British scientists are preparing human trials of an anti-ageing pill, claiming they can curb age-related tissue decline.
The team says research has found a way to block necrosis — uncontrolled cell death linked to many age-related diseases.
If successful, doctors could move beyond treating symptoms of ageing to targeting the biological processes that cause it.
British biotech company LinkGevity is preparing to trial what its founders describe as potentially the world’s first drug designed to slow the ageing process, after patenting its experimental drug and completing lab work.
The team is now awaiting regulatory approval for human trials involving kidney-disease patients. It is hoped these will begin in the UK, US and Europe within months — the first real-world test of what the founders call “anti-necrotic therapy”.
Scientists hope that by halting uncontrolled cell death, they will prevent or delay many diseases of old age, including heart failure, liver disease, kidney disease, Parkinson’s, strokes and dementia.
Professor Justin Stebbing, a cancer and cell death expert at Imperial and Anglia Ruskin University who is an adviser to the company, said: “Necrosis sounds like a biology term, but what it really means is tissue rot,”
“If you can prevent that, you don’t just look younger – your organs actually stay younger.”
He added: “No regulator has approved a drug for ageing because it’s difficult to be clear about what end points you’re going to use in studies and how to measure it.
“We’re using the kidney as a model, and we think we have a good chance of being the first anti-ageing drug approved, because we understand the mechanism that we’re dealing with here, and we understand how to stop it.”
The company is supported by Innovate UK, the UK government’s innovation agency, which funds research and development. It also receives backing from Horizon Europe, the EU’s main funding programme for research and innovation, and the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre based in London.
LinkGevity’s work has also attracted interest from NASA and the European and UK Space Agencies, which are studying how microgravity affects human biology.
The company was founded by sisters Dr Carina Kern, chief executive of LinkGevity, and Serena Kern-Libera, who left established careers to pursue longevity science.
Dr Kern describes the field as restorative medicine: “The body is an interconnected network.
“We’re not just targeting a symptom – we’re targeting the process that drives ageing itself.”
Dr Kern, a former research fellow in ageing-associated disease at University College London, leads LinkGevity’s scientific programme.
Ms Kern-Libera, a lawyer who previously worked at the Bank of England, manages business strategy and partnerships.
“We’ve never before been able to intervene in this type of cell death,” says Dr Kern.
“If we can stop necrosis, we can preserve tissue for longer – and that could mean healthier, longer lives.”
Each day, billions of cells in the human body die and are replaced. Most follow a safe, orderly process called programmed cell death, which removes harmful cells and supports healing and development.
Necrosis, by contrast, is uncontrolled — cells swell, rupture and spill toxic contents that inflame and damage surrounding tissue.
Over time, this “undesirable” and “messy” form of cell death contributes to organ failure, heart disease, dementia and the general tissue decline associated with ageing.
“Necrosis underlies tissue degeneration,” said Serena Kern-Libera. “It’s not limited to one disease. It’s something that happens across the biological system.”
LinkGevity’s research focuses on the calcium pathways that trigger necrosis. Its patented compound is designed to block the calcium overload that causes cell membranes to burst and die.
The firm’s first human trial will focus on patients with kidney disease — one of the organs most vulnerable to necrosis and age-related decline. If successful, they then hope to use the drug as a broader anti-ageing therapy.
NASA believes LinkGevity’s work could also help improve the lives of astronauts.
In space, astronauts lose muscle mass, bone density and calcium balance — changes that mirror aspects of accelerated ageing.
These conditions make astronauts an ideal model for studying tissue degeneration.
Professor Damien Bailey, chair of the Life Science Working Group at the European Space Agency, said: “When astronauts return to earth they are treated much like patients. If a drug can make our cells more resilient, it could be a gamechanger for both space travel and human health on earth.”
The Cambridge start-up is part of a global race to develop therapies that slow ageing.
In the US, billionaire-backed ventures such as Altos Labs (funded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos), Retro Biosciences (backed by OpenAI’s Sam Altman) and Calico Life Sciences (created by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) are all pursuing ways to rejuvenate human cells.
British firms are investigating cell-reprogramming technologies. LinkGevity, however, takes a simpler approach — focusing not on altering genes but on preventing the destructive cell death that leads to organ decline — letting the body’s normal function restore itself.
Analysts estimate the global longevity market at around £25bn.