Insilico Medicine AI Drug Lowers Biological Age in Trial

Insilico Medicine has announced that its generative AI-designed drug candidate, rentosertib, appears to reverse markers of biological aging. Originally developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a lung-scarring disease, the drug was evaluated in a 42-patient trial. Researchers analyzed blood samples from the trial using six independent AI aging clocks developed by teams at Harvard, Oxford, Beijing, and Insilico. All six models predicted a lower biological age for patients treated with rentosertib compared to those who received a placebo.

The biological age reduction was most pronounced at week four of the trial. The strongest average effect showed a drop of three to four years, while one specific aging clock measured a reduction of up to six years. Interestingly, the dose that optimized lung function (60 mg once daily) differed from the dose that most significantly reduced predicted biological age (30 mg twice daily). To validate these findings, researchers compared the treated patients' blood proteins against more than 55,000 profiles from the UK Biobank, confirming that rentosertib reversed age-related protein changes.

Insilico developed rentosertib in just 18 months using two proprietary AI systems. One system scanned health data and literature to identify the protein TNIK as a dual target for both aging and IPF, while the second system analyzed protein structures to generate matching drug molecules. The drug is currently in Phase III clinical trials for IPF. Founded in Hong Kong in 2014, Insilico has attracted investment from Eli Lilly and has developed at least 28 generative AI drug candidates as of March 2026.

For medical practitioners and pharmaceutical researchers, this development demonstrates that generative AI can successfully identify multi-targeting molecules that address both specific diseases and broader aging mechanisms simultaneously. However, experts urge caution. Harvard Medical School's Vadim Gladyshev noted that while this is "the first study that shows, very clearly, that predicted biological age can be reduced," a larger trial involving healthy participants is still required to confirm if these age-reversing effects apply beyond IPF patients.