Adam Torres and Ole Mensching discuss longevity.
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Show Notes:
Why is now the time to invest into longevity? In this episode, Adam Torres and Ole Mensching, Co- Founder, General Partner at Apollo Health Ventures, explore investing in longevity and extending lifespans.
About Apollo Health Ventures
Apollo Health Ventures is a transatlantic early stage Venture Capital firm actively co-founding and investing in transformative healthcare companies targeting age-related diseases and aging itself.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right. So today my guest is Ole Menching, who’s co founder and general partner over at Apollo Health Ventures.
Ole, welcome to the show. Thank you for hosting me. All right. So excited to talk about longevity today and also get into Apollo health ventures. We’ll also talk about, why now is the time to invest in longevity? What, what can help with a healthy lifespan? Like all these things.
I mean, a lot of. A lot of business owners, a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of executives that listen to this show and all, all great, all great topics at Angle. So that being said, I guess just to get us, get us started here, Ola, what, got you into the longevity side of things? Like, like what, what interests you in this field originally?
So the thing is, I mean, In the past, I was investing and building companies and all kinds of industries, mostly with a tech angle, but then my no co founder and me in 2016, we started to think what can we do that has more impact on the world, I would say. So I mean, we were founding a lot of companies.
were already also doing a little bit of health related companies, but we were also doing meter search and so on and so forth. And we just wanted to do something with more impact on the world. And we were looking for topics that were not occupied yet. So new topics, like really frontier technology.
And then we were always very interested in medicine and in biotech. And we started to educate ourselves. On this topic, because we both have a business background, so we didn’t study medicine or biology or something like that. And then we found out that we are the first generation that has a pretty good idea what aging is and what kind of problems we have to solve to not age anymore.
And we thought Super interesting. Maybe we can do something there. And of course, as I said, we don’t have the background in biotechnology, but we know how to build companies, how to hire people, how to raise money, how to negotiate contracts. And so we thought, yeah, maybe we can do that. And we started to invest our own money.
We built a track record and then we were able to yeah, build a fund. And so obviously, you know, being a VC and building a lot of companies, there’s a lot of different, you know, spaces that you could have gone into, especially with that skill set. Right? You said you didn’t have necessarily the medical background in the beginning.
Like, was there, like, what are some of the, I know you mentioned, like, it was a newer area that you felt had good opportunity, but can you maybe be a little specific? Like, what are some of the things that you were like, Oh, no, this is where I want to start, you know, investing a significant amount of my time and effort and obviously capital into, and the reason I asked this question, by the way, is because a lot of, a business owners, a lot of entrepreneurs out there that are, that are listening to this.
And we all have ideas, right? I know you work with founders, so you get it, but I’m interested in your thought process and kind of what went into like, yeah, this is, this is the one. Yeah, so I can tell you, I mean, we were also looking, it is a very funny story because we actually, we rented a room in our basement of our office building and we met twice a week for one hour to discuss what we really want to do.
It was like a, it was awesome. Do not be distracted and this is kind of like you’re in college again or something like, all right, so we got the guys together, the dorm room and go ahead because we were like busy with our companies, right? Like a space where no one could interrupt us. So the things we were also looking at AI or machine, I would call it machine learning.
I’m German, very conservative. And we were also looking at robotic, but then, I mean, first of all, we wanted to solve. A very hard problem. And I think longevity living longer, or, I mean, our mission is to expand healthy lifespan and like secondary is of course also lifespan. But I mean, first of all, I mean, I mean, you want to, you want to become old and more healthy in your age, right?
Nobody wants to. 120, but be the last years like bad because, you know, you’re, you’re sick. So we wanted to solve a hard problem and then also what we saw, because I mean, we were doing a lot of companies with a tech angle. We thought that machine learning. Learning at this point in time, this has changed now, but at this point in time, machine learning was only working really well in the biotech field.
So, I mean, just to give you an example, I mean, this machine learning, you know, have automated labs. So 20 years ago, there were really scientists in a lab, like compound solutions on single cell lines. And then they would look by the human eye. If the cell line would start colorizing or glow to see an effect and today is done by.
Robert arms and they can drop multiple compound solutions on multiple cell lines. And of course, everything is read, not by the human eye, but by the camera and the machine learning algorithm. And today you can do drug screenings a thousand times faster than 20 years ago to a millions of the cost. And then you also have the maturity of the CIO industry and all together.
It is really a democratization of, biotech, right? Today, drug development or at least screening is much cheaper. So we saw huge opportunity there. And of course the most impact. But I think like the machine learning AI is also super interesting topic and I’m super happy that other people work on these topics because everything has to be solved.
Right. I can’t do all, but I mean, we are on longevity. I really love the space and we will have a huge, I mean, we already have a huge impact there. And so you’re going through this process of elimination. You’re in the, yeah, I’m going to say it. You’re in the basement, right here in the basement, you’re away from your companies, your teams, and you’re trying to really get this thing.
Like, like what’s going to be the next thing? Was there a moment or was it kind of like a progression or was there a moment like aha moment? Like, oh yeah, yeah, we’re going to do this. Like, what was that moment that you committed? So the thing is, it was a progression.
So it was like moment where we had this idea. We have to do that. I mean, we are German, right? We, we really believe in processes. I’m in, I’m in. Arguments. But maybe I should tell you why I think now is the time to really invest into this topic. Yeah. So, I mean, the thing is as long as humankind exists, People have tried to live longer, right?
From the first epos of human history, the Gilgamesh, over the first emperor of the Qin dynasty in China to modern days. I think that immortality , is a universal topic in all cultures. However, the difference today is that we have a pretty good idea what aging is. So you and me, we are the first generation that have the knowledge and the tools to really fight aging.
Yeah, I mean, that’s, that’s a pretty powerful thing to consider, right? Like that’s, it’s amazing. Yeah. And just think about the maturity of the CIO industry I mean, also here, like 20 years ago, only big pharma could do drug development, right? Because you had to build lab space.
You had to hire scientists. You had to breed animal models. You have to build up a. Production line compounds. And now, if I want to do a, I mean, if I think that I have a compound that is, for example, good against Alzheimer’s, I could start within 2 weeks. Right? I can go to a CRO in India who’s producing the compound.
I can find a CRO in China with the animal models to do the studies, and I can find a CRO in the U. S. who can do the analytic work. So, I mean, just think about that. And then, like, new technologies like gene editing. Most people forget that the paper the technology is based is from 2011. So it’s a very new technology.
And now the first companies with gene editing are in clinical trials, but it will be a revolution. And I think that’s why I really believe that biotech, the GDP contribution of biotech in the next years, I mean, in the next five years, it will be bigger than from the tech industry. And I see The biggest opportunity I see a real mega trend in this industry.
and you’re obviously taking your own medicine on that one, but based on going deeper into it. And I mean, when you’re going through all this, all this research and you’re going through it now, you have the idea, you start going after you start developing it. What are some of the things you found like along the way, like that actually allow people to extend their, live, their lifespan?
Like, what are some of the things you found? Okay, so let me first give like the answer what you can do on a natural basis, I would say, and then what you can do with drugs, right? So, but I mean, when you, that’s interesting because when it, when it comes to the things you can do today to live longer and healthier, People think first about things like nutrition or sport.
And of course this is right. Like nutrition and working out, of course, helps you help. But I would start at another point. I would start with prevention. So what I would recommend for everyone who really wants to live longer and healthier is that he’s sequencing his DNA or her DNA. And then really look at the snippets, what kind of risk factors you have.
For example, I found out I don’t have any risk factors for Cardiovascular diseases, which are the biggest, let’s kill a number one at the moment, but I have a big risk factor for diabetes. And the good thing is I can do something about it, right? Because I can change my vision. I can do sports, but I can also take diabetes drugs as a prevention.
So I mean, with my gene profile I think 70 percent of people get diabetes too, until they are 65. But with the knowledge of that. I can really do something. I’m against it. And I think I won’t get diabetes. So this is the first thing. And then apart from, analysis of your DNA I think you should do a regular blood tests and should look at some biomarkers for me.
The most important ones are. HB A1C for diabetes. It’s the long-term sugar, and then a little B for your cardiovascular risk. And again, here, I mean, you can do something against diabetes. And when you have like risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, you can of course also do something. You can do sports again, you can change your nutri nutrition.
You can take statins to get it down, right? Mm-Hmm, . Then another thing you should do every five years is a ultrasound of your ker. artery and see if there are plugs. If you already have plugs, you should really do something about it. Because with that, you can you can really prevent strokes and heart attacks.
And then you should also do a colonoscopy with 35 and 50 because colonic cancer you can detect it 10 years earlier, and then you can just cut it out. It doesn’t even hurt because you don’t have a nerve stare, but if you have symptoms of colonic cancer, your chances of surviving it are very, very low.
So of course you should do sports at least two to three times a week, mediocre load, not too much. You should sleep more than seven hours. And when it comes to food, I think the most important thing is that you don’t eat too much. So there’s strong data that caloric restriction works for longevity and what most people don’t know also protein restriction, but I mean, if someone is into that.
If someone wants to learn more about it, he really has to Google it and, and find out himself. But a lot of studies like caloric restriction extends, for example, lifespan in mice and rats by almost 30%. Yeah. And then you shouldn’t eat too much sugar, too much trans fat and burned meat.
And you should eat a lot of fibers. So the more fiber you eat the lower is your all cause mortality, your cardiovascular risk and your diabetes risks. So fibers are very good, also different kinds of fibers. You shouldn’t drink too much alcohol. I think also everyone knows that. But now I also want to talk about yeah maybe a truth that not everyone likes to hear.
So in my opinion, you can ruin your house. Pretty quickly with a bad lifestyle by drinking too much, smoking too much. Yeah. So you can really ruin it, but between a mediocre lifestyle or let’s say mediocre to good lifestyle, the super good lifestyle where you eat all the superfoods, do sport every day and so on and so forth.
I think there’s not so much to gain. then you really need drugs to prolong healthy lifespan. And the best drug we know of at the moment is rapamycin. It’s a mTOR drug. The problem with rapamycin is that you can’t dose it high enough in humans. The But the first company that we built they are in clinical trials right now.
And maybe in three years, if everything goes according to the plan, we will have the first longevity drug ever on the market. Yeah. that’s pretty significant. That’s pretty significant. Otherwise, I mean so, I mean, I could talk like days about that. There are also diabetes drugs that where you have strong data that they can prolong healthy lifespan. So, there’s a trial on, on metformin from near Basel. He raised 90 million, I think, in donations to make that happen.
And I mean, for example, also Ozempic has delivered a good data. R cables, it’s an enzyme that prevents the uptake of sugar in the gut. It only works in males not at least in male mice and not in female mice. But there’s, I mean, there are some drugs which are out there, but I’m not a doctor and I don’t give medical advice.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take any drugs, especially not without a doctor. Looking at that, but I mean, there are, there are drugs that you can already take that I would say strong data and that they can prolong healthy. Do you see like down the line? And again, I know you’re not a doctor and we’re not prescribing anything.
Anybody listening to this, definitely go, consult your doctor or somebody in medicine and, what you need to take, but just, but just in your mind, I’m curious, cause I think of this all the time. I think of it like you know, how, how. my parents or their parents, you know, at some point like taking a vitamin, right?
, even a simple multivitamin at some point that was introduced into the market and it was a novel thing and it was new. And so now we look many, many years later and we see all the other, you know, like vitamins and all these other things like, is this, this whole concept of longevity, especially, you know, obviously on the medical side of things, I feel like at some point a good amount of the population will be taking some type of longevity enhancing pill.
am I off on that or what do you see? I mean, cause you live in this space. That’s just me sitting around talking to my buddies, but what do you see? Absolutely. I totally believe in that because I mean, just think about the first vaccinations. So, I mean, there was also a big discussion about that.
Some people thought because, I mean, the first vaccination was generated or produced by the blood of cows. So there were stories that, that you would turn into a cow if you get vaccinated. We laugh now, but hey, that was, you know, somebody had to be the first to try. Yeah. Yeah, they might’ve thought they were going to be a cow.
Go ahead. I’m sorry. Not, not funny to laugh at, but go, I can’t help it. I mean, first of all mean, it makes a lot of sense to prolong the lifespan. I think we don’t have to talk about I mean, about the ethics, right? I mean, it’s just that people get diseases and that you shorten the time where they are very sick.
Then it’s also very good for society because I mean, the costs are humongous. Like I think the most, the most money from healthcare providers are spent in the last eight years of, of their clients. So if you can shorten that, we have huge benefits for the economy. And then I also think that a world where people become older is a better word.
So, because. We will make much more sustainable decisions when we live longer, we can invest more in our education. People who are older are less criminal, like all, all violence or most of the, violent crime is done by males between 17 and 35. I mean, of course, there’s other crime, like economic crime that is done also later in life.
Yeah, all together, I think it leads to a more peaceful society. And I mean, of course, when you tell now a normal person on the street, that will be normal that we take longevity drugs in a few years. It sounds great, but I mean, it’s just, if you really think about it, it’s just the right thing to do from different perspectives.
And that’s why I think it definitely happen. I mean, it’s really normal, like a vaccination. Yeah, I think have to agree with that. It’s going to be at some point pretty normal for those that are going to have are going to be able to have access to it. Of course. Because I think about, but then you think about some of the, I guess the, the other side of the argument, which I’m not, we’re not going to get in the ethics side because we don’t know.
I’m not, I’m not trying to play that side of it, but. You know, like how long and who has access to this and all these other things that are going to come up and that’s going to be as it’s more mature down in time. That’ll be other topics and other things that will happen. Like, but just like everything else, like you said, I get, I think your vaccination example was a good example, like who has access and like, when, how and all those things.
So I think it’s a super interesting topic overall And I think it’s one that’s just going to keep coming up and I’m, I’m now, and I’ll remember this conversation. I’ll be like, Oh, I remember when he said we were going to be doing this. Now, look, now, look, I’m going to the doctor and they’re telling me, Hey, Adam, do you add this, this, and this, this might make sense based on your, on your DNA profile.
Like, I think that’s, that’s pretty amazing. And I think also thinking about as we get, you know, as we get, you know, further along in age, yeah. That point of, it’s not just extending the quality of life, but it’s also the, or the, the quantity of life I should say, which is how long we live, but it’s also the quality of life, right?
Like if we can be healthier longer, that’s the point, right? That’s the, that’s the that’s the point. Absolutely. So first and foremost, so our mission at Apollo is to extend healthy lifespan. And the secondary effect can be that people live longer, but as I said no one is served if you, if you live until 120, but you are sick in a bed for the last 40 years of your life, nobody wants that.
You want to spend healthy lifespan and shorten the time where you are sick at the end of your life. Amazing. Well, I have to say it’s been great having you on the show today. And I’ve been looking forward to this cause I did want to have the longevity discussion and you’re that guy. So I’m glad, glad to have you on.
But that being said, if somebody is listening to this and they want to learn more about Apollo Health Ventures or to, to follow your story, I mean, what’s the best way for people to do that? I think they should just contact me on LinkedIn. So I’m very open for people who are interested in the topic. So, as I said we are mission driven, so I really like these people.
I really like to exchange ideas and they can just reach out on my LinkedIn. I mean, you can find me on LinkedIn very easily. Just connect with me and we have a, we can have a conversation or if this person wants to talk to one of our scientists or scientific partners, also no problem. I do an intro. If the person wants to learn more about the space, I mean, I know most people in the space, I can also make interest there.
And for everybody watching, we’ll put that link in the show notes so that you can just click on the link and head right on over. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with mission matters or connecting with our content, and you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, Hey, I don’t know what you’re waiting.
that subscribe button. We have many more mission based individuals coming up on the line and we don’t want you to miss a thing. Ole, again, thank you so much for coming on. I really enjoyed this. Thank you again for hosting me.
