GoKawiilNovo Nordisk and Eli Lilly report GLP-1 drugs slow aging clock readings
Novo Nordisk tested blood from over 10,000 trial participants using proteomic clocks and found signs that its weight-loss drug slowed biological aging, including up to a 4-year shift in a clock measuring heart protein age. Eli Lilly ran a smaller study on tirzepatide using epigenetic clocks that track DNA changes, and also found molecular aging appeared to slow in patients taking the drug compared to placebo.
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The findings could offer the first large-scale evidence that aging clocks respond to drugs with established health benefits, which researchers in the field say strengthens the case for using these clocks as real biomarkers rather than speculative measures. Lilly's Kevin Duffin cautioned the effect is a modest reduction in biological age rather than dramatic reversal, suggesting the results should temper expectations even as they bolster interest in aging-clock science.
- Novo Nordisk's study of over 10,000 participants showed GLP-1 drugs may slow proteomic aging clocks by up to 4 years in some measures.
- Eli Lilly's smaller study using epigenetic clocks found similar slowing effects with tirzepatide.
- Researchers say the results validate aging clocks as potential biomarkers, though company officials describe the effect as modest, not a reversal of aging.
Source: technologyreview.com — Antonio Regalado, 2026-10-06
Published there as: “Weight-loss drugs show signs of slowing biological aging, say drugmakers”
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