Baby Boomers drive Biotech

Baby Boomers are heading into their 50s--and they’re looking to biotechnology to not only to extend their lives, but to make their later years better. Unlike the Greatest Generation, which lived through the Depression and World War II, Baby Boomers are more affluent and control more wealth than any other generation in history. According to Paul Root Wolpe, president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, a Boomer's median net worth grew to $107,000 in 2001--or $400,000, if home equity is included.

So how do they plan on spending that money? By pouring it in to the most innovative medical treatments money can buy in order to stave off aging. They’re advancing biotechnology, both by consuming biotech products and by investing in biotech and medical device companies that could make life-saving discoveries. Baby Boomers are demanding not just treatments, but cures, and their demands are expected to push the industry to new highs. Therapies for obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and pain will be the biggest drivers of growth. While Baby Boomers won’t be getting any younger, they certainly don’t want to feel any older. “The boomers...have recast aging as a disease and death as a bad outcome,’ notes Wolpe.

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