Biotech start-ups on quest for 'holy grail' anti-ageing drug

From anti-necrotic drugs to gene therapy, big tech has longevity in its sights, reports

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas

The search for an elixir of youth dates back to ancient times but, in the past two decades, the hunt for an anti-ageing drug has accelerated, driven by tech billionaires in Silicon Valley and researchers on biotech campuses around the world.

Are we close? While scientists believe some drugs, such as semaglutide - sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic - may slow down ageing, they are only licensed to treat specific conditions.

One company says it has a better answer. LinkGevity, a UK drug discovery startup, has filed global patents for a new drug it hopes can block necrosis – unplanned cell death involved in a range of age-related conditions.

It has won an award from Innovate UK, and funding from the Horizon Europe science programme and the Francis Crick Institute, one of Europe's biggest biomedical laboratories. It is one of several firms competing to license the first anti-ageing drug, described as a “holy grail” of the pharmaceutical world.

The firm now wants to move to treating patients with the anti-necrotic drug later this year, subject to regulatory approval after reporting successful preclinical trials. It’s targeting a global longevity market worth about £25bn.

“We've never been able to intervene in this negative type of cell death and stop it,” said Carina Kern, chief executive of LinkGevity. “And it is this cell death that underlies tissue degeneration.”