XPRIZE Foundation, a nonprofit that funds scientific research, announced that it will give a $101 million award to anti-aging research, making it the largest prize pool in the history of the foundation.
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XPRIZE Opens Global Competition to Combat Human Aging
During the Global Healthspan Summit, XPRIZE announced its largest prize offering in front of the Hevolution Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on aging. Based on the official website, the XPRIZE Healthspan competition is a seven-year challenge to innovators to solve human aging.
The goal for research teams is to develop therapies that can reverse age-related degradation among healthy elders between the ages of 65 to 80 years old. Moreover, the therapy should help in improving the cognitive, immune system, and muscle function of the subjects.
Aside from a total prize of $101 million, a bonus of $10 million will be given to the team that will be able to reverse muscle degradation in Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) patients. The treatment should also only take about a year or less but should demonstrate an efficacy of at least 10 years.
XPRIZE Pools Prize Money From Sponsors
XPRIZe also gave thanks to its co-title and individual sponsors who made it possible to offer such a huge amount of money to researchers. Hevolution is funded by the Saudi government and allowed to receive individual donors from the country while Solve FSHD is an organization headed by Lululemon founder, Chip Wilson.
According to Forbes, $40 million will be donated by the Hevolution Foundation while Wilson is giving $26 million. The $10 million bonus will also be contributed by Solve FSHD, while the remaining amount is collected from the smaller donations from other XPRIZE supporters.
The XPRIZE Foundation has been offering prizes to outstanding research teams since 1994. Executive chair Peter Diamandis shared that he had already thinking of the idea for at least 15 years but decided that the advancement of AI, gene therapies, and more made this year the best time to open the competition.
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