The GCC Wants to Lead the Longevity Revolution
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are backing science that could help postpone age-related diseases and pioneer a new era of preventive healthcare.
Imagine if, rather than getting old and sick at the end of our lives, we could live longer, more fulfilled lives. Imagine if, rather than spending time and money treating preventable diseases, we could predict and prevent those diseases before they happen.
That is what longevity and healthspan science aim to do.
“Aging is one of the global challenges to humanity, alongside climate change, environment, global hunger, and poverty,” Mehmood Khan, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Hevolution Foundation, a non-profit that aims to catalyze research and funding into healthspan science, tells Inc. Arabia.
Aging has become such a pressing issue that, to mobilize interest in the industry, the UN General Assembly declared 2021-2030 the UN Decade of Healthy Aging.
“Healthcare is not a simple task, especially with an aging population, lifestyle changes, frequent outbreaks of pandemics, and growing non-communicable diseases. The good news, however, is that with the advancement in medicine discovery and improvement in data management, many of those conditions are preventable, predictable, and better treated than decades ago,” Mohamed Nasser, General Manager of Amgen Middle East and Africa, tells Inc. Arabia.
The Challenges of Aging
Since the 1960s, the lifespan of the global population has increased from 54 to 73 years. Despite that, the amount of time that we spend being sick has remained the same, with most people spending around half of their lives in poor to moderate health, and 12% of their lives in poor health, according to a study by McKinsey Health Institute (MHI). In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that we lose a decade of our lives to poor health
Longevity aims to not only help us gain back that decade but optimize the rest of our lives as well.
Today, there are one billion people over the age of 60. By 2050, that number will double to two billion. That means that 21% of the world’s population--an estimated 2.2 billion people--will be over 60 by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Caring for people over 60 accounts for half to two-thirds of all healthcare costs in developed countries, Khan tells us--a number that is expected to rise exponentially as demographics change.
Critically, countries invest in alleviating the symptoms of aging but under-invest in understanding its causes.
A WHO study published earlier this year estimates that the cancer burden will reach 35 million by 2050, a 77% increase compared to today.
“Aging is where cancer was 40 years ago. The interest is there, but the awareness of what is possible is not,” says Khan.
Enter the longevity market, which aims to reduce the number of years that we spend in poor health and, by extension, decrease the “burden of disease” on society, governments, and healthcare institutions.
The nascent industry, which combines biotech, pharmaceuticals, fintech, AI, and robotics, is estimated to reach $44.2 billion by 2030, according to Allied Market Research Group. But a report by strategy& notes that estimates of the size of the market do not account for its potential to replace conventional therapeutics.
“Access to innovative medical solutions, prediction, detection, prevention, and early management of most diseases play a key role in health outcomes in general, and cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis are clear examples of that,” Nasser says.
“The purpose of understanding the genetics of disease is to use that information to create new means of diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease,” he adds, noting that combining genomics with AI will significantly impact the discovery of new medications that can help patients suffering from age-related diseases.
The GCC Leading the Charge
Although MENA and the GCC boast a relatively young population, one of the biggest challenges is that people are getting age-related diseases earlier in their lives. In mid-to-low-income countries in MENA and Africa, Nasser tells us, most healthcare budgets go toward addressing outbreaks and pressing challenges, which results in under-investment in long-term preventive healthcare.
But the situation is different in the GCC, where the UAE and Saudi Arabia are leading the sector with an eye on R&D and drug discovery that can support healthspan science at home and abroad. These treatments, which can take over a decade to develop, require deep pockets, with many costing billions of dollars.
In Saudi, longevity and preventative healthcare as a key pillar of Saudi Vision 2030 has driven large-scale investments in healthspan science at home and abroad. The country’s drive to lead the industry is also behind the establishment of Hevolution Foundation--a non-profit that provides grants and invests in early-stage research and startups in life sciences and technology to the tune of $1 billion a year.
In the UAE, where two new R&D facilities specialized in longevity are being built, the sector is projected to hit $23 billion by 2026, reports Deep Knowledge Group. In Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, Aramco Ventures-funded healthtech firm Insilico opened what it says is the largest AI-powered biotechnology research center in the Middle East in February of last year. The center aims to utilize AI to find drugs that can prolong human life.
But it is initiatives like the UAE Genomics Council’s Emirati Genome Program, which combines genomics--the study of genetics--with AI to improve health and well-being that are putting the UAE on the map of longevity research. The program, which aims to integrate genomic data into healthcare, will facilitate advanced diagnosis and treatment and offer patients tailored preventative treatment programs for genetic diseases.
According to Nasser, addressing the unique treatment challenges of age-related diseases like cardiovascular disease cannot happen in silos. In fact, he notes that treating age-related diseases “requires a comprehensive approach that involves collaboration between governments, healthcare providers, the industry, non-governmental organizations, and international agencies to improve healthcare infrastructure, access to essential medicines, and healthcare delivery in the region.” He also believes that more awareness among investors about the biotech industry coupled with supportive regulations can help attract sustainable local investments to the field.
As the GCC eyes a top spot in a fast-developing field that has yet to see a global leader, it will be key to move beyond individual initiatives and embrace ecosystem changes that can illuminate opportunities for all players.
Wareed Alenaini, the founder of Twinn Health, a UK-based diagnostics startup specializing in early diagnosis of age-related diseases, is optimistic about the region’s prospects to lead the industry. “We still don’t know who will lead this industry and that gives the Middle East and especially Saudi the opportunity to be pioneers of the space,” she says.
An earlier version of this article was first published in the May/June issue of Inc. Arabia's digital magazine. To read the full issue, click here.
