Webinar Recording: The Plan to End Aging: A Vision for the Future of Longevity Biotechnology

CDD Vault recently hosted the second webinar in our Longevity Webinar Series featuring Omri Amirav-Drory, General Partner at NFX Capital. During the presentation, Omri shared his vision for the future of longevity biotechnology, outlining the scientific advances, emerging technologies, and investment strategies he believes could change how aging is treated.

Rather than viewing aging as an inevitable part of life, Omri presented it as one of medicine's unsolved challenges. Throughout the webinar, he explored why addressing the underlying biology of aging could transform healthcare and introduced the technologies he believes could play an important role in extending healthy human lifespan.

Why Aging Is the Problem to Solve

Omri opened the presentation by sharing his personal mission to "end involuntary death." Rather than focusing solely on treating individual diseases, he argued that aging is the underlying driver of many of the conditions that ultimately shorten our lives, making it one of the most important biological problems to solve.

He described how human life expectancy has doubled twice throughout history from approximately 20 years to 40 years and then to 80 years. Omri believes the next major milestone is what he calls the "Race to 160." According to Omri, reaching 160 years would represent an important milestone in medicine because it would require addressing the underlying causes of aging itself.

Beyond Treating Diseases One at a Time

To frame the different approaches to longevity, Omri introduced his Plan A, B, C, and D: death, cryonics, treating individual diseases through bioengineering, and ultimately addressing aging itself through the Three Rs of Radical Longevity.

He compared today's disease-by-disease approach to an endless game of "whack-a-mole" solving one disease only for another age-related condition to emerge. Instead, he proposed focusing on the biological processes that contribute to many diseases simultaneously.

The Three Rs of Radical Longevity

At the center of Omri's framework are the Three Rs of Radical Longevity: Reprogram, Regenerate, and Replace.

Reprogramming builds on advances in epigenetics and the discovery of the Yamanaka factors. Omri described how partial cellular reprogramming aims to restore cells to a more youthful state while preserving their identity, highlighting early clinical development and ongoing work to improve delivery technologies.

Regeneration draws inspiration from organisms capable of naturally repairing damaged tissues. Researchers are working to better understand these mechanisms and investigate ways to shift human tissues from fibrosis toward regeneration.

Replacement represents Omri's long-term vision of generating young, genetically identical cells, tissues, and eventually organs from a patient's own cells. He highlighted Renewal Bio's work with stem-cell-derived embryo models as one approach being explored toward this goal.

Converging Technologies Are Advancing Longevity Research

Omri highlighted developments in stem cell biology, developmental biology, gene delivery, artificial intelligence, single-cell analysis, and immune engineering as technologies that could help advance longevity research.

Rather than viewing these innovations independently, he described them as advances that together could make the Three Rs increasingly achievable over the coming years.

Extending Healthspan Alongside Lifespan

Omri's vision of longevity is not simply about living longer while experiencing an extended period of age-related disease. He described a future in which people remain healthy and productive for longer, potentially reducing age-related healthcare costs and changing how society approaches work and retirement. He connected these ideas to broader challenges surrounding Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and an aging population.

Investment and Collaboration Will Shape the Future

Omri also argued that aging biology remains underfunded relative to its impact on human health. Omri noted that, by his estimates, approximately 0.5% of NIH funding is allocated to aging biology and less than 3% of biotech startup funding goes toward longevity. Drawing on his experience as an investor, he emphasized the need for companies seeking venture funding to balance ambitious scientific goals with practical paths toward commercialization.