ARPA-H Invests $144 Million in Seven Teams to Fast-Track Aging Therapies

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has selected seven research teams to share up to $144 million over five years through its PROactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience program, a first-of-its-kind federal bet on extending the number of years Americans live in good health.

PROSPR marks a departure from traditional disease-specific funding. Rather than targeting a single condition, the program aims to identify and intervene on the earliest biological changes associated with aging itself — potentially shifting the entire curve of age-related decline.

Who Won the Awards

The seven awardees span academic medical centers and commercial biotech:

• Stanford University will harmonize existing health datasets to generate a healthspan score and validate it through a one-year lifestyle intervention using in-home digital assessment tools.
• University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will run a Phase 3 hybrid trial repurposing three FDA-approved drugs — an SGLT2 inhibitor, rapamycin, and semaglutide — for aging outcomes.
• Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health will identify intervention-responsive biomarkers by analyzing prior clinical intervention trials.
• Apollo Alpha is testing an oral compound targeting energy homeostasis, lipid metabolism, and inflammation.
• Cambrian BioPharma will evaluate a novel rapamycin analog.
• Linnaeus Therapeutics is studying a compound with established cardiometabolic safety data.
• University of Rochester will assess a compound with an existing human safety profile.

Why the Compressed Timeline Matters

"PROSPR represents a tectonic shift in how we study healthy aging," said ARPA-H Director Alicia Jackson. Traditional aging studies run for decades. PROSPR's clinical trials are designed to deliver meaningful results in one to three years by using accelerated biomarker endpoints rather than waiting for long-term mortality data.

This compressed approach means therapies could reach patients — and reshape the economics of age-related healthcare — far sooner than conventional research timelines allow.

What Researchers and Biotech Founders Should Know

PROSPR sits within ARPA-H's broader Proactive Health portfolio, which currently accepts rolling Solution Summaries through its Mission Office ISOs. Researchers working on aging biomarkers, geroscience therapeutics, or digital health monitoring should review ARPA-H's open solicitations. The agency also has active programs in microplastics (STOMP), critical illness immunology (CIRCLE), and universal radiotherapy (1-CURE).

Grant seekers can explore ARPA-H opportunities alongside traditional NIH funding on grantedai.com. For a detailed breakdown of how PROSPR compares to NIH's National Institute on Aging portfolio, check the Granted blog.