Seeking The 'Fountain Of Youth'

In September 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invested in longevity biotech startup, Altos Labs putting the spotlight on the field of anti-ageing. Pharma and biotech firms are investing in research that could prevent and reverse the ageing process in humans, but can novel therapies actually provide longevity? Let's find out.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

Ageing is mostly associated with skin conditions like wrinkles, crows feet etc., and anti-ageing is considered a purview of the cosmetic industry, but it's a much more complicated physiological process at a cellular and metabolic level categorised by telomere length, inflammation, oxidative stress, and slower cell metabolism.

While ageing isn't considered a disease or condition per se, companies are looking at bodily processes at the cellular level to see how ageing progresses and trying to find the right treatments that might slow these processes down.

Anti-ageing drug research

It is incredibly difficult to develop a single drug that can cure ageing not only because of the complexity, but because it shares similar traits - at a cellular level, with other age related diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders.

That's why many of the firms studying age-related diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's are now collaborating with researchers looking at ageing more broadly and vice versa.

Metformin is the most promising anti-ageing drug candidate that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The drug has been used successfully to treat diabetes for over 60 years. Studies have already shown that Metformin can delay ageing in animals. It may also influence fundamental ageing factors that underlie multiple age-related conditions in humans.

The Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) Trial, managed by the American Federation for Aging Research (TAFR), is testing whether those taking metformin experience delayed development or progression of age-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and dementia.

Earlier studies found that people with type 2 diabetes who take metformin have lower death rates. Researchers have also observed that COVID-19 patients taking the drug had less hospitalisations and death rate.