These 20 Companies are Competing for $101M (XPRIZE)

What if we could add 20 healthy years to human life? 

This episode is brought to you by AgelessRx, where aging becomes a puzzle that can be solved. The mission is to help you live longer and healthier by adding more life to your years through science-backed solutions and personalized care. Learn more at https://agelessrx.com/.  

That’s the ambitious challenge behind the XPRIZE Healthspan competition, where 20 finalist teams are racing to find breakthroughs that could fundamentally change how we age. Driven by the moonshot vision championed by Peter Diamandis, the goal isn’t simply to live longer, it’s to preserve muscle, cognitive, and immune function as we get older.

In this episode, Jamie Justice takes us on a journey to better understand the XPRIZE competition as we take a closer look at Minicircle (Walter Patterson), Longeveron (Brian Rash), NYC Vita (Miriam Merad), Mitochondrial All Stars (David Brown), AgelessRx (Stefanie Morgan and Anar Isman), Ani.Ai (Bruno Balen), and Goqii (Vishal Gondal), exploring their very different approaches to extending healthy lifespan. From gene therapies and mitochondrial interventions to stem cells, AI-powered discoveries, and personalized health solutions, these teams are pushing longevity science into fascinating and largely uncharted territory.

Dr. Jamie Justice is a geroscience researcher and Executive Vice President of Health at XPRIZE, where she leads the organization’s efforts to accelerate breakthroughs in healthy aging.

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 Intro

00:10 What Is the XPRIZE Competition?

04:09 Why XPRIZE Isn’t a Traditional Funding Program

05:37 The XPRIZE’s Approach to Innovation

08:27 Peter Diamandis on the XPRIZE Winner

08:54 Why the Moonshot Has to Be Daring

10:31 What Makes a Breakthrough Solution?

12:44 The Different XPRIZE Categories

13:54 Can More Teams Still Join?

15:24 Clinical Trials Must Finish by 2029

18:24 The Rise of AI Based Interventions

19:11 Unexpected Approaches to Healthspan

22:07 Minicircle: The Non Viral Plasmid DNA Vector

Minicircle

24:53 Why Minicircle’s Gene Therapy Approach Is Different

25:42 A Simpler Gene Therapy Platform

26:29 Why Plasmid Gene Therapy May Be Safer

28:57 The Challenges of Gene Therapy

30:39 Pushback Against Gene Therapy

33:04 The Future of Gene Therapy

34:18 How Teams Are Adapting

36:17 What It Takes to Reach the 20 Year Goal

37:17 No More New Teams in 2028

38:27 Why Some European Teams Are Struggling

40:56 Could Teams Merge to Move Forward?

42:07 Inside the Biologic Category

Longeveron

42:39 The Next Generation of Biologic Therapies

46:50 What Makes This Team Unique?

47:48 Engineering New Biologic Therapies

53:56 Building a Super Team for Healthspan

Featured Team: Mitochondrial All Stars

57:28 The Role of Mitochondria in Aging

59:27 Specializing in Mitochondrial Health

01:00:48 The Power of a Multi Modal Team

NYC Vita

01:03:11 Combining Different Approaches to Aging

01:06:37 Sharing Data Across Teams

01:08:50 Why Collaboration Could Change the Game

01:13:33 A Novel Drug Target for Aging

AgelessRX

01:14:59 A Strategic Approach to Intervention

01:15:52 Can We Achieve 20 Years of Rejuvenation?

01:17:18 The Chemical Combination

01:22:12 The Science Behind the Approach

01:22:46 The Potential of NAD+

01:23:58 Why Japanese Teams Stand Out

01:26:18 The $100 Million Incentive

01:28:10 Inside the Drug Category

01:31:57 Can We Add Healthy Life in One Year?

Ani.Ai 

01:32:49 Healthy Life in Just One Year

01:33:22 The Antibiome Approach

01:36:52 What the Future of Healthspan Could Look Like

01:38:37 The Best Piece of Advice

Connect with Jamie

Website: https://www.xprize.org/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.n.justice/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-justice-ph-d-6b933146 

X: https://x.com/j_n_justice  

The Teams:

Minicircle: https://minicircle.io/

Longeveron: https://longeveron.com/ 

NYC Vita: https://www.mountsinai.org/ 

AgelessRX: https://agelessrx.com/ 

Ani.Ai: https://www.ani.ai/ 

Goqii: https://goqii.com/us-en