About Longevity & Healthspan
Healthspan is the time people spend in good health. This sector examines ageing biology, biomarkers and longevity therapeutics, alongside the evidence and investment needed to move research towards clinical care.
The field brings together several kinds of work. Research teams study the processes associated with ageing, diagnostics businesses develop ways to measure changes in health, and care providers consider how that knowledge could inform their services. A laboratory project, a testing platform and a clinic therefore belong to the same broad conversation while doing very different jobs. Understanding which part of that chain a business serves is a useful starting point for understanding its customers, its costs and the evidence it needs.
Healthspan also gives the sector a practical focus: the quality of the years a person lives. That includes questions about physical function, independence and the ability to take part in everyday life. A business might work on a research tool used by scientists, an assessment used by clinicians or the delivery of ongoing care. Each should be clear about what it measures or provides. A change in a test result should not automatically be described as an improvement in health.
Measuring healthier years
The discussion begins with evidence: how healthy ageing is measured, which clinical endpoints are useful and what studies can show. It also considers the economics of preventive care, later-life services and the development timelines of longevity research.
An ageing measurement is useful only when its meaning is understood. Different tests may describe different aspects of biology, and a result that looks promising in one study may need further work before it can guide care. For a research or diagnostics company, explaining the study population, the measurement and its limitations is part of explaining the product. For a clinic, the next question is what a clinician can reasonably do with that information.
Development also involves people and services beyond the original research team. Laboratories, clinical partners, data specialists and care providers may each contribute to a project. Their responsibilities, the next research milestone and the resources needed to reach it should be understandable together. These are useful topics for discussion at GLIF: what has been demonstrated, what remains to be learned and which partnerships could help connect the two. The answer will differ between research ventures and operating healthcare services.
Key Thematic Areas
- Biology of ageing and cellular senescence
- Biomarkers, ageing clocks and biological age measurement
- Longevity therapeutics and drug repurposing
- Regulatory pathways and clinical endpoints for healthspan
- The economics of longer working lives and later-life care
- Convergence with regenerative, diagnostic and preventive science
Possible discussion formats
- Trend Panels – the science, economics and policy of longer healthy lives.
- Deal Room – proposed meetings between investors and relevant businesses or projects, subject to programme curation.
- Scientific Roundtables – closed sessions on trial design and ageing endpoints.
- Innovation Showcase – diagnostics, therapeutics and clinical platforms in demonstration.
- Pitch Stage – short slots for founders in therapeutics, diagnostics and care delivery.
Relevant Perspectives
- Geroscience researchers and clinical trial designers
- Longevity clinic founders and care delivery operators
- Life insurers, reinsurers and annuity providers
- Pension funds and long-duration institutional allocators
- National ageing strategy leads and public health officials
- Employers and occupational health purchasers
The Future of Longevity Investment
- Measurable Ageing – how candidate biomarkers can be validated and connected to meaningful measures of health.
- Preventive Care Models – how services focused on maintaining health can be delivered and paid for.
- AI in Discovery – where computational tools may help research, and how their contribution should be evaluated.
- Consumer Longevity – the relationship between private assessment services, clinical care and ongoing research.
- Institutional Capital – how the duration and purpose of funding relate to research and care-delivery needs.
- Category Definition – how to distinguish different longevity businesses rather than treating them as a single type of investment.
Questions to bring to GLIF
- What does a study actually show about healthier years of life?
- How can a research finding become a service people can use?
- What evidence should an investor ask to see before supporting a venture?
Global Longevity Investors Forum (GLIF). A Global Investors Forum Platform.
This investment-sector topic connects to the five strategic tracks of the proposed GLIF programme. Explore the agenda for the current programme outline.
Explore the five strategic tracks
Further reading
Why attend
For investors
Ask what a business has demonstrated, what still needs testing and what the next stage of funding would support.
For clinics and care providers
Discuss how new approaches could fit into patient care and the practical work needed to introduce them.
For researchers and founders
Explain your progress and the expertise, funding or partnerships you need next.
Explore at the forum
- How do we distinguish promising research from evidence that is ready for clinical use?
- What would it take to make a longevity service useful, affordable and repeatable?
- Which research, care and investment teams could work together?
Take part
- Explore the science sessions in the proposed conference programme.
- Tell the team about your work and the introductions you would find useful.
- Enquire about exhibiting a product, service or research project.
Activities are planned. Access depends on your pass, selection where applicable and the final programme.
