Announcing the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research
Funding is pouring into the commercial development of the first rejuvenation therapies, largely meaning senolytic treatments at the present time, alongside various ways of upregulating beneficial stress responses in order to modestly slow aging. As this progresses, we will see an accompanying growth in advocacy for the treatment of aging as a medical condition. The announcement noted here is an example of the type, somewhat analogous to the Longevity Dividend initiative of the past decade, but hopefully more energetic and more focused on strategies such as clearance of senescent cells that are likely to produce larger gains in human health and life span.
A group of leading scientists devoted to research on the mechanisms of biological aging today announced the formation of the Academy for Health and Lifespan, the first global non-profit group focused on accelerating breakthroughs in the expansion of the human health span. The Academy's mission is to set the public stage for the transformation society must make, as health span extension means a growing population fully able to live healthier lives longer. The group's plan is to accomplish its goals through awareness and education, by giving new research a platform for dissemination, and by organizing conferences and forums where the world's leaders in the study of health span and longevity will gather and share research and insights. Ultimately, the Academy will provide grants to fund promising research from established and emerging scientists.
"We believe we are at a threshold moment in the research of age-related decline, which is the timing that inspired the creation of the Academy. Our shared belief is that science shows that we can age later. The Academy is a think tank seeking to speed the rate of discoveries to expand our health spans. Our 16 founders are among the leading geroscientists in the world. In addition to raising awareness of research advances among the general public, we will encourage increased public and private investment in health span and longevity research throughout the globe."
The Academy embraces a 4C mission: First to Catalyze the world's ongoing research to accelerate the development of life-changing enhancements of healthy aging. Second to Connect our founders to each other through the auspices of the academy. The third C: Convene experts and authorities around the world to advance their missions and that of the Academy's in public and private settings. Finally, we shall Communicate with the public at large to educate them about this new generation of health span and longevity research, what it means and what it doesn't mean, and to engage in constructive conversations. "As founders of AHLR, we believe that, as the field rapidly advances, we must help bridge the gap between science and public understanding. We believe that while death is inevitable, aging need not be."
Hello, when will we get phase 1 results of UBX0101 ? It should have ended by now.
...and this means there can be an annual "Academy Awards" ceremony in the anti-aging community and I nominate editor here to host the inaugural event.
Where do I find the sci-hub URL to download papers free?
>the first global non-profit group focused on accelerating breakthroughs in the expansion of the human health span.
That's quite a statement. I thought that was what the SENS foundation is doing...
Anyway, the more support to the concept, the better
@Jonathan Weaver
The UBX0101 trial was delayed due to the addition of an additional cohort
https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/12/03/1661286/0/en/UNITY-Biotechnology-Announces-Additional-Cohort-to-Evaluate-Higher-Dose-in-Ongoing-UBX0101-Phase-1-Study-in-Osteoarthritis-of-the-Knee.html
Good point Cuberat. The fact that they added the word 'global' in there is goofy, are they implying that other such non profits are only working to mitigate aging on a local level.
@thomas.a: Check the Wikipedia page for the latest Sci-Hub domains: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub
From the founders I know of (less than half of them, I admit), their main focus seem to be more or less the current mainstream: metformin and the like, senolytics, parabiosis, induced pluripotency in vivo and telomerase activation.
Well... certainly it could be worse.
I don't think a foundation which has Barzilai, Olshansky, Kenyon and Campisi on the helm something worth celebrating to be honest. They can only keep the science back rather than "accelerate" it.
@Ira S. Pastor
Interesting. Given this (UBX0101) is a Phase I trial, the addition of another cohort at a higher dosage level suggests at the very least the treatment does not elicit any concerning adverse reactions. However, it does seem to raise some concerns with respect to any measurable beneficial effect at the lower doses previously administered.
@aaron
You're probably right
The bigger concern, IMHO, was that the stock dropped 20% three days BEFORE the public announcement - which is a sign of bad corporate governance
Obviously investors hate delays in pharma development as additional months mean millions of $$ - and it could just be that
However, typically, even though a study is blinded, companies usually will gather informal insight from clinicians that they are seeing something akin to an "efficacy signal" in some patients (i.e. wow! we have a guy that couldn't walk 10 paces now running around the room)
My guess is that they are probably seeing ok tolerability in the different groups, but not much else at this point, and probably want to gather as much SASP data as possible, so when they have to do their eventual press release in Q2, if efficacy turns out crappy, they can still say that something beneficial happened per bio-markers
Disease modification in OA is a "holy grail" indication
I'm not so hopeful that senolytics are the "pure mono-therapy" answer for this problem
I wonder if this site should have some kind of forum as an outlet for content off-topic for the latest posts. Discussion of Unity's trials is quite off-topic for the significant development that is the topic of this post.
I wonder who penned "the first global non-profit group focused on accelerating breakthroughs in the expansion of the human health span".
Most events I go to in this field are filled with a spirit of cooperation (explicitly instead of competition), even amongst commercial startups that would normally be more secretive and competitive in other industries. David Sinclair's description of a "land grab" in the space is a sign of this spirit eventually changing as the field grows.
But in the world of the goals of "awareness and education [...] giving new research a platform for dissemination [...] organizing conferences" one would expect a more collaborative spirit than in the commercial sphere rather than language dismissive of past efforts. LEAF seems clearly to check all these boxes, has been doing so for years now, and is clearly very international.
This is no time for intellectual credit land grabs.
@Karl Pfleger
Follow the pr - read the small print:
When David Sinclair's mini conglomerate (Life Biosciences) pays for press releases to promote a "non profit" group, it is no big surprise as to the dynamic you are witnessing:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/lb-1ls021319.php?fbclid=IwAR2Ga6_ZY-Vw9_T2BdKTniXFzWMBeHVzHgdvpRCenT4GuKIGR7RudL2OU_8
Any "spirit of cooperation" is a ruse
The wheels are in motion for a war of consolidation
Life Biosciences on one side
SENS / Juvenescence on the other
Independent beasts like Calico and Unity putting their faces in with folks like Kenyon and Campisi
We'll see ...but it could get ugly
Is this project still on?
https://www.ahlresearch.org/