AbbVie is quietly unwinding its 11 year longevity bet with Google's (Alphabet's) Calico Life Scie...

AbbVie is quietly unwinding its 11 year longevity bet with Google's (Alphabet's) Calico Life Sciences

A collaboration that started in 2014 with a $1.5B commitment around aging and age related disease is being unwound. Internal emails talk about layoffs for the Calico Life Sciences collaboration team and AbbVie reallocating R&D spend toward injectables, biologics and genetic medicines, as per STAT.

On the scorecard:

• a high profile ALS candidate, fosigotifator, missed its endpoint in the HEALEY platform trial
• at the same time an anti PAPP A antibody for ADPKD (ABBV CLS 628) just received FDA Fast Track and Orphan Drug status and is in phase 2

It feels to me like longevity is at a critical point now. We still don't have a universally accepted definition. But interest in the space is clearly heating up in many areas. I don't think this particular setback is the indication of something more fundamental going on, by definition, not every moonshot can reach its target.

What are your thoughts on the space of longevity (beyond the Silicon Valley Tech Bro life hacking and luxury spa retreats), and dedicated drug development towards it (vs. life style and other factors)?