Longevity Moonshots

The biotech industry has continued to forge new paths in research and development, offering innovative and potentially life-extending solutions to the public.

Life insurance companies, on the other hand, have not traditionally been major participants in promoting such medical advancements.

However, as we have seen in many industries, technological developments are creating not only historic achievements for patients and medical professionals, but also new opportunities for life insurers to take a more proactive approach to help improve public health.

One example is through partnerships with biotech disruptors.

A Multi-Cancer Detection Test

Going beyond collecting premiums and paying claims, insurers now have an opportunity to play a more active role in promoting promising new health-improvement developments, potentially disrupting the traditional relationship between life insurers and the insured and positioning insurance carriers as health advocates.

In one such case, Munich Re Life US has partnered with Grail to bring the biotech innovator's breakthrough multi-cancer early detection, or MCED, test to U.S. life insurance carriers and policyholders.

Through clinical studies, the test has demonstrated the ability to detect signals from more than 50 types of cancer, more than 45 of which currently lack recommended screening tests.

New technologies like MCED have the potential to meaningfully alter mortality outcomes at a population level, presenting a natural alignment of interests between life insurance companies and policyholders to help increase access to these types of technologies.

And this is not just a priority for private industry — President Joe Biden identified the development of MCED tests as a priority for the White House's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative earlier this year.

Offering Grail's multi-cancer early detection test may be a first step for the life insurance industry to develop long-term engagement with policyholders.

Further, the potential for insurers to become longevity advocates for customers is an exciting change for the industry.

Potential Challenges

To achieve such transformation, there are a few challenges that need to be considered and addressed.

1. User Barriers

Any cutting-edge product or technology comes with challenges to make potential users aware of it, help them understand how they can benefit from it and, most importantly, convince them that it will be a value-add to their care.

And if those hurdles can be overcome, the new product must be accessible.

Life insurers can and should take a more active role in helping policyholders obtain access to these new products and technologies that could have a profound impact on their health outcomes.

2. Regulatory Landscape

Life insurance is a regulation-heavy industry, and regulations rightly center on customer fairness.

Similarly, the biotech sector is tightly regulated.

Modern technologies and new product offerings create regulatory challenges that require a cross-company effort, as well as significant costs and support — both of which have the potential to slow the speed of new technologies to market.

To help streamline processes, international and federal regulatory agencies must prioritize responsiveness and alignment with each other and stakeholders across the ecosystem.

3. Resource Allocation

Across the insurance industry, some companies have put innovation on the back burner to focus on more pressing matters and illnesses such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the scope and exigency of the pandemic did not affect cancer cases.

Indeed, National Institutes of Health researchers estimated that missed or delayed cancer screenings could potentially result in cancers being diagnosed at a later stage and ultimately lead to more cancer deaths.

Insurers must continue to take the long view and invest staffing and financial resources into new ideas and emerging technologies to meet both current and future challenges.

This will require collaboration among business and innovation teams on shared goals.

While these challenges may appear daunting, they can be overcome through an integrated, cross-functional effort among distribution, insurers, reinsurers, regulators and biotech firms.

Having seen the industry develop over the past nearly three decades, biotech partnerships can bring incredible value to the insurance industry and more importantly, to people's health outcomes and quality of life.

Tony Laudato is the vice president, combination products & marketing strategy, at Munich Re Life US, a life reinsurer.