Event gathers in Portugal investors with 10,000 ME to invest in longevity

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On May 4 and 5, in Cascais, Portugal, the inaugural edition of what is billed as “the world’s largest event in the field” will be held with the participation of eminent scientists and investors with 10 billion euros to invest in longevity medicine.

Jorge Lima, the organizer of the Longevity Med Summit, stated in an interview with Pp that the event will bring together, among the “more than one thousand” attendees, some of the “greatest internationally renowned specialists” in the fields of health and research, including health tourism, biotechnology, precision medicine, regenerative medicine, and artificial intelligence.

The selection of Portugal to host the first edition of the meeting – and the organization’s partnership with the Municipality of Cascais (a district of Lisbon) until 2025 – is justified by “the reality and the ecosystem” of the country, which “is growing rapidly in this area of longevity.

Jorge Lima explained, “It is a small but very interesting market, considering the aging of its population [the average life expectancy is over 80 years and 23% of the population is elderly, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics for 2021] and the health industry’s current structure’s interest in expanding the field of longevity medicine.”

Event gathers in Portugal investors with 10,000 ME to invest in longevity

According to the responsible, who is from So Paulo and is the founder of Unipeer Solutions, “there is a lot of interest from international investors in this area in Portugal,” because the country “has good companies in the field of cutting-edge biotechnology, which have been operating for a number of years, especially in the Center and North,” and “there is a whole ecosystem that is supported by institutes, universities, and accelerators.”

“In other words, there is already a natural ecosystem that has a very positive outlook on longevity,” he stressed.

Jorge Lima emphasizes the rapid development of this market, which “in the last two years has received more than $5,200 million [about 4,691 million euros] in direct investments in small and medium-sized businesses and, above all, in the new’startups’ that have emerged in the last five years, and which “will continue to expand exponentially until 2030.

“Today, in addition to investment funds, there are also large corporations and laboratories with a keen interest in investing in the growth of this market. This market is projected to reach $44 billion [€39.6 billion] by 2020, and it will continue to expand. We anticipate a market expansion of approximately 43 billion dollars [38,796 million euros] by 2030”, he specified.

As he explained, the “longevity market” encompasses everything from therapies in the field of genetics or immunotherapy to the development of new drugs and therapies, such as those designed to reduce free radicals and other cells directly associated with aging.

In addition to facilitating discussion on the science of aging, regenerative and longevity therapies with the goal of improving health and well-being, the Longevity Med Summit 2023 aims to “reveal the main challenges that limit the development of these therapies” and provide participants with new business opportunities, networking with potential investors, conferences, innovation pitches, and mentoring.

“The Longevity Med Summit encompasses a diversity of sectors and areas of activity ranging from health, nutrition, pharmacology, artificial intelligence, longevity medicine, and digitalization to sectors such as economics, public policy, tourism, and education,” the organization explains.

Thus, investors in biotechnology from countries such as Israel, the United States (specifically California), the United Kingdom, and Singapore will be present, with a focus on biotechnology directed toward longevity medicine and regenerative medicine.

Jorge Lima explained, “The executives and managers of these investment funds will be in Portugal not only to seek new opportunities, but also to speak directly with scientists about opportunities in new trends and new markets to supplement their investments in these areas.”

According to him, these are “highly specialized investors with market knowledge,” although “the majority of them are still unfamiliar with the Portuguese ecosystem”: “This will be their first direct investment trip to Portugal. They will participate in the ‘pitches’ [short presentations] made by these small companies, many of which are’startups’, to learn about their business model, he said.

“If investors perceive that a particular technology is innovative, has a well-developed solution, and represents an opportunity, they will invest in those companies without question,” he said.

Event gathers in Portugal investors with 10,000 ME to invest in longevity

According to the organization, among the speakers at the Longevity Med Summit will be doctors, scientists, and researchers such as Shai Efrati, from the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University, in Israel, introduced as “one of the world’s leading hyperbaric medicine research scientists”, Charles Brenner, chairman of the Alfred E Mann Family Foundation (Department of Diabetes and Cancer Metabolism) at the City of Hope National Medical Center, in the US, and “responsible for several researches on the correlation of metabolism, diabetes, and the onset of cancer diseases”.

Other participants include Andrea B. Maier, professor of medicine at the National University of Singapore, researcher in gerontology and prevention of age-related diseases, and responsible for multiple studies in the field of aging health and dementia; Gordan Lauc, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and director of the National Center for Scientific Excellence in Personalized Health; and Aubrey de Grey, English scientist.

 

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