The business of not ageing: Why people are spending $1,300 on longevity treatments

The growing longevity industry is selling a big aspiration – the ability to slow your biological clock. But as clinics multiply and prices continue to increase, the gap between what science supports and what consumers are actually paying for also raises questions about who has the opportunity to slow ageing and at what cost.

At Biograph, a longevity clinic with locations in New York City and San Francisco, an assessment day can last up to six hours and include the collection of more than 1,000 data points from more than 30 advanced diagnostics. This includes proprietary MRI and CT scans, a body composition analysis, VO2 max testing and comprehensive bloodwork. Members are welcomed into their own private suite for the day where they can decompress between assessments, review the information and shower afterward. Weeks after the visit, clients receive a personalised health risk profile that synthesises every data point.

This is just a glimpse of a rapidly expanding category of businesses built on the idea that ageing is something that can be managed, and for a price, slowed down. While the global wellness economy has ballooned in recent years, longevity is emerging as one of its fastest-growing segments.

Adam Rouse

In Grand Cayman, a 16,000-sq-ft (1,486 sq m) wellness destination called Meraki Wellness is opening this spring. In St Barth, Le Barthélemy Hotel now offers biological age testing paired with seaside mindfulness sessions. In Switzerland, luxury longevity clinic Clinique La Prairie debuted a program called "Life Reset", built around mental longevity, combining diagnostics with personalised nutrition, neurostimulation, sleep optimisation and stress-resilience therapies.

But the longevity business isn't confined to standalone clinics. It is increasingly becoming embedded in luxury hospitality, where hotels are positioning wellness protocols as a core part of the travel experience. At the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, a new $1,000 (£732) medical-grade recovery protocol called Flight Check addresses the physiological toll of air travel.

Flight Check was developed in partnership with Immortelle Integrative Health, a husband-and-wife-founded company that specialises in precision medicine. The 60-minute, $1,000 protocol includes IV therapy, laser-based immune fortification, light therapy that targets brain function and thermotherapy for circulation and tissue repair. For guests seeking more, add-ons include genetic analysis, gut health testing and stem cell therapy.

Evan Pinchuk, CEO and co-founder of Immortelle, says the programme grew out of nearly six years of observing hotel guests arriving in physiological distress: 90% of customers who stay at the hotel come by plane, he points out. The company now operates with about 30 nurses on site, and Flight Check appointments – limited to two per day – require 24-hour advance booking. 

Jessica Jacobson, Immortelle co-founder and director of patient care, says flight recovery often evolves into a broader conversation about longevity, noting that there are similarities between people arriving on flights and people recovering from surgery. "Flying creates this perfect storm of immune suppression that people don't know they have to recover from," she says.

What the evidence says

Deborah Kado, professor of medicine and research chief of geriatric medicine at Stanford Medicine, is cautious about equating data with outcomes. "Many of these wellness biomarkers may provide the client with useful information that can be used to perhaps improve their health," she says. "The key word there is 'perhaps'," she emphasised, "depending on which measure is being discussed".

For some of these commercialised interventions – like red light therapy, contrast therapy, infrared saunas and cold plunges – the evidence is thin. To assume an intervention in animals will also apply to human longevity is exactly that – an assumption, and "not based upon evidence that human life is prolonged," Kado emphasized.

Andrea LaCroix, professor at UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, is equally direct. "There's an absence of clinical trial data showing that any interventions extend healthy longevity in humans," she said. "These treatments should be seen as self-experimentation at your own risk."

Following the money

The price of entry varies widely, from $200 (£146) for a wellness screening to $1,300 (£951) for a 45-minute "cellular repair" session, and comprehensive annual programmes can cost several thousand dollars. No matter the structure, these offerings share a central pitch, either explicitly or implicitly, that advanced diagnostics and targeted interventions can help people live not just longer, but better.

The question is whether science supports the price tags, and Michael Doney, executive medical director of Biograph, draws a clear distinction between what he calls true diagnostic clinics and the broader wellness category. "There's a meaningful difference between wellness clubs, med-tech spas and true diagnostic clinics," he says, adding that at Biograph, longevity refers to extending healthspan and lifespan by "identifying and addressing risk early, often years before symptoms appear."

One in six of Biograph's members uncover urgent or potentially life-threatening findings, Doney says, adding, "the real differentiator is how all of this data is interpreted together". He pointed out that in the traditional healthcare system, testing is often scattershot and obtained over many days, weeks or months.

Adam Rouse

Frank Lipman, an integrative medicine physician offers a pragmatic view. "Science mainly supports the importance of a healthy diet, time-restricted eating, getting quality sleep, regular exercise, managing stress and having purpose and meaning in life," he says, adding that science may not support some of what is offered at the moment. "Science is usually slower to validate many cutting-edge treatments," he added.

Meraki Wellness co-founder Shula Clarke describes the luxury wellness destination's philosophy as one that's rooted in holistic wellbeing rather than clinical diagnosis. "We are very clear that we are not a medical or diagnostic setting," she says, adding that the data the team works with is used as a tool for insight and self-awareness, not diagnosis or clinical judgment.

The women's health dimension

Women represent a major demographic for longevity clinics, and menopause-focused offerings have become a distinct subcategory, often priced at several thousand dollars. 

Jessica Shepherd, a physician focused on women's health, sees both promise and risk. For most of her career, menopause was something women struggled with and got through quietly, often without support or real, solid scientific information, she says. "What's changing now is that women are speaking up, demanding better care and refusing to accept feeling dismissed or invisible," she added.

But she draws a clear line between evidence-based care and premium packages. "The line gets crossed when women are made to feel that they must invest thousands of dollars to protect their health or prevent decline," she says. "Menopause isn't something to be fixed," she added. "It's a transition to be supported."

The two-tier question

The longevity industry's increasing popularity brings up more questions than answers about health equity. Kado, from Stanford Medicine, notes that in the United States, a two-tier aging system already exists. "People with fewer resources will forgo preventative health care in favour of having food on the table and a roof over their heads," she says, adding that while this is the case, you don't have to be super wealthy to enjoy healthy longevity. "I am fortunate enough to have been able to participate in the care of those who are well into their 80s to early 100s, none of whom are consumers of luxury services," she added.

More like this:

• How to embrace an ageing face

• Five lifestyle tweaks to help you live well for longer

• How defying ageism can help you live longer

Melanie Goldey, CEO of Tally Health, a consumer healthcare company offering epigenetic biological age testing starting at $249 (£182), calls for industry-wide accountability. "Longevity becomes problematic when companies charge large sums while overstating what science can currently deliver," she says. "Fair pricing means being transparent about what is well supported by research, what is still evolving, and what remains unknown."

--

If you liked this story, sign up for The Essential List newsletter – a handpicked selection of features, videos and can't-miss news, delivered to your inbox twice a week. 

For more on business and beyond, follow us on LinkedIn.