Getting old stinks, mostly because with age comes a variety of ailments. Currently, companies that develop rejuvenation biotechnology interventions have to target individual diseases to gain FDA approval. However, a recent Lifespan.io article discussed the National Institutes of Aging’s (NIA) funding of new clinical trials against aging itself. This is an important distinction because the trials are for interventions that directly affected the root causes of age-related diseases rather than the disease itself.
The news came via an FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement) in which the NIA specifically calls out “multiple chronic conditions” caused by the process of aging. The FOA does not apply to stem cells, but instead is intended for early-stage investigative human clinical trials including supplements, biologics, as well as new and existing drugs. The earliest a trial could begin is April 2022, but nevertheless it’s good news for the longevity industry.
