What was high-grade life-prolonging serum?
That was the magical cure for one of the most difficult to cure diseases for every form of life: aging!
Humans, like almost every other form of life, were natural products that came with an expiration date. The cost of growing them was substantial, but the cost of maintaining their operation rose exponentially as they continued to exceed their original expiration date.
It was not that difficult for a typical baseline human to live beyond 130 years old by receiving special treatment. While the price was not affordable to ordinary humans, the wealthy could probably secure a modest extension after paying a very significant price.
The real challenge came beyond this initial period. Trying to extend the life of a person who was already operating beyond his original parameters became at least ten times as hard.