By Harsimran S. Kalsi, Satvir S. Kalsi
Executive Summary:
When Wisconsin spearheads rejuvenation biotechnology research and development (R&D), support for the state’s rapidly increasing elderly population will be greatly enhanced and efforts to improve the state’s economy, quality of life, and national image will be accelerated. Wisconsin can accomplish this by leveraging its robust biohealth ecosystem and incentivizing cross-sector collaboration.
Problem
Current projections by the DHS indicate that by 2040, 16 Wisconsin counties will have 41-51% of their constituency aged 60 or older. Elderly individuals, on average, require greater healthcare resources to combat the diseases of aging. Now more than ever, it is crucial Wisconsin maintains an infrastructure which ensures innovative and non-discriminatory support for its growing elderly population. More importantly, Wisconsin must invest in innovations now that will have far-reaching positive impacts for the elderly in the near future.
Wisconsin has implemented support programs for the elderly, perhaps most notably through the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging (WIHA). However, these approaches fail to recognize the urgency and necessity of rejuvenation biotechnology R&D. Current aging R&D efforts are primarily academic, are largely more basic than translational—having no clear pathway to clinical implementation, are underfunded, and lack adequate focus on targeting the underlying mechanisms of aging.
Solution
Scientific understanding of the underlying mechanisms of aging has advanced tremendously in recent decades. These advances have largely gone unnoticed to the public. The scientific community now understands that the diseases of aging are a direct result of nine cellular events that occur as humans get older. These cellular changes are known as the “nine hallmarks of aging”. With the understanding of what causes aging, scientists across industry and academia have been developing therapeutics which aim to repair the damage caused from each of these hallmarks.
Therapeutics and technologies that repair cellular damage are known as rejuvenation biotechnologies. Rejuvenation biotechnologies differ from other medical interventions because they repair cellular damage instead of trying to prevent it. As of March 2021, 16 different therapeutics/technologies—each targeted to a specific hallmark—are being evaluated in phase 2 or phase 3 clinical trials. While the average human lifespan has increased over the last several decades, average human healthspan (the period of one’s life in which they’re healthy and not encumbered by the diseases of aging) has remained the same. Said differently, people are living longer but they’re living sicker for longer. Rejuvenation biotechnology can end this disparity between healthspan and lifespan (e.g., someone can be chronologically 90 years-old but biologically 60-years old).
Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to develop rejuvenation biotechnologies. For instance, Wisconsin possesses industry strengths in biomedical engineering and devices as well as advanced materials and manufacturing. Most importantly, Wisconsin possesses an often overlooked yet robust biohealth ecosystem of public and private sector organizations, all performing a wide variety of biosciences R&D. In 2019 alone, 43 Wisconsin organizations received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Moreover, in 2020 the total economic impact of the state’s biohealth ecosystem was $28.8 billion.
We propose leveraging Wisconsin’s unique strengths to turn the state into a powerhouse of rejuvenation biotechnology R&D, thereby supporting our growing elderly population and garnering national attention as a hub of innovation and pioneer on the scientific frontier. Below are recommendations to make this happen:
- The WEDC should help develop a venture capital fund that specifically invests in promising pre-seed or seed stage rejuvenation biotechnology companies. This fund will refrain from implementing the same risk-averse investment strategies that most Wisconsin funds currently implement, and which in-part cause Wisconsin to consistently rank last nationally in almost every startup activity metric.
- The WEDC should use grants to incentivize public and private R&D organizations to spearhead rejuvenation biotechnology projects and:
- Consider initiatives that ease burdens to collaboration.
- Consider initiatives that ease burdens to the outsourcing of R&D.
- Facilitate inter-disciplinary partnerships with organizations of various sizes, particularly young startup companies in addition to well established companies and universities
- The DPI should ensure that biology curriculums at the high school level incorporate up-to-date and scientifically accurate information about the hallmarks of aging. Ensuring Wisconsin’s future STEM workforce understands the hallmarks of aging will be crucial in empowering rejuvenation biotechnology innovation.
- The WEDC should host an open innovation challenge annually and subsidize the winners with the resources required to evaluate their idea using automated cloud laboratory services (built and located in Wisconsin) or using other methods of R&D outsourcing.
Conclusion
Every discovery is a step closer to improving and saving lives. This will take researchers, policy makers, members of the public and a coordinated effort, but it’s a frontier we have never been closer to than today.
Bibliography
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