Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis is making a significant return to aging research, positioning itself to develop breakthrough treatments in what could become one of healthcare's most lucrative markets. Last December, the company announced a partnership with California-based BioAge Labs that could cost up to $550 million (CHF453.5 million), signaling its serious commitment to understanding and treating age-related diseases.
The partnership centers on BioAge's extensive data collection—one of the world's most comprehensive datasets on human longevity available for drug discovery. This includes exclusive rights to genomic profiles, medical histories, and health data from thousands of individuals tracked for up to 50 years. Using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, BioAge aims to identify key determinants of healthy aging to facilitate new therapeutic development.
The Strategic Pivot to Aging Research
After missing the obesity drug boom represented by blockbusters like Wegovy and Ozempic, Novartis is actively seeking new growth drivers. In 2023, the company established a dedicated research group called Diseases of Aging and Regenerative Medicine (DARe), building on its existing expertise in musculoskeletal diseases.
"Our goal is to understand the biological drivers of aging to develop novel treatments for diseases related to aging," explained Michaela Kneissel, global head of DARe at Novartis. "The hope is this opens the door to not only treat one illness but tackle entire classes of diseases."
This strategic focus comes amid unprecedented demographic shifts worldwide. United Nations projections indicate that by 2050, the global population of people aged 60 and over will double from 1 billion in 2020 to 2.1 billion—approximately 20% of the world's population. Even more dramatically, the number of people aged 80 and over is expected to triple to nearly 430 million.
A Growing Market with Urgent Needs
The financial implications of this demographic shift are substantial. The market for geriatric medicines is projected to grow from $153 billion in 2023 to $222.5 billion by 2030, according to Research and Markets analytics firm.
Countries worldwide are investing heavily in improving healthcare for aging populations. Brazil recently established its first national-level policy on dementia care, facing projections that dementia cases will triple from 1.8 million in 2019 to 5.6 million by 2050. Similar initiatives are underway in China, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.
The aging process increases risk factors for numerous conditions including coronary heart disease, dementia, and cancer. While pharmaceutical companies have long developed treatments for these individual conditions, they've historically invested little in understanding the fundamental biology of aging itself—the processes that explain why cells, tissues, and organs gradually lose function.
Technological Advances Driving Research
Recent scientific and technological breakthroughs have dramatically changed the landscape of aging research. The ability to analyze vast datasets using artificial intelligence has made research faster, more efficient, and less expensive.
"We have reached the age of the quantification of biology," noted Kneissel. "There is an enormous amount of data coming in on human biology. We now have the ability to address spaces that we couldn't before and use human data rather than relying a lot on data from animals."
Genomic sequencing costs have plummeted, with Vittorio Sebastiano, a reproductive biologist at Stanford University and founder of Turn Biotechnologies, noting: "We can now get our genome sequenced for a few hundred bucks. In the past we weren't able to access this much information so cheaply. And we also have much better ways to manage it."
Learning from Past Efforts
This isn't Novartis's first venture into aging research. In 2014, the company conducted clinical trials of its cancer drug everolimus for potential anti-aging properties after research showed a related drug, rapamycin, extended lifespan in several animal species. Both drugs target mTOR, a protein regulating many cellular processes affected by age.
Despite initial excitement, Novartis later divested this research to ResTORbio during a corporate restructuring. The decision was influenced by regulatory challenges—the FDA doesn't recognize aging itself as a treatable condition—and the approaching patent expiration for everolimus.
The company's renewed interest reflects both scientific progress and practical necessity. Many age-related diseases have proven difficult to address through traditional drug discovery approaches. Decades of Alzheimer's research have yielded limited treatment options, with scientists still uncertain about the disease's fundamental causes. Similarly, Novartis recently dropped two drug candidates for osteoarthritis—a condition affecting approximately 600 million people—after Phase II trials showed insufficient pain relief.
New Approaches to Age-Related Diseases
"There's more interest from big pharma in the biology of aging as a source of novel targets, because for diseases like Alzheimer's it's clear that to treat them you have to look earlier in the course of disease, before symptoms even start," explained Kristen Fortney, CEO and founder of BioAge.
While Novartis hasn't detailed all specific disease targets for DARe, "exercise biology" has been identified as a key priority. This focus could potentially lead to treatments that preserve muscle mass during weight loss or regenerate knee cartilage for osteoarthritis patients.
The success of GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic in treating obesity has further energized the field, demonstrating that a single drug can potentially address multiple conditions. GLP-1, a gut hormone regulating blood sugar, appears to lose function with age, suggesting potential applications in age-related conditions.
Regulatory and Economic Challenges
Despite scientific progress, significant regulatory hurdles remain. Aging itself is not classified as a disease by regulatory authorities, meaning drugs targeting the aging process broadly cannot receive approval or reimbursement. Instead, companies must focus on specific, diagnosable conditions related to aging.
Johan Auwerx, an expert in cellular metabolism at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, argues that healthcare systems need to rethink how pharmaceutical companies are incentivized to develop therapies for age-related diseases.
"Health systems and insurers won't be able to cope with the increase in spending from an aging population," Auwerx noted. "They need to create a model so that the people who do serious work to bring down these costs can get their money back. Then you will see the drug industry get involved."
The financial burden is already substantial. In Switzerland, people over 60 accounted for more than half (52%) of total healthcare costs in 2022 while representing only a quarter of the population, according to consulting firm Deloitte.
From Lab to Market: The Challenge Ahead
Kneissel emphasizes that DARe's focus is on developing medicines rather than pursuing longevity for its own sake. "It's just an indirect consequence in our case," she explained.
Nevertheless, any successful drug based on the biology of aging would represent a significant breakthrough for a field that has struggled to translate laboratory science into marketable treatments. Calico, a subsidiary of Google's parent Alphabet established in 2013 with approximately $3.5 billion in investment, has produced numerous academic papers but no approved drugs after more than a decade of research.
Other setbacks in the field include Unity Biotechnology's recent layoff of its entire workforce following disappointing clinical trial results, and BioAge's decision to halt development of an obesity drug due to safety concerns.
"People are really realizing that prevention is valuable to the healthcare system. That has always been the aging pitch," said Fortney. "What we need now is for some drugs to make it across the finish line."
As Novartis commits significant resources to aging research, the pharmaceutical industry watches closely. Success could transform treatment approaches for numerous age-related conditions, while failure would represent another setback for a promising but challenging field. Either way, the company's investment signals that aging research has moved from scientific curiosity to serious business strategy.
