Tiziana Life Sciences has bought a biobank containing DNA samples from 13,000 genealogically linked residents of Ogliastra for €258,000 (£217,000).
Napoleone Ferrara, Tiziana's chairman, said the deal gave the company a chance to study DNA samples from a homogeneous and well-characterised population, which could advance its understanding of ageing and disease. The company said the proportion of centenarians in Ogliastra was almost 50 times that found in the UK or the US.
A 2004 study found that life expectancy for both women and men in the central-eastern region of Sardinia was significantly higher than for residents in the rest of the island.