Results of a clinical study show that a drug called "rentosertib" developed with the help of artificial intelligence may be able to slow the aging process and significantly reduce predicted biological age.
According to Insider Paper, this AI-developed drug targets a specific protein called TNIK to slow aging. Artificial intelligence identified this protein as an influential factor in six key aging markers, and rentosertib slows the breakdown of healthy cells by inhibiting TNIK.
Rentosertib was originally created to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In this disease, lung tissue gradually becomes inflamed, scarred, and stiff. The TNIK protein plays a role in cellular pathways involved in inflammation and fibrotic tissue formation, so rentosertib was designed to inhibit this protein to reduce fibrosis progression and prevent decline in lung function. However, researchers later found when examining blood samples from patients that protein markers related to biological age also shifted toward a younger profile. As a result, they hypothesized that the drug, in addition to its anti-fibrotic effect, might also affect some processes related to aging.
The research was led by Alex Zhavoronkov in collaboration with scientists from leading universities worldwide. In this placebo-controlled study, data from 42 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were collected. In addition, to reduce the chance of error, researchers analyzed blood data using six independently developed protein-based biological age estimation models.
All six biological age estimation models designed by research groups at prominent institutions recorded a significant reduction in predicted biological age, while aging continued in participants who received the placebo.
This research is part of a broader trend in Silicon Valley biotechnology that, alongside treating chronic diseases, also targets the biological processes of aging themselves. For example, Altos Labs, which lists Jeff Bezos among its backers, has raised billions of dollars to research cellular reprogramming, a method aimed at returning cells to a younger state.
Rentosertib is currently under development for treating lung disease; however, it could have broader effects for the general public. Modern medicine shows that many diseases, especially heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, are associated with aging. Taking rentosertib may significantly reduce the risk of these diseases and allow healthy individuals to live into their nineties disease-free.
Drug development traditionally takes several decades of research, but creating rentosertib with the aid of artificial intelligence took only a few weeks. The drug is now in phase three clinical trials in China. This phase is the final stage of human testing before a drug can be officially approved for commercial production and widespread public use.
Shorter development time means lower costs to bring the drug to market. Therefore, broader access could reduce healthcare expenditures and make treatments more affordable.
Global impact of slowing aging
The global implications of this AI-developed drug also raise questions of health equity. Although aging is a universal phenomenon, its effects are far more severe for people belonging to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Residents of less developed countries also tend to develop age-related diseases relatively earlier.
The effectiveness of AI-developed drugs could make longer, healthier lifespans accessible to a much larger number of people. The drug may become easily available and reduce the health gap between poor and wealthy populations. Such a transformation could also change the world’s demographic composition and significantly raise retirement age worldwide.