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The Saudi royal family has launched a nonprofit called the Hevolution Foundation, which plans to spend up to $1 billion a year from oil wealth to support basic research on the biology of aging and find ways to extend people’s lifespans. In good health, a concept known as “health time”.

If the Saudis can spend that money, they could make the Gulf state the single biggest sponsor of researchers trying to understand the underlying causes of aging and how it can be slowed by drugs.

The foundation has yet to make an official statement, but the scope of its efforts is summarized here: scientific meetings It’s the subject of heated conversation among aging researchers, who hope it will take on major human studies of potential anti-aging drugs.

The fund is led by Mehmood Khan, a former Mayo Clinic endocrinologist and one-time PespsiCo chief scientist, who took up the CEO position in 2020. “Our primary goal is to prolong healthy lifespan,” Khan said. interview. “There is no greater medical problem on the planet than this.”

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The idea, popular with some longevity scientists, is that if you can slow the body’s aging process, you can delay the onset of multiple diseases and extend the healthy years people can enjoy as they age. Khan said the fund will grant grants for basic scientific research that causes aging, as others do, but also plans to go a step further by supporting drug studies, including trials of “treatments that have expired or have never been received.” commercialized.”

“We need to translate this biology to move forward into human clinical trials. Ultimately, it won’t make a difference until something comes out on the market that really benefits patients,” says Khan.

Khan said the fund is authorized to spend up to $1 billion a year indefinitely. Compare, division of the US National Institute on Aging A company that supports basic research on the biology of aging spends about $325 million a year.

Hevolution hasn’t announced which projects it will support, but people familiar with the group say they’re considering funding a $100 million X Prize for age-reversal technology and have reached a preliminary agreement to fund testing of the diabetes drug metformin in several thousand seniors. people.