Research from the Stanford Center on Longevity concluded that Generation X — people born between 1965 and 1980 — will likely live 20–30 years longer than previous generations. A 45-year-old woman in excellent health has a 20% chance of living to 100; her male equivalent has an 11% chance.
In 2024, Ray Kurzweil predicted in The Singularity is Nearer that longevity escape velocity will arrive in the 2030s — the point at which life expectancy increases more than one year per calendar year for those who take good care of themselves. Which companies are working to make that happen? Can you invest in them? Should you?
Question: “What’s the easiest way to make a small fortune?”
Answer: “Start with a large one!”
Those who invested in the US S&P Biotech Index (ETF: XBI) in 2021 and 2022 lost 20% and 26% respectively. Gains of 8% and 1% followed in 2023 and 2024. XBI then finished up 35% in 2025, driven by a revival in M&A activity, positive clinical trial results, and increased funding. Through the first half of 2026, XBI is up approximately 10% year-to-date, continuing its recovery — though the 12-month trailing return of roughly 70% reflects how strong the late-2025 rally was. Over time, however, the S&P 500 index (ETF: SPY) has been a much better investment. XBI remains historically volatile.
Necessary disclaimer: Keep Health is not an investment advisor and the content of this website is not to be used for making or refraining from investment decisions. The information provided is for general information purposes only. It may not be suitable for your situation. Although Keep Health has made every effort to ensure accuracy, Keep Health makes no representation about accuracy and completeness, and disclaims any liability for loss or damages caused by errors or omissions.
How much does wealth matter for increasing healthspan — and for enjoying those extra healthy years once you have them?
Keep Health does not recommend investing in this sector unless you are an expert or getting trusted expert advice. There has been a tremendous amount of money made and lost investing in life sciences and healthcare companies. Emerging healthcare startups are speculative investments — more likely overvalued than undervalued. Warren Buffett’s advice applies well here: be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”
What’s changed since our last update
Three developments define the longevity investment landscape in 2025–2026, and every investor in this space should understand all three.
Key developments since our last update
Private longevity investment hit $5.72B in 2025 — and 2026 is tracking higher
According to
Longevity.Technology, private longevity biotech raised $5.72 billion across roughly 170 deals in 2025. Q1 2026 alone totalled approximately $3.74 billion — 56% ahead of Q1 2025 — suggesting full-year 2026 could reach $8–9 billion.
Unity Biotechnology shut down in September 2025
One of the original publicly traded longevity companies — which raised nearly $300 million before its 2018 IPO — closed its doors after years of clinical failures. Its senolytic drug trials for osteoarthritis failed to meet endpoints, shares became worthless, and the company stopped operating entirely.
The FDA formally recognized lifespan extension as a valid clinical goal for the first time
In February 2025, Loyal’s
LOY-002 — a longevity drug for aging dogs — became the first treatment to clear that regulatory bar. It doesn’t treat a specific disease; it targets aging itself — a genuinely significant milestone for the field’s long-term regulatory credibility.
$5.72B
Private longevity biotech raised in 2025 across ~170 deals
~10%
XBI year-to-date return through H1 2026; ~70% trailing 12-month
$65B+
Big pharma M&A spend through Oct 2025 — highest since 2021
ETF investing opportunities
Two ETFs offer exposure to longevity and aging-related industries without requiring bets on individual companies.
Global X Aging Population ETF
Large-cap equities in lifespan extension and senior quality-of-life. 37% non-US. Expense ratio 0.50%. 5-yr avg return 5.9%.
+7% in 2024 · +20% in 2025
ARK Genomic Revolution ETF
CRISPR, targeted therapeutics, bioinformatics, stem cells. Launched Oct 2014. Expense ratio 0.75%. Negative 20% 5-yr avg return.
+180% in 2020 · −50% in 2022 · +23% in 2025
An ETF called OLD, focused on the costs of aging rather than its treatment, retired in 2021.
Venture capital firms focused on healthspan and longevity
Since 2016, more than 225 private anti-aging companies have formed. As Sebastian Brunemeier of Healthspan Capital noted at the 2022 Ending Age-Related Diseases conference, anti-aging investments have gone “from fringe to fashionable.” Capital concentration has since shifted toward companies with human clinical data and disease-first strategies, while pure longevity narrative plays have been repriced downward.
Crowdfunded longevity investing · 37 portfolio companies · 6 exits
Members receive opportunities to invest in early-stage biotech startups. Through three funds (2019, 2020, 2021), BioVerge invested in
37 companies, of which six have exited. New investments appear to have paused since 2023. Their self-reported
performance track record is available on their site.
Michael Antonov Foundation · 44 portfolio investments · No public track record
Part of the
Michael Antonov Foundation. Michael was co-founder and chief software architect at Oculus (acquired by Meta) and ScaleForm. Invests in companies with potential to expand human lifespan or accelerate progress in biotech, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and adjacent fields. The portfolio now spans
44 investments starting in 2020. No publicly reported track record.
Founded 2021 · Rolling fund via AngelList · Min $5,000 · No public track record
Founded by Sebastian Brunemeier, Michael Chinen, and Nathan Cheng. Their 2025 Longevity Bio report covers the leading private companies in depth. The rolling fund on AngelList lets investors participate in pre-seed to Series A longevity rounds with a minimum of $5,000.
Portfolio companies include Deciduous Therapeutics (immune system activation to eliminate senescent cells), ImmuneAge Bio (bone marrow rejuvenation via hematopoietic stem cells), Matter Bio (reversing age-driven DNA mutations), Renewal Bio (embryogenesis-inspired reprogramming), Shift Bioscience (AI-guided cell reprogramming), and Vincere Bio (deficient mitophagy), among others.
UK · Co-founded by Jim Mellon · $76M Series B-1 in 2025 · IPO still pending
Co-founded by British investor Jim Mellon in 2018 and led by Dr. Greg Bailey (Executive Chairman) and Dr. Richard Marshall (CEO). Juvenescence raised a $76 million Series B-1 tranche in 2025 to fund its AI-enabled therapeutics pipeline. The long-pursued IPO has still not materialized after several years of attempts.
- LyGenesis — organ regeneration using lymph nodes as bioreactors. Phase 2a trial completion date August 2027.
- Morphoceuticals — tissue regeneration via bioelectric signaling. New CEO appointed April 2024.
- Serina Therapeutics (NYSE: SER) — Parkinson’s treatment. Phase 1B cleared by FDA in Q1 2026, launching in Australia. Juvenescence owns 30%.
- Relation Therapeutics — data science to repurpose existing drugs. Received $15M from GSK in November 2024.
- Chrysea Labs — autophagy-targeting nutritional products including Sprevive high-purity spermidine.
Angel network · No membership fee · Free daily newsletter
An angel investing network focused on top aging-focused biotech startup opportunities. Monthly pitches from 2–3 companies, no membership fee, and an excellent free daily newsletter on anti-aging research. Worth following even if you don’t invest.
Led by Petr Sramek · 42 portfolio companies · $37M raised · No public track record
Led by Petr Sramek, the fund invested in 42 biotech and diagnostic platform firms from 2020–2024. Track record and results have not been published. Sramek also launched a series of HealthyLongevity branded companies.
Founded 2022 · Boston and Tel Aviv · 12 portfolio companies · Hallmarks of Aging investment thesis
A venture capital firm investing in early-stage healthcare companies — pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, software, equipment, and devices — focused on biological age reversal, disease treatment, and prevention. The investment thesis grounds every deal in the Hallmarks of Aging framework, and the scientific advisory board includes prominent geroscientists. The firm has built a portfolio of 12 companies to date, including
Repair Biotechnologies (cell and mRNA therapy to degrade cholesterol) and
Immunis, which received a favorable feature in
Nature Biotechnology. No fund size or published track record is publicly available.
Notable public and private companies
Private · $5.56B raised · Backed by Jeff Bezos · Human safety testing began Aug 2025
Founded in 2021, Altos Labs has raised $5.56 billion total — making it the best-funded private longevity company in the world. The company focuses on partial cellular reprogramming to reverse aging at the cellular level. In 2024, Altos scientists published a landmark study in
Science Translational Medicine showing that targeted partial reprogramming extended the lifespan of mice and improved health markers. Founding scientist Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte has since revealed that Altos is testing reprogramming therapies in organs kept alive on perfusion machines outside the body. Human safety testing reportedly began in August 2025. Altos acquired
Dorian Therapeutics in May 2025. The company has no regulatory approvals, no revenue, and limited human data. It is a long-term science bet, not a near-term commercial story.
Private · Alphabet subsidiary · AbbVie collaboration ended Nov 2025 · IL-11 antibody licensed June 2025
Calico launched in 2013 with at least $3.5 billion in backing from Alphabet and AbbVie, and spent more than a decade producing academic research without clinical results. In January 2025, Calico reported that fosigotifator failed to outperform placebo in slowing ALS in a Phase II/III trial. AbbVie terminated the long-running collaboration in November 2025 after five clinical programs produced no commercial success.
Calico has since pivoted meaningfully. In June 2025, the company licensed 9MW3811 — an IL-11 targeting monoclonal antibody — for $25M upfront and up to $571M in milestone payments. A 2024 Nature study found that blocking IL-11 extended mouse lifespan by 22–25%. Calico also won FDA Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations in 2025 for its ADPKD treatment. Calico is not publicly traded.
Deep Longevity — acquired by Regent Pacific Group (HK: 00575)
AI aging clock specialist · Acquired 2020 for ~$3.79M in shares
Deep Longevity develops explainable AI systems to track the rate of aging at the molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, system, physiological, and psychological levels. Regent Pacific Group acquired it in 2020 with the stated goal of building the largest integrated platform for longevity biotechnology and aging research. Deep Longevity now operates as a Regent Pacific subsidiary.
Private · $130M raised 2025 (largest longevity round of the year) · Co-founded by Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO)
NewLimit raised $130 million in 2025 — the largest longevity round of the year — to pursue epigenetic reprogramming of cells toward younger states. The company uses large-scale human data and AI to identify which epigenetic changes drive aging and which interventions might reverse them. No clinical programs are yet publicly disclosed.
Private · $180M seed from Sam Altman · $1B Series A in progress
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman invested $180 million in a personal seed round into Retro Biosciences, which pursues cellular reprogramming, autophagy enhancement, and plasma therapeutics simultaneously. Retro is raising a reported $1 billion Series A at a $5 billion valuation. Its first human clinical trial in Australia was targeted for late 2025. Like Altos, the company has no regulatory approvals and no revenue yet.
Private · $125M+ raised · LOY-002 first FDA-recognized lifespan extension therapy (Feb 2025)
Loyal is developing the first FDA-recognized drugs targeting aging itself, using dogs as the initial patient population. In February 2025, LOY-002 became the first treatment to clear the FDA’s newly established regulatory path for lifespan extension — a milestone for the entire longevity field. Loyal has raised over $125 million and expects LOY-002 to be the first FDA-approved longevity drug. Dogs share many of the same age-related diseases as humans, making them a scientifically credible bridge to human longevity medicine.
IPO 2018 at $16 · Shares fell to worthless · A cautionary case study
Unity was one of the most prominent public longevity companies — a pioneer of senolytics, drugs designed to clear senescent cells. It raised nearly $300 million before its 2018 IPO at $16 per share. Phase II trials for its lead senolytic drug in osteoarthritis failed to meet endpoints. Shares fell from a peak of $21 to worthless. The company shuttered in September 2025. Unity’s story is the clearest available case study in the gap between compelling aging biology and the hard realities of clinical translation.
Acquired, shut down, or pivoted
- Sigilon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SGTX) — Encapsulated cell therapy platform. Acquired by Eli Lilly in August 2023.
- Navitor Pharmaceuticals — mTOR-based therapeutics. Shut down in December 2023.
- Spring Discovery — AI-accelerated aging therapy discovery. No public updates since 2023.
The broader landscape
GLP-1 drugs as longevity investmentsThe drugs generating the most revenue in biotech right now — GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) from Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) — are simultaneously showing early signals of extending healthy life. Longevity investing increasingly means owning companies generating real revenue, not just preclinical science. Novo Nordisk is one of the largest companies in the world by market cap and produces one of the bestselling drugs in history. That represents a very different investment profile than Retro or NewLimit.
AI drug discoverySeveral of 2025’s largest longevity-adjacent rounds went to AI-enabled drug discovery companies. Insilico Medicine raised $110 million; Isomorphic Labs (a DeepMind spinout) raised $600 million. These companies don’t focus exclusively on aging but apply AI to accelerate drug discovery across diseases that disproportionately affect older people.
M&A as validationVerve Therapeutics, which developed a PCSK9 gene editing therapy that dramatically lowers cholesterol in a single treatment, was acquired by Eli Lilly for $1 billion in 2025 — the clearest signal that big pharma now takes longevity-adjacent gene therapy seriously enough to pay a premium for it. Big pharma spent more than $65 billion acquiring biotech companies through October 2025, the highest level since 2021.
For ongoing coverage of the investment landscape, Longevity.Technology, Healthspan Capital’s annual report, and the SENS Research Foundation remain the most reliable independent trackers. Keep Health’s broader coverage of the science behind these investments lives in Anti-Aging Companies, Cellular Reprogramming, Reversing Aging, and Preventing Age-Related Diseases.
