With over 3000 scientists, government representatives, investors, doctors and entrepreneurs convening in Riyadh, Dr Khan sets a positive note for the future healthspan economy.
This year Hevolution Foundation’s second Global Healthspan Summit (GHS) is notably bigger, and the healthspan narrative is undoubtedly coalescing and garnering the attention of big government and big business.
“Today we have one billion people on the planet over the age of 60,” said Dr Khan kicking off the Summit this morning in his opening keynote. “By 2050, this will double to two billion people, while the number of young people will continue to decline. Today there are more people over the age of 60 than there are under the age of 5. This means we have more retirees than young children. If you project that into the future, over the next 20-30 years, we will have a huge mismatch between those who are healthy and able to contribute actively and those who are recipients. That’s if we don’t do something different. Our goal is to change that future.”
“The best job we can do is keep people healthy … I like to use the word consumers, because we’re in the business of maintaining them as consumers and not becoming patients,” he continued. “We have to change our language; every one of us is a consumer and all of us hope we don’t become patients.”
After a period of set-up and talent acquisition, Hevolution Foundation is obviously picking-up the pace. “We have now invested and funded over $400m with many more programs to come. We have already announced investments in four biotech companies, and we are on the cusp of announcing several more companies in the weeks to come,” said Khan. “Today, over 250 scientists around the world, in over 200 laboratories, are Hevolution partners and grant recipients, including twenty-four scientists right here in the Kingdom who are the first scientists that have started progressing aging science in the entire GCC.”
After so many years of the pioneers navigating the longevity and healthspan narrative while seeking scientific recognition and investment capital, it is obvious that we are on the brink of a new industry that is going to emerge into one of the world’s biggest – and Hevolution obviously has its sights set on moving the needle.
“We are the biggest philanthropy funding organisation in this field, second to none,” explained Khan. “There is no precedent for that, and nobody expected that, let alone the fact that we launched it from the middle of the world. This is where the East meets the West, and we bring together the best of both worlds right here today.”
Khan continued: “This is your opportunity to communicate. To figure out how to collaborate, how to convene in smaller subgroups and to push the boundaries of science, and from that identify opportunities to create – not only new policy frameworks, new regulations and new sources of funding, but new businesses.”
The imminent arrival of the 2025 Hevolution Global Healthspan Report will examine the current state and future prospects of healthspan. The report will highlight Longevity.Technology research data that illustrates that, in 2024, healthspan equity investment hit $7.33bn, over double the previous like-for-like period. Khan spoke to this opportunity as he closed his keynote.
“For the entrepreneurs in this room, there is no other business in the world that is going to affect every single human of 8 billion people. You have the chance to create businesses that will not only give you financial opportunity, given the scale, but will touch the lives of every single human being. The benefit of this and the value of this will not only be seen in our generation, but for generations to come.
“We are changing the future of generations to come; the alternative is not acceptable. The alternative of a world’s population that is sick, that we cannot afford to take care of, that we cannot support, is not an option anymore. For those of you who were talking about this decades ago, the pioneers of this field, [we have] heartfelt gratitude because you brought us here. Our job is to lift you from there.”
To watch the Global Healthspan Summit live today and tomorrow, please go to: www.hevolution.com
