Life Extension Stocks to Watch: Where Wall Street Meets the Fountain of Youth

Longevity-focused biotechnology has shifted from speculative science to a measurable extension of mainstream healthcare. In 2024, the sector attracted an estimated $7–9 billion in venture and growth capital as funding rebounded from the 2022–2023 slowdown. Investor interest is increasingly anchored in validated biology, especially metabolic disease, inflammation, and cellular aging, rather than unproven life-extension claims. GLP-1–based drugs from large pharmaceutical companies now dominate the revenue-generating end of longevity, while a smaller group of public and private biotechs pursue higher-risk therapies such as senolytics and immune-aging targets. For investors in 2025, longevity is less about radical lifespan extension and more about scalable healthspan improvements backed by clinical data.

• Metabolic drugs lead the longevity thesis: Obesity and diabetes therapies, especially GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP agents, are driving real revenues while reducing age-related disease risk.
• Big pharma offers lower-risk exposure: Companies like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk anchor longevity investing through large metabolic franchises with proven demand.
• Pure-play biotechs remain high risk: Firms such as BioAge Labs and Unity Biotechnology depend on early- to mid-stage clinical outcomes tied to aging biology.
• Infrastructure platforms are emerging: AI drug discovery and biomarker companies attracted over $2 billion in 2024, supporting longevity research without single-asset risk.
• The key question has shifted: Investors now focus on which companies can translate aging science into approved, reimbursable therapies at scale.

Wall Street has increasingly turned its attention to a theme Silicon Valley has explored for years: aging as a biological problem that can be addressed through science and scaled commercially. The longevity and aging-focused biotechnology sector attracted an estimated $7–9 billion in combined venture and growth investment during 2024, depending on how the category is defined. While exact growth percentages vary across industry trackers, funding activity rebounded from the slowdown seen in 2022 and 2023. For investors willing to look beyond traditional pharmaceutical leaders, the convergence of biotechnology, metabolic disease research, and preventive medicine is creating opportunities supported by clinical progress.

The sector spans established pharmaceutical companies applying aging biology to large disease markets alongside clinical-stage biotechs focused on cellular senescence, epigenetic regulation, and immune aging. What differentiates the current cycle from earlier anti-aging waves is measurable scientific progress. Drugs originally developed for diabetes and obesity, particularly GLP-1–based therapies, have shown broader systemic benefits linked to improved metabolic health and reduced risk of age-related disease. At the same time, senolytic therapies designed to target senescent cells have advanced into human clinical trials.

Rather than promising radical life extension, today’s longevity companies are focused on improving healthspan and functional outcomes. This emphasis on validated mechanisms and clinically relevant results has helped reposition longevity as an emerging extension of mainstream healthcare and biotechnology rather than a speculative trend.

The Metabolic Giants Dominating Longevity’s Mainstream

Eli Lilly hit $1 trillion in market capitalization in November 2025, becoming the first pharmaceutical/healthcare company to reach that milestone, driven largely by its obesity and diabetes drug franchise including tirzepatide products Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro (diabetes) and Zepbound (obesity), has been a major revenue driver; combined sales for the franchise reached over $10 billion in Q3 2025, making it one of the top-selling drug portfolios in the industry.  What connects this to longevity: GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP agents improve metabolic health and are associated with reductions in cardiovascular risk factors and other age-related disease risks, key components of healthy aging.

Eli Lilly guided 2025 revenue between $58 billion and $61 billion, reflecting strong growth from its metabolic portfolio. Novo Nordisk, the Danish pioneer of GLP-1 drugs with Ozempic (diabetes) and Wegovy (weight loss), remains a major player. Its GLP-1 market share was reported around 55–63 % globally in 2025, though share metrics vary by source and region.

Novo’s stock fell roughly 45 % in 2025 amid competitive pressures from Eli Lilly and growth concerns, according to market reports.  Wegovy and Ozempic continue generating multibillion-dollar revenue, with Novo’s GLP-1 sales reported in the several billions in early-to-mid 2025, though exact quarterly totals differ by report.

For investors seeking exposure to longevity-linked metabolic therapies, Novo Nordisk’s lower valuation relative to growth expectations is often cited as a contrarian opportunity in the broader GLP-1 market context.

Pure-Play Longevity Biotech: The High-Risk, High-Reward Tier

BioAge Labs (NASDAQ: BIOA) is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on metabolic aging and age-related disease biology. The company completed an upsized initial public offering in late September 2024, pricing shares at $18 and raising approximately $198 million in gross proceeds, with its stock beginning trading on the Nasdaq shortly thereafter. The IPO and its closing were confirmed through company press releases distributed via BioSpace and GlobeNewswire.

BioAge’s lead clinical candidate is azelaprag, an apelin receptor agonist designed to target metabolic dysfunction associated with aging. Based on publicly available disclosures, azelaprag has completed Phase 1b clinical evaluation and was reported by the company to be well tolerated across more than 240 participants. BioAge has presented data indicating muscle and metabolic benefits from these early-stage studies, along with supporting preclinical findings in animal models treated with incretin-based therapies. However, the company has not publicly reported completed Phase 2 clinical results in combination with tirzepatide; claims of such outcomes should be limited to Phase 1b and preclinical evidence as disclosed in investor materials.

Beyond azelaprag, BioAge is developing BGE-102, a novel orally administered NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor targeting neuroinflammation. The company has confirmed that Phase 1 clinical testing has begun for BGE-102, with dosing initiated in healthy volunteers. As of the most recent verified disclosures, the program remains in early clinical development, with further human data expected following completion of the Phase 1 study.

Unity Biotechnology (NASDAQ: UBX) represents a more volatile and historically challenged longevity-focused biotechnology investment. Unity went public in May 2018, pricing its IPO at $17 per share and raising approximately $85 million to fund development of senolytic drugs designed to selectively eliminate senescent cells associated with age-related disease.

Unity’s current lead asset, UBX1325, is administered via intravitreal injection and is being developed for diabetic macular edema. The company released topline Phase 2b ASPIRE trial results in March 2025, followed by complete 36-week data in May 2025. These results showed improvements in best-corrected visual acuity that were comparable to aflibercept in a difficult-to-treat patient population, supporting continued development of UBX1325 in ophthalmology. These findings were disclosed through official GlobeNewswire press releases and subsequent financial updates.

Despite these clinical results, Unity’s stock has declined sharply over time due to earlier program failures, including setbacks in osteoarthritis indications, which forced the company to narrow its focus exclusively to eye diseases. In January 2025, Chardan Capital Markets initiated coverage of Unity Biotechnology with a Buy rating and a $6 price target, citing the potential upside of UBX1325 while acknowledging the company’s high-risk profile and dependence on successful regulatory and clinical outcomes.

The Platform Companies Building Longevity Infrastructure

While pure-play longevity therapeutics attract most investor attention, platform companies focused on AI-driven drug discovery and aging biomarkers have also drawn significant capital. These firms do not sell drugs directly; instead, they provide tools and data infrastructure to pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and insurers. During 2024, companies operating in this category collectively attracted more than $2 billion in funding, reflecting rising demand for technologies that accelerate discovery in age-related medicine.

Insilico Medicine has raised over $1 billion across multiple funding rounds and uses artificial intelligence to identify drug targets, design molecules, and advance candidates into early clinical trials. The company, which operates globally with a significant presence in Asia, has applied its platforms to aging-related disease pathways and has moved several AI-designed compounds into human testing. In Q4 2024, Insilico announced updates to its AI platforms highlighting applications in longevity and age-related drug discovery, positioning itself as infrastructure for pharmaceutical development rather than a single-product biotech.

Function Health, while not publicly traded, reached a $2.5 billion valuation in late 2024 after raising $298 million in Series B funding. The company operates a consumer biomarker testing platform priced at $499 per year and has stated that its system has processed more than 50 million laboratory tests. Function Health positions its growing longitudinal dataset as a foundation for preventative and longevity-focused healthcare, with a business model that could eventually support an IPO or acquisition by a health system or insurer.

For public-market investors, the closest infrastructure analogues remain established diagnostics firms such as Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp. Both companies generate revenue from large-scale laboratory testing and biomarker analysis, but neither trades as a pure longevity platform.

Established Pharma Wading Into Longevity Waters

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is the long-term research partner of Calico Life Sciences, a longevity-focused subsidiary of Alphabet. Calico was founded by Google in 2013 and entered a broad R&D collaboration with AbbVie in 2014, with total potential funding commitments of up to approximately $3 billion. While Calico has advanced multiple aging-related research programs, it has not yet produced a commercial drug.

AbbVie’s core portfolio remains centered on immunology and inflammation, including Humira and newer therapies targeting chronic age-related diseases. In 2024, AbbVie generated roughly $54–56 billion in revenue, largely from its immunology franchise. Its large market capitalization and above-average dividend yield make it a relatively conservative way to gain indirect exposure to longevity research without early-stage biotech risk.

Other major pharmaceutical companies, including Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Novartis (NYSE: NVS), and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), have disclosed research initiatives or partnerships related to aging biology or age-associated disease. Johnson & Johnson’s market capitalization, roughly in the $400+ billion range during 2024–2025—positions it as a defensive healthcare holding rather than a pure longevity bet. Pfizer’s efforts to develop GLP-1 therapies highlight growing recognition that metabolic disease sits at the center of longevity-focused drug development.

The Small Caps and Special Situations

Rubedo Life Sciences raised $40 million in a Series A financing announced in April 2024 to develop therapies targeting senescent and other “pathologic” cells that drive age-related diseases. The company remains privately held, and there is no publicly confirmed or stated IPO timeline for 2025 or 2026.

Rejuvenate Bio secured $4 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) in July 2024 to advance its gene therapy candidate RJB-0402 toward IND-enabling studies for arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. While the company also runs canine gene-therapy programs that generate translational data, there is no verified evidence that dog-focused programs provide formally faster regulatory approval pathways compared with human clinical development.

Retro Biosciences was launched with $180 million in funding from Sam Altman, with the stated goal of extending human healthspan by approximately ten years through approaches including cellular reprogramming and autophagy. In 2025, the company reported plans to initiate its first human clinical trial, beginning with an autophagy-focused therapeutic program.

For accredited investors, these private, pre-IPO longevity companies represent high-risk opportunities with potentially high upside, but liquidity remains limited until a public offering or acquisition occurs.

Reading the Market Signals

Longevity investing increasingly depends on separating companies selling wellness narratives from those producing verifiable clinical results. Consumer supplement and wellness firms often promote biological age reversal without randomized trials or regulatory validation. In contrast, companies such as Eli Lilly, BioAge Labs, and Unity Biotechnology operate within established pharmaceutical frameworks, conducting controlled studies, publishing peer-reviewed data, and pursuing regulatory approval.

The valuation gap between these categories is substantial and continues to widen. As in prior medical innovation cycles, early-stage longevity companies trade on expectations, mid-stage firms trade on clinical data, and late-stage leaders trade on revenue. What distinguishes longevity is the size of the addressable market. Diabetes affects hundreds of millions worldwide. Obesity impacts more than one billion people globally. Aging affects everyone.

A successful longevity therapy does not target a niche, it targets the human lifespan. In 2025, investor focus centers on two questions: which metabolic drugs will dominate the GLP-1 market, and which biotech company will deliver the first commercially viable senolytic or cellular reprogramming therapy. Eli Lilly currently leads the metabolic race, while the second remains open, with BioAge, Unity, and several private firms competing to prove that targeting aging mechanisms can treat multiple chronic diseases.

The longevity sector is no longer purely speculative, it is increasingly strategic. Companies that extend healthspan create recurring revenue by keeping patients healthier for longer. The key investment question is no longer whether longevity will matter, but which companies will succeed and at what valuation.