Summary
What if therapeutics to slow down the aging process and prevent age-related disease already existed? Recently, in an unprecedented effort, a large-scale study employing advanced machine learning methods analyzed medical records from over 4 million individuals in the Danish Health System’s medical and prescription records. The study, consisting of over 1.4 billion prescriptions, found that a number of prescription drugs were highly associated with longer life- and health-span in long-live populations. Here, we present a unique investment opportunity. We seek to validate these observations through a series of carefully conducted wet lab experiments. If successful, this work could result in the repurposing of several FDA-approved therapeutics for the purpose of extending human lifespan, at a lower cost and over faster timelines than conceivably possible with de novo drug discovery. This unique investment opportunity allows savvy longevity investors the chance to own a share of the potential intellectual property generated from these studies, and in turn, a potential share in the future of life extension.
Justification
The global elderly population is projected to substantially increase throughout the 21st century. By the year 2100 a fifth of the total world population will be aged 65 or older posing a serious socioeconomic challenge to societies world-wide. Interventions that ensure healthy aging are therefore of critical importance.
Next Steps
This program focuses on testing and developing three of these small molecules as possible interventions in aging. Specifically, we will test the drugs on human cell cultures and in fruit flies, before moving to mice in the future. Importantly, the current market for longevity stands at 200 billion USD, even without a single scientifically proven treatment. Our molecules targets this specific market with the aim of letting everyone live healthier, happier and longer lives.
Research Background
To date, more than a hundred compounds have been shown to extend the lifespan of model organisms. In humans, no drug is currently recognized to extend lifespan. Given the large diversity of drugs able to extend the lifespan of model organisms it is likely that multiple drugs are able to extend the healthspan of humans. But how do we find these compounds?
The Scheibye-Knudsen lab has analyzed 1.5 billion prescriptions from 4.8 million individuals over 40 years in The Danish National Health Service Prescription Database and correlated this with the survival of individuals prescribed certain drugs. They received exclusive access to carry out this work. The Scheibye-Knudsen Lab has identified 10+ FDA approved medications that appear to have a strong effect on lifespan following analysis. This project will focus on optimising, repurposing, and re-formulating the 3 drugs with the strongest effect on human lifespan. Additionally, there is a database of compounds that could be pursued. The identities of the molecules are not disclosed in this presentation to protect the full viability of the intellectual property. They are referred to as X, Y, and Z.
Project Significance
Since aging is the largest risk factor for most diseases, discovering compounds able to extend the healthy lifespan could have profound implications not only on disease progression but on the society as a whole. We now have an unprecedented possibility to find interventions that may work in humans allowing us a leap forward in how we perform healthcare. Indeed, this proposal may allow everyone the possibility of living a longer and healthier life.
Scientific Approach
To confirm findings from the database, it will be necessary to test how the compounds impact aging in controlled model organisms. We will apply a two-pronged approach by investigating the effect of the drugs on human cells in culture and the well-used aging model drosophila melanogaster. If these tests are positive we can proceed to test the compounds in mice and later transition to trials targeting aging in humans.
Research Task
To confirm findings from the database, it will be necessary to test how the compounds impact aging in controlled model organisms. We will apply a two-pronged approach by investigating the effect of the drugs on human cells in culture and the well-used aging model drosophila melanogaster. If these tests are positive we can proceed to test the compounds in mice and later transition to trials targeting aging in humans.
For cells: we will use DNA damage induced senescent human cells as well as replicative senescent cells as models for aging. We will investigate the ability of the compounds to affect the senescence markers β-galactosidase staining, interleukin-6 secretion and lamin b1 levels. Another hallmark of aging and senescent cells is the accumulation of DNA damage foci, and we will investigate this by measuring the number of 53BP1 and gammaH2AX foci present in the cells by high content microscopy at the Biotech Research and Innovation Center.
For drosophila we will investigate how the drugs impact lifespan and motor function. Specifically, we will test log-scale concentration curves in a high-throughput lifespan machine that we have invented. We will further investigate how the compounds impact the motor function of flies.
Phase I Duration: 12 months
Phase I Budget: $250,000
Phase II Duration: 12 months
Phase II Budget: $250,000 pending successful completion of Phase I and community vote.
Research Lead
Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, Associate Professor
Morten Scheibye-Knudsen is Associate Professor and group leader at the Center for Healthy Aging, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Besides his research activity, he has been committed to educational programs and his online companies Mitodb.com and Forsøgsperson.dk. The latter has grown to become the largest single provider of study participants in Denmark. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen also acts as an advisor or committee member for organisations such as the Longevity Vision Fund, the Lifeboat Foundation, the NNF Big Data in Biomedicine project and others. Morten Scheibye-Knudsen earned his MD in 2007 and his DMSc (PhD) in 2016 from the University of Copenhagen. After graduation, he worked as physician at Slagelse Hospital and at Nuuk Medical Clinic in Greenland. In 2008, he became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute on Aging at the NIH in Baltimore, Maryland. His work focused on the cross-talk between DNA repair and mitochondrial function in aging and has been honored by a number of competitive awards. In 2015 he was recruited to start his own research group at the University of Copenhagen, where his research group aims to understand the cellular and organismal consequences of DNA damage in the context of aging. He now runs one of the largest research programmes in Europe focusing on aging. His ultimate goal is to modulate and perhaps treat aging and age-related diseases, allowing everyone to live healthier and longer lives.
Research Institution
The Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Copenhagen studies how more people can have a healthy life and healthy aging. Their approach to research is interdisciplinary and the center studies aging and aging processes from cell to society.
IP
All intellectual property resulting from the project will be fully owned by VitaDAO.
Learn more and see the deck on Molecule
- Agree
- Agree with revisions (please comment)
- Disagree
0 voters
