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UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Abstract

Though it once seemed like an inevitable fact of life, geroscience can now credibly promise to slow and even reverse aging. New geroscience treatments offer the prospect of large increases in human welfare and will attract huge demand. How can governments best support research, development, and commercialization of the field? The answer will depend on many factors, including public policies, supply-side resources, and market size. This paper focuses on the first factor, seeking the best public policies for translating geroscience from bench to bedside. It begins with a review of current geroscience policy, identifying the rules and institutions that help or hinder innovation in anti-aging healthcare. The paper then combines facts with theory to suggest ways to improve geroscience policy. It starts with a model policy that reverses the usual precautionary prohibition on unapproved medical treatments and instead opens access to them, subject to a variety of conditions including risk disclosures, strict liability for defective manufacture, design, or documentation, and other common law protections. Something close to that model policy recently became law in two jurisdictions. Most jurisdictions remain far from that ideal, however, so the paper also describes seven pragmatic near-term reforms to promote anti-aging medicines. If limited to fixing one immediate problem, reformers should convince regulators to accept biomarkers as standards for evaluating anti-aging treatments. The paper concludes by describing a near possible future where geroscience can fulfill its potential to cure human aging safely and effectively.

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