Accelerating Longevity Research with Biomarkers and Biological Age Clocks

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• Longevity Research Challenges
• Anti-Aging Market Dynamics
• Biomarkers and Biological Age
• Clinical Trial Acceleration
• Regulatory Validation Importance
• Future Longevity Research
• Full Transcript

Longevity Research Challenges

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, highlights the inherent difficulties in anti-aging research. Human longevity experiments traditionally require extensive timeframes. Dr. Anton Titov, MD notes the impatience with traditional pharmaceutical review processes. Dr. Maier acknowledges these challenges but maintains rigorous scientific standards are essential.

Anti-Aging Market Dynamics

The global anti-aging market presents both opportunities and risks. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, explains that defining aging as a disease via ICD-11 codes creates a massive potential market. This attracts significant investment into longevity research. However, Dr. Maier warns against unproven supplements that may only provide placebo effects.

She emphasizes the importance of returning to basic science to understand mechanisms. Dr. Anton Titov, MD discusses the proliferation of anti-aging companies selling supplements without clear human data.

Biomarkers and Biological Age

Biomarkers represent a breakthrough in longevity research methodology. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, specifically highlights epigenetic clocks as powerful tools. These biological age measurements can detect dramatic changes within just four months. This approach circumvents the need to wait for disease development over 10-20 years.

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, explains how biomarkers provide quantitative evidence of aging interventions. The sensitivity of these markers allows researchers to detect biological age reversal.

Clinical Trial Acceleration

Modern clinical trials for longevity interventions can now yield results within a year. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, describes study designs where participants receive interventions for 4-6 months. Researchers then measure effects using validated biomarkers rather than waiting for disease endpoints.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD emphasizes the importance of trusting these markers for reliable results. This accelerated timeline makes human longevity research more feasible and efficient.

Regulatory Validation Importance

Regulatory agency acceptance represents a critical milestone for longevity biomarkers. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, stresses that FDA and EMA approval is essential for anti-aging interventions. These agencies must validate biomarkers before approving drugs for aging populations.

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, notes this requires substantial research investment and randomized controlled trials. The validation process ensures biomarkers work in both clinical practice and research settings.

Future Longevity Research

The future of anti-aging research depends on continued biomarker development and validation. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, emphasizes the need for evidence-based approaches despite market pressures. She advocates for rapid translation from basic science to human trials using sensitive biomarkers.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD discusses the importance of maintaining scientific rigor in longevity research. The field continues to evolve with new biomarkers and measurement techniques emerging regularly.

Full Transcript

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Anti-aging research is accelerating, fortunately. Anti-aging experiments in humans take a long time; they're very difficult to do. So some respected basic scientists are on the websites of anti-aging companies developing multiple compounds. They are often selling supplements without clear human data.

Is that a sign that modern anti-aging science gets impatient with the traditional pharmaceutical review process? There's a huge market out there because everybody is aging.

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD: And if we define aging as a disease, following the International Classification of Disease, there are the ICD-11 codes. Aging-related conditions or abnormalities could already be a disease. Everybody is aging; you can imagine that the market is very big. That's a good thing, and that's a bad thing.

I would see there's lots of investments in our field, and that is absolutely a good thing. But what we have to make sure is that we provide quality, because we do not want to sell lots of anti-aging supplements without proven effects.

There might be an effect, but it might just be a placebo because you think it works. So it's very important to go back to basic science and to say, "Okay, why would a certain supplement work in cells, and what are the mechanisms?" Then bring supplements very quickly into humans to test if there is a positive effect.

I agree with you that it takes a long time to prove that these kinds of supplements or medication work. However, it's doable. I don't think we can use the argument that because of time and investment, we shouldn't do it, because we need the evidence in a very quantitative way.

So what we do to overcome the difficulty is that human studies take a long time. We must wait until a person develops another disease; that can take 10, if not 20, years. We don't have the time.

We use biomarkers. So we are using biomarkers such as the epigenetic clock to determine the biological age. And we already showed that in four months, the biological age can change dramatically.

So while doing the experiments—not waiting until we've overcome the next disease—we can use biomarkers. We can set up a clinical trial where participants get drugs for four to six months, and we are then measuring the effects.

So in the end, it takes a year until we would have results from these kinds of longevity trials and supplements.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Well, this is very important to know that there is a way to do longevity clinical trials in humans. That's clear.

As long as one can trust the markers, then that should work.

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD: So this is a very important point: we need biomarkers that are sensitive to change. They can detect if somebody is younger. But regulatory agencies must also accept these biomarkers—the FDA or the EMA—because these are the institutions who will say, "Yes, you can apply this drug to aging individuals or not."

So we must validate all the biomarkers. That's a huge amount of research and investment in the longevity field. We have lots of data.

We have randomized controlled trials to see which biomarker is valid to use, not only in clinical practice but especially also as an outcome in randomized controlled trials.