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Jim O’Neill, appointed deputy secretary of HHS, brings experience from the Thiel Foundation and SENS Research Foundation. He supports streamlined FDA approval pathways, deregulation of medical-device algorithms, and libertarian “freedom cities” to accelerate clinical access and innovation in longevity research.

Key points

  • O’Neill’s HHS deputy role gives him oversight of NIH, CDC, and FDA policy on biomedical research and regulation.
  • He advocates lowering FDA approval thresholds and expanding Right to Try to permit phase I-only experimental therapies.
  • He champions ‘freedom cities’ and seasteading initiatives with permissive regulatory regimes to accelerate longevity innovation.

Q&A

  • What is Right to Try?
  • What are freedom cities?
  • What is the SENS Research Foundation?
  • How does HHS influence drug approval?
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Meet Jim O'Neill, the longevity enthusiast who is now RFK Jr.'s right-hand man | MIT Technology Review

Montana’s new legislation, championed by longevity enthusiasts and policymakers, allows licensed medical clinics to administer and sell unapproved anti-aging therapies that have completed only phase I clinical trials, expanding right-to-try beyond terminal patients. The law creates an annual licensing framework, informed consent requirements, and protections for prescribing physicians to foster a domestic hub for experimental longevity research and medical tourism.

Key points

  • Permits licensed clinics to sell senolytic and gene therapies post-phase I trials without full FDA approval
  • Introduces annual licensing, enhanced informed consent, and legal protections for providers under expanded Right to Try provisions
  • Requires in-state drug manufacturing, profit-sharing for local healthcare, and aims to establish Montana as a medical tourism hub

Why it matters: This law shifts drug-approval norms by granting early patient access to experimental anti-aging therapies, potentially accelerating longevity research.

Q&A

  • What is a phase I clinical trial?
  • What are senolytic therapies?
  • What does Right to Try mean under this law?
  • What informed consent safeguards are required?
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