In an announcement on November 29, 2023, XPrize Foundation Chairman Peter Diamandis stated that the winning idea could come from anyone anywhere in the world.
The XPrize Foundation is an institution that creates incentives for technological and health innovation.
According to Diamandis, the foundation is awarding $101 million to the team that succeeds in developing a treatment that rejuvenates bodily functions, aiming to address the aging population aged 65 to 80.
Qualifications for Participation in the XPrize
XPrize detailed that participants must be interested in developing a treatment and delivering it within one year or less.
Additionally, the foundation determined that the treatment must be capable of rejuvenating muscle function, cognition, and the immune system by at least 10 years.
Furthermore, Diamandis noted that interested individuals can compete as a group, as individuals, amateurs, startups, or students.
The judges will evaluate the muscle, immune, and cognitive function of participants before and after the treatment.
"A winning idea can come from anyone, anywhere.
You can compete as a group, individual, amateur, startup, or as a student.
Any problem solver is welcome. "
"The competition is seven years, meaning it culminates in 2030.
We hope to have a proven way to treat aging by then."
However, he noted that the treatment is not intended only for the wealthy but for real people.
Diamandis emphasized that the foundation is looking for real solutions for real people, not just for the rich and famous, and that its goal is to make this technology accessible to the general public on a large scale.
How to Enter the Competition?
Applications must be submitted via https://www.xprize.org/prizes/healthspan/guidelines
The prize is aligned with improvements in function relative to expected age-related declines;
10 years $61 million
15 years $71 million
20 years $81 million
$20 million in milestone prizes,
with $10 million allocated for each milestone.
Additionally, $10 million for first place in the XPRIZE FSHD bonus track to restore muscle function.
Why Specifically Muscle, Cognition, and Immune System?
These three areas were chosen because they are key indicators of health in old age: loss of muscle mass and strength (sarcopenia), cognitive decline, and weakening of the immune system are among the most significant causes of loss of independence and morbidity in the elderly. Measurable improvement in all three together is considered a reliable indication that a treatment truly slows or reverses aging processes, rather than just improving a single marker.
XPrize Healthspan is described as one of the largest prize competitions in the foundation's history, and it reflects a broader trend in science: moving from treating age-related diseases as separate events to a perception of aging itself as a target for intervention. The FSHD bonus track focuses on patients with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a population where restoring muscle function is an urgent medical need.
The competition is supported by donors including billionaire Chip Wilson and the Hevolution Foundation.
According to Diamandis, converging exponential technologies allow us to understand why we age, and it is time to revolutionize the way we age.
💬 Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on the article.