GoKawiil
Tech News
A Nature feature surveys six novel approaches under development for delivering drugs more precisely and effectively, ranging from advanced nanoparticle carriers to devices designed to target specific tissues. These innovations aim to overcome longstanding challenges such as poor bioavailability, degradation before reaching target sites, and off-target side effects.
Insilico Medicine's AI-designed drug rentosertib, originally developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, produced unexpected reductions in biological age markers during a phase 2a trial. Researchers reanalyzed blood samples from 42 of 71 Chinese trial participants using six computational aging clocks, finding treated patients showed younger predicted ages after 12 weeks compared to placebo recipients.
Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and co-CEO of AI-driven drug discovery company Insilico, is pursuing research suggesting that a treatment developed for fibrosis may have broader anti-aging effects. His work sits within a long personal and scientific interest in longevity research.
Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb have both suspended clinical trials of experimental autoimmune therapies after participants died or suffered life-threatening reactions. The companies are now investigating what caused the treatments, once seen as promising, to turn dangerous.
A week after its US approval for advanced pancreatic cancer, the drug daraxonrasib has shown early promise against non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease. In a small trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tumors shrank in over 30% of patients whose cancers carried mutations in RAS family proteins and who had already failed other treatments. A larger randomized trial comparing daraxonrasib to standard chemotherapy is now underway.
Researchers publishing in Nature on September 2 found that older female mice given a GLP-1 obesity drug lived longer than untreated mice and showed slower onset of several biological markers linked to aging. The finding builds on earlier mouse studies suggesting GLP-1 medications, typically used for obesity and type 2 diabetes, may have broader anti-aging effects beyond weight loss.
Researchers testing a GLP-1 receptor agonist, the class of drug behind popular weight-loss treatments, observed that female mice given the compound showed slower markers of biological ageing compared to untreated mice. The effect was notably more pronounced in females than in males in the study.
Generation Lab, founded on scientist Irina Conboy's research into blood exchange between old and young mice, is now promoting a rejuvenation treatment it says combines two existing drugs to reverse aging effects without needing blood transfusion. The company has offered influencers access to the treatment but refuses to disclose which drugs are actually used. Separately, utilities are increasingly recruiting households to join 'virtual power plants,' networks of connected devices like thermostats, EVs and batteries that can be throttled during peak demand in exchange for bill discounts or sign-up bonuses.
Revolution Medicines received FDA approval this week for a pancreatic cancer pill, a milestone that comes after the company fielded acquisition interest from larger pharmaceutical firms but chose to remain independent. The decision allowed it to bring the drug through regulatory approval on its own rather than as part of a larger acquirer's pipeline.
A startup called Generation claims a combination of two generic drugs can reverse aging effects, citing informal reports from a small group of participants describing benefits like improved vision, better grip strength, and increased libido. The company plans a larger trial of 100+ people, but is already distributing the drug to others before any rigorous evidence confirms its effectiveness. The trial will be overseen by alternative-medicine practitioners, including a doctor previously linked to promoting FDA-discredited covid-19 treatments.
The FDA has cleared daraxonrasib, a new drug for pancreatic cancer, after a large clinical trial found patients on the treatment survived roughly twice as long as those receiving standard chemotherapy. The approval gives doctors a new option for a disease long known for poor treatment outcomes.
Researchers led by Brown University analyzed whole genomes from 157 malaria parasite samples collected in Uganda between 2016 and 2024 and found a cluster of mutations, dubbed PIN, in a previously overlooked gene called px1. This cluster—three amino acid changes plus two deletions—appears to be spreading rapidly through parasite populations and is likely driving reduced sensitivity to the main antimalarial drug used across sub-Saharan Africa.