Biotechnology for Healthy Ageing

About this call

Expected Impact:

This Challenge looks to accelerate the development and uptake of clinically validated interventions that target the root cause of multiple age-related morbidities. It will:

Deliver biotechnology-based interventions for healthy ageing

Accelerate the implementation of personalised care in ageing based on molecular phenotyping​

Provide recommendations for regulatory pathways addressing ageing as a target to inform developers, regulators, and other decision makers​, and

Improve citizen literacy on longevity.

Expected Outcome:

Ambitious proposals put forward under this call will deliver:

Proof-of-concepts (TRL3 completed) of biotechnology-based or pharmaceutical interventions that prevents or delays the onset of, or reverts, an age-related disease in a vertebrate model system, based on the hallmarks of ageing, taking into consideration practical challenges of implementing such an intervention

Tools to facilitate development or adoption of the interventions above, such as proof-of-concept validation of biomarker signatures or suitable pre-clinical models​, and

Approaches to address the shared regulatory hurdles and societal challenges linked to ageing-related interventions, thereby facilitating their adoption​.

Portfolio approach

The portfolio of projects selected under this Challenge will ensure a coverage of projects developing interventions, biomarkers and NAMs, considering the following guidelines for portfolio composition:

Interventions: no more than 5 projects. The portfolio of selected projects should collectively address a variety molecular and cellular processes related to ageing, and a variety of different age-related diseases.

Biomarkers: no more than 3 projects. Projects will be selected to capture different application areas (diagnostic, predictive, prognostic biomarker), with preference to the inclusion of at least one diagnostic biomarker).

NAMs: No more than 2 projects. Projects will be selected to capture a diversity of approaches to assess aged status in NAMs, different tissues or cell types and different use cases.

The selected consortia will benefit from mutual learning, and the exchange of expertise. Consortia will be encouraged to collaborate to address the following shared challenges faced by all ageing interventions:

Scientific: preclinical models; Biomarkers of healthy/unhealthy ageing​

Path to Market: Defining suitable regulatory pathways​, and

Societal: Acceptance and role of preventative / therapeutic interventions, Need for improved longevity literacy​.

Objective:

Applicants to this Challenge will be expected to develop a proof of concept in one of the following three areas:

An innovative preventative or therapeutic biotechnology-based or pharmaceutical intervention that prevents, delays or reverts the onset of a specific age-related disease. Such projects must address all of the following objectives:

develop an intervention that targets a fundamental molecular or cellular process of ageing, such as the hallmarks of ageing

assess the generalisability of the intervention (showing that it is applicable more broadly to ageing-related traits beyond the primary indication targeted) by assessing the impact of the intervention on another distinct trait related to ageing

demonstrate proof of concept by carrying out an interventional study in a vertebrate animal model of ageing that is physiologically aged. Projects are also encouraged to include small-scale interventional clinical studies but must at a minimum anticipate how the intervention could be feasibly tested in a clinical setting, and

develop a plan for exploitation, which considers ethical and societal perception, economic viability and regulatory approval. At least two of these areas, considered most relevant for the intended application, must be assessed in greater depth, suitably informing the project’s technology development and contributing to the portfolio activities.

A biomarker [1] based tool to enable the responsible deployment of ageing-related interventions, taking into consideration the following:

The tool should be based on previously identified potential biomarker candidates or ageing clocks. All types of biomarkers are welcome, for example digital, molecular or physiological biomarkers (such as frailty measurements), combinations of biomarkers and multimodal biomarkers); as well as biomarkers for different applications (e.g. predictive, diagnostics). Biomarker discovery is explicitly excluded

The tool should integrate different measurements of multiple molecular, anatomic, physiologic, biomechanical or biochemical traits, as appropriate, to comprehensively capture the ageing process (i.e. it should not exclusively measure a single parameter/hallmark of ageing)