AFS Longevity & Healthspan Industry Group and Leader Featured on Legal Strategy in Emerging Sector

“What ArentFox Schiff saw in the market was not a lack of lawyers, but a lack of legal strategy calibrated to the way longevity businesses actually operate,” Gayland said. “Many firms have strong healthcare, life sciences and technology practices – but longevity companies often span all three.”

He added, “Our Longevity & Healthspan Industry Group is designed around that ecosystem reality. We bring together regulatory, privacy, IP, corporate and public policy capabilities to help clients design business models that can scale within – and sometimes help shape – evolving legal frameworks.”

Gayland said that the major issues are “emerging where novel technologies and delivery models outpace clear regulatory boundaries.”

Artificial intelligence is one example. 

“AI-driven health recommendations raise unresolved liability questions as systems shift from analysis to prediction and guidance,” he said.

Peptide therapies, which have seen rapid growth followed by increased regulatory scrutiny, are another flashpoint. 

Gayland said, “In the peptide space, we are seeing quality-control and marketing issues that are inviting not just FDA scrutiny but enforcement from state medical boards and attorneys general under consumer protection and practice-of-medicine theories.”

Longevity reflects a convergence of health care, life sciences, wellness, and technology, with innovative companies often not fitting neatly within the established regulatory paradigm.

“The threshold questions we assist our clients in answering are often deceptively simple,” Gayland said. “Are you practicing medicine or another licensed profession? Are you marketing a product that falls within FDA jurisdiction? Are your claims framed in a way that triggers consumer protection scrutiny?”

For example, companies that offer lifestyle improvement or performance optimization while relying on clinical biomarkers, physician oversight, or medical data can trigger health care regulatory oversight.

 “The risk is less about bad intent and more about category confusion,” Gayland said. “Businesses that carefully define their product or service and claims – and align those with the appropriate regulatory regime – are far better positioned to innovate without inviting enforcement.”

Gayland noted the distinct challenges for intellectual property (IP) strategies for longevity companies. 

“In longevity, IP strategy must balance defensibility with interoperability,” he said. “Much of the underlying biology involves shared pathways and mechanisms.”

He added, “We encourage clients to think beyond patents alone. Trade secrets, proprietary datasets and carefully structured collaborations can all form part of a defensible position…. Thoughtful licensing and joint development agreements can help avoid innovation getting trapped in patent thickets while still protecting the core assets that drive valuation.”

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