Analysts at BoA put their cards on the table and identify Longevity as one of the most significant investment opportunities in the coming decade.
The industry that extends life is set to be worth at least $600 billion by 2025 according to analysts at the Bank of America, who gave an interview to Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) in the US [1]. The article cites several companies that are on the verge of what is described as “unprecedented increases” to both the quality and duration of the human lifespan.
Longevity.Technology: We believe that extending human life beyond existing boundaries is a compelling way to make money, especially as research in this area is advancing rapidly. The market is already worth $110 billion and to tempt investors, CNBC reports that Bank of America has flagged up five key sub-industries they believe are key to Longevity: genomics, big data/AI health, future food, “ammortality” and “moonshot medicine”.
Bank of America analysts Felix Tran and Haim Israel told CNBC they believe big-name companies like Alphabet and Novartis will provide solutions that mean humans will soon enjoy healthy lives far past the age of 100.
In their opinion, medical knowledge is set to double every 73 day period by next year, compared with every three-and-a-half years at the end of the last decade. Furthermore, they explained that the costs of genomic sequencing have fallen an incredible 99.999% since 2003, allowing precision genetic engineering to push the bounds of life expectancy, which will, the analysts claim, herald a ‘techmanity’ revolution – one where technology meets humanity and the edges of both are blurred.
Cellular Engineering
Bank of America explained to CNBC that they predict that the study of the human genome, genomics, is going to be a $41 billion industry by 2025. The next generation of gene editing technology could offer revolutionary advances in both the prevention and treatment of disease. The BoA highlighted several companies they feel are making great strides in this field, such as $46 billion genome sequencer Illumina, $27 billion lab instrument manufacturer Agilent and $89 billion life science equipment maker Danaher. Tran and Israel told CNBC that llumina especially is playing a critical part in moving disease research forward, developing drugs and creating molecular tests.
Big data/AI health
The rise of artificial intelligence and the ensuing surge in productivity is being combined with an enormous amount of health-care data to enable researchers to analyse both the causes and effects of diseases and conditions. As this collaboration, set to grow to $36 billion by 2025 according to CNBC, develops, treatment will become faster, more precise and cheaper. Global mega-companies investing in this area include Alphabet [2] (Google’s parent company) Amazon [3] and Apple [4].
Nutraceuticals
The twin pressures of ever-healthier eating and sustainable resources mean that companies like Dow DuPont and WW International should, according to BofA, leverage agricultural gene editing as well as healthier lifestyles and consumption. The UN estimates that the number of people on earth will grow by almost 2bn to 9.8bn by 2050 [5]. This means that both crop yield and disease and pest resistance needs to improve, in order to feed an ever-growing population that is also living longer.
Bio-cybernetics
Research in the sector of living without the threat of dying from disease or old age or ‘ammorality’ is expected to be worth $504 billion by 2025, according to BofA, improving both healthspans and lifespans. Players in the ammortality world include Intuitive Surgical [6], a manufacturer of robotic products designed to improve clinical outcomes through minimally invasive surgery, most notably with the da Vinci Surgical System, and Zimmer, which is working with Apple Watch on a clinical study for 10,000 knee and hip replacement patients [7].
Drug discovery
According to CNBC, companies working on ‘moonshots’ — big leap-forward cures or revolutionary healthcare solutions — include Illumina, Neurocrine, Sangamo and Vertex Pharma, as well as Google’s Calico, a moonshot company focused on extending life [8]. Research is ongoing on cures or treatments for a variety of debilitating diseases, ranging from cystic fibrosis to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as the Obama administration’s ambitious national cancer moonshot initiative [9].
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/techs-next-big-disruption-could-be-delaying-death.html
[2] https://bit.ly/2YZ17Y7
[3] https://datafloq.com/read/amazon-leveraging-big-data/517
[4] https://www.cbinsights.com/research/apple-healthcare-strategy-apps/
[5] https://www.ft.com/content/74fb67b8-2933-11e9-a5ab-ff8ef2b976c7
[6] https://www.intuitive.com/
[7] https://www.mddionline.com/zimmer-biomet-use-apple-watch-clinical-trial
[8] https://www.calicolabs.com/news/2018/11/28/
[9] https://www.cancer.gov/research/key-initiatives/moonshot-cancer-initiative
