Drugmakers look to push the boundaries of old age

ZURICH (Reuters) - Google's ambition to defy the limits of ageing has fired up interest in the field, drawing in drug companies who are already quietly pioneering research, despite the regulatory and clinical hurdles that remain.

In September life-science company Calico, which was set up by Google last year to investigate the aging process, joined with U.S. drugmaker AbbVie in committing an initial $250 million apiece to developing cures for age-related diseases.

Away from the limelight, however, Switzerland's Novartis and Denmark's Novo Nordisk are already testing new roles for existing drugs, which could keep people alive for longer, as they look to cater to the ever larger numbers living into their 80s and beyond.

By 2020 people aged 60 and older will outnumber children younger than five for the first time in history, according to a paper published in the Lancet medical journal.

But with greater age comes a bigger burden of disease.

At least 300 million people will suffer from diabetes by 2025, the World Health Organization estimates, while the global number of dementia sufferers is expected to triple to 135 million by 2050.

The goal is not to create some "elixir of life" pill to help people live ever longer, but rather to maximize healthy lifespan and reduce the period of end-of-life sickness and dependency.

Alex Zhavoronkov, chief executive of Baltimore-based biotech company Insilico Medicine, believes shifting healthcare spending from treatment to prevention will be central to this.

"Instead of trying to keep a person alive for another three to six months and essentially bankrupting healthcare systems, it might make sense to introduce drugs that prevent the onset of age-related diseases and aging itself," he said.