalized treatments and actionable health insights, their expectations for proactive, preventive care will become the new standard. Traditional healthcare systems must adapt to this shift, embracing innovative approaches that prioritize patient engagement.
The future of medicine is unfolding, characterized by smarter, more targeted, and comprehensive care. While longevity presents complex questions and challenges, we're excited to navigate this evolving space alongside entrepreneurs who share our vision. Our goal is to support innovative solutions that help individuals optimize their health span. If you're building, investing in, or operating within the longevity space, we'd love to connect and explore opportunities for collaboration. Reach us at info@ablepartners.nyc.