Note, you can get rapamycin in the US with a prescription from doctors who specialize in longevity or simply have a commercial or some other interest.
Profiting financially from rapamycin is unlikely in most circumstances, as it’s now a generic. Profit likely lies in other rapalogs or mTOR inhibitors which can be patented. Tornado, run by Mannick is an example of one such effort. The hope is to develop a drug that is at least as effective, if not more, but has fewer side effects. A drug that can be patented, and has a superior benefit/risk profile than rapamycin. It’s a work in progress.
Ultimately, rapamycin is a stepping stone. We hope for more and much better anti-aging interventions that can give us a vastly greater lifespan and healthspan, in essence preserving and enhancing youth. Sadly - and I don’t want to be pessimistic here - I believe this will occur much further in the future than many life extension enthusiasts assume. I don’t believe it’ll happen within the lifetime of anyone currently alive. Obviously, I hope I’m wrong - I would like nothing more than to have a chance at such a miracle, but realistically it ain’t happening for me who is currently 67 years old. I’ve had a keen interest in this since I was a teenager, and half a century later, no dice. I reckon the next 50 years will be just as long on promise and short on delivery. We aren’t getting out of this alive, I’m afraid, none of us. Future generations, sure. They’ll pity us poor short termers, when they read history, just as we look with horror at the 20-something lifespans of cavemen. We may be some of the last generations to have missed the great lifespan breakthroughs, missing it by a heartbreaking few decades. It’ll be the single greatest tragedy humanity will experience, it’s not like missing out on flight, it’s missing out on the greatest gift the universe has, the miracle of life itself.
And so, we the last generations of the supremely unlucky are taking revenge on the lucky future generations. We’re trashing the environment, we’re leaving these future generations a practically unlivable planet. If we can manage it, perhaps we can even bury the whole thing in a nuclear wasteland, see how they like it. Let them know of the fury of these creatures who have been cheated so badly of life, a fury like that of the Replicants from Blade Runner, knowing that the clock is ticking with relentless cruelty. And so we’re electing leaders all over the world, who will bring on the Armageddon we demand as our final lashing out. You better believe, that as that light is fading and the aged body is giving up, the old men in charge will push that button to go out in a blaze of furious revenge. All you need is one such guy to do it, and the automatic chain reaction of responses will get us there… and there are so many of these old men across the world, one of them is bound to have an itchy finger, just one. Après nous, le déluge.
Oh wait, sorry, I just had a bad dream! In reality Dear Leader and his minions at governmental health agencies are hard at work with our best interests at heart making rapid progress in life prolonging interventions, a glorious future within grasp. Relax, and be happy, the cavalry is coming to rescue you, just obey and get with the program, don’t struggle, don’t cry out, be silent and compliant. Life is but a dream😢.
Meh, but seriously it is what it is, let’s make the best of it. For lunch today, I’m thinking tacos.
