Lung drug linked to younger ‘biological age’, raising hopes for anti-aging treatment

A drug candidate developed for a serious lung disease made patients look biologically younger on six different aging clocks after 12 weeks, according to an analysis of clinical-trial data. The finding has renewed interest in whether medicines might one day slow aging, although the researchers stressed that the evidence remains preliminary.

The study examined rentosertib, a candidate treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF. The disease causes lung tissue to thicken and scar, gradually reducing lung function. Insilico Medicine developed the drug using artificial intelligence to identify a disease-related target protein and design a molecule intended to inhibit it.

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The first study to show very clearly that predicted biological age can decrease.

Insilico conducted a phase 2a trial last year involving 71 IPF patients aged over 40 at 21 medical institutions in China. Participants took rentosertib at different doses, including 30 milligrams once or twice daily and 60 milligrams once daily, or received a placebo. The original trial assessed whether the drug could improve lung function.

Researchers later analyzed blood data from 42 participants who had agreed to serum-protein testing. Their average age was 67.1. Using six protein-based aging clocks, which estimate biological age from the amount and pattern of proteins in the blood, the team found that patients taking rentosertib shifted toward a lower biological age on every clock. The placebo group showed little change or a slight increase over the same period. The most consistent changes appeared among participants taking 30 milligrams twice daily.

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The drug looks encouraging.

The team also compared protein changes with typical aging-related changes recorded among 55,319 older people in the UK Biobank. In the twice-daily 30-milligram group, some proteins changed in the opposite direction from ordinary aging patterns, including proteins involved in cellular senescence and metabolism.

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There is still no definitive clinical trial to make a final judgment.

Harvard Medical School professor Vadim Gladyshev told The New York Times that the study was “the first study to show very clearly that predicted biological age can decrease.” But he and other researchers warned against treating the result as proof that rentosertib slows aging. Only 42 people underwent the aging analysis, follow-up lasted 12 weeks, and all participants had IPF. The changes could also have resulted from improvement in the lung disease rather than a direct effect on aging.

Eric Topol of Scripps Research said the drug looked encouraging, but added that “there is still no definitive clinical trial to make a final judgment.” Rentosertib has not been approved by regulators for either aging or IPF. Aging clocks may allow researchers to assess changes sooner than waiting to see whether people live longer, but it remains uncertain how accurately they predict health span or lifespan.

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These are the methods we will use in future clinical trials.