The ASAGI Labs Longevity Consortium was officially launched on June 1, with participating members comprising Asahi Group’s research subsidiary Asahi Quality & Innovations Ltd (AQI), Alfresa Holdings Corporation, ASAGI Labs Inc, NTT Precision Medicine, Meiji Holdings, Morinaga & Co Ltd and Rohto Pharmaceutical.
It aims to bring together academia, corporations, local governments, medical institutions, and non-profit organizations to promote R&D and the co-creation of new longevity-related businesses.
Extending healthy life expectancy, sustainable social implementation, and responding to the needs of different life stages are areas of focus.
Tapping into individual expertise
Some of the member companies, including Rohto Pharmaceutical and Meiji, have outlined the specific areas and expertise that they plan to tap into.
Rohto Pharmaceutical, for example, hopes to leverage its cell science research and consumer engagement insights.
“Since our founding, we have been involved in a diverse range of fields related to the human body and daily life, including eye drops, gastrointestinal drugs, skin care, food, and regenerative medicine,” the firm said. “Our concept of longevity is to maximize health through science, and make life long and enjoyable. The starting point for this is understanding the mechanisms of the human body itself. We view the body as a multi-layered structure of cells, tissues and organs, and have honed our foundational technologies, primarily through cell research, for many years.”
Meiji, on the other hand, seeks to tap into its R&D capabilities in fermentation, lactic acid bacteria research and its pharmaceutical business.
For instance, it plans to disseminate knowledge on themes related to extending healthy life expectancy, including aging research, nutrition, gut health, exercise, sleep, cognitive function, frailty, and digital health.
There is also the possibility of joint research and new business creation with member companies and research institutions on themes such as food and nutrition, wellness, rejuvenation, disease prevention, and utilization of health data.
“We will plan and consider demonstration projects that lead to healthy behaviors of consumers, such as nutritional intervention, lifestyle improvement, visualization of health status, and health support in local communities and workplaces,” it added.
Lifestage wellbeing
Against the backdrop of advancements in aging research, the integration of multimodal information through artificial intelligence (AI), and the increasing multi-stage nature of life, the ASAGI Labs Longevity Consortium is targeting both life planning based on individual narratives and the well-being of society as a whole.
This is particularly important in an era where AI is increasingly being used to integrate and visualize complex aging data, through which a person’s true functional state can be objectively calculated and thereby enabling optimal interventions tailored to each life stage.
The Consortium’s main activities will include information exchange for R&D and business creation related to longevity; joint research and social implementation projects through industry-government-academia collaboration both domestically and internationally; and dissemination of information, public awareness campaigns, and policy recommendations.
In addition, there are plans to participate in the Health Longevity and Medicine Conference (HLMC), a globally recognized annual event hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS) Academy for Healthy Longevity.
Through regular events including pitches, study sessions and networking activities, as well as member-led subcommittees, the Consortium will develop plans to carve out new cross-industry markets spanning drug discovery and medical devices, food and nutrition, wellness, health tourism, and health-linked finance.
