Can Saudi Arabia’s billions unlock the secrets to a longer, healthier life?

Longevity has been an underfunded area of biotech research, as the challenge of getting drugs approved and the high risk of failure have deterred most pharma giants and academic grant providers. Now, Saudi Arabia is throwing it a lifeline. For nearly a decade, molecular biologist Johan Auwerx fought to get investors to back his theory that Urolithin A – a natural compound produced by our gut bacteria from food such as pomegranates and walnuts – holds the key to healthy ageing. In 2016, Nature published a study led by Auwerx, a professor in energy metabolism at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), showing that Urolithin A stimulates mitophagy, a process that clears out old or damaged mitochondria from our cells, and helps maintain muscle function as we age. After six weeks, mice injected with a daily dose of Urolithin A were running faster and farther on a treadmill. Worms that received the treatment lived 45% longer. Although Auwerx secured grants and minor ...