AI Drug Shows Early Biological Aging Slowdown

An experimental drug developed with artificial intelligence, initially designed to treat a severe lung disease, has shown early signs of potentially slowing biological aging in patients, according to a new study. The drug, known as rentosertib, was created by Insilico Medicine and targets idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a condition that causes progressive scarring of the lungs. Researchers analyzed data from a phase 2a clinical trial involving patients with IPF and found that those treated with rentosertib exhibited changes in blood proteins and other biological markers that suggested they were biologically younger. Six different computational models, referred to as "aging clocks," which use blood proteins to estimate biological age, consistently indicated a younger predicted age among patients who received rentosertib compared to those who received a placebo. In some cases, patients appeared three to four years younger biologically after treatment, with one instance showing a six-year difference. The findings were published in the journal Nature Biotechnology and presented at a conference in Paris.