The Longevity Biotech Readouts to Watch Through 2027

Longevity biotech has raised billions on animal data and bold theories. Over the next 12 to 18 months, a batch of startups are expected to launch first-in-human trials or report early clinical data across approaches including partial epigenetic reprogramming, senescent cells, autophagy, metabolism, and chronic inflammation.

Nir Barzilai, a professor of medicine and genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a board member of the Longevity Biotech Association, has spent his career on that biology. “Each one of these hallmarks of aging is a fair game,” he said.

These early studies won’t tell us whether anyone has solved aging. They can answer more immediate questions: Can these approaches be used safely in people? Do they affect the biology they are designed to target? And which are strong enough to justify larger trials?

There is also a problem the field still has to solve: how to measure aging at all. Barzilai and his team are analyzing hundreds of thousands of biomarkers from completed placebo-controlled studies, looking for measures that both reflect aging and shift during treatment.

A drug can clear an early trial without proving it changes aging, the same way a strong animal result doesn’t guarantee anything in humans. But Barzilai sees the first wave of human data pulling the whole field forward. “The phase 1, phase 2 study will then unleash a bunch of phase 3 studies and will accelerate everybody’s research,” he said.

The companies below have the most closely watched readouts coming through 2027. Each is a test of a different theory of aging, and each result will move money and attention toward the approaches that deliver.

BioAge Labs

• Therapeutic Area: Cardiovascular risk, inflammatory disease

• Modality: Oral NLRP3 inhibitor

• Timeline: Positive Phase 1 data were reported in April, with Phase 2 cardiovascular-risk data expected in the second half of this year. BioAge also plans to start a Phase 1b/2a trial in diabetic macular edema in mid-2026, with results expected in mid-2027.

• News: BioAge reported Phase 1 results for BGE-102, with once-daily doses cutting levels of hsCRP, a marker of inflammation, by a median 86% in people with obesity and elevated inflammation. The company has since started a Phase 2 trial looking at whether BGE-102 can lower cardiovascular risk in people with obesity and elevated inflammation. The study is designed to measure changes in inflammation and other markers linked to cardiovascular disease.

Cambrian Bio

• Therapeutic Area: Metabolic health, cardiometabolic disease

• Modality: AMPK network activator

• Timeline: Positive Phase 1b data reported in June. Phase 2 is planned but no timeline has been announced.

• News: In June, Cambrian Bio reported first human clinical data for ATX-304, with statistically significant improvements in liver fat, visceral adipose tissue, triglycerides, adiponectin and resting metabolic rate in adults with obesity and prediabetes. The company plans two Phase 2 studies, including programs focused on muscle function, lipid metabolism and weight loss.

Cleara Biotech

• Therapeutic Area: Senolytic oncology

• Modality: Targeted senolytic therapy

• Timeline: Phase 1a/1b trials have been designed, with Cleara seeking financing or a pharmaceutical partner to advance the program into clinical testing.

• News: Cleara is preparing to move CL04183 into human testing after completing GLP toxicology studies in rats and non-human primates. In preclinical studies, the drug showed activity across cancer and other disease models, including reducing tumor and metastatic burden in mouse models and extending overall survival by 29% in geriatric mice.

Cyclarity Therapeutics

• Therapeutic Area: Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular disease

• Modality: Oxidized cholesterol-targeting small molecule

• Timeline: Reported its first human clinical data for its lead drug candidate, UDP-003, in May with a Phase 2 trial expected to begin late this year.

• News: Cyclarity reported the first human evidence that UDP-003 can help the body clear 7-ketocholesterol (7KC), a toxic form of oxidized cholesterol linked to atherosclerosis. In Phase 1, UDP-003 led to dose-dependent increases in 7KC excretion in urine and was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported. The company plans to move into Phase 2 while continuing to collect clinical data.

Junevity

• Therapeutic Area: Cellular reprogramming, metabolic disease

• Modality: siRNA-based epigenetic reprogramming

• Timeline: First-in-human studies targeted for later this year.

• News: In December 2025, Junevity reported that its lead program, JUN_01, lowered blood glucose, improved insulin sensitivity, reduced body weight and preserved lean mass in preclinical models of metabolic disease. On the heels of those findings, the company expanded its seed funding to $20 million, adding $10 million in new financing to support JUN_01’s development and said it planned first-in-human testing in the second half of 2026.

Juvena Therapeutics

• Therapeutic Area: Neuromuscular diseases, metabolic disease, and age-related tissue degeneration

• Modality: AI-enabled regenerative biologics

• Timeline: JUV-161 entered first-in-human Phase 1 testing in May 2025. 

• News: JUV-161 is a recombinant fusion protein designed to activate signaling pathways involved in muscle growth and maintenance. The program has advanced from preclinical development into clinical testing, with the drug now being evaluated in healthy volunteers. Juvena is developing JUV-161 for conditions including myotonic dystrophy type 1 and sarcopenia.

Juvenescence

• Therapeutic Area: Fibrosis, metabolic aging

• Modality: Oral PAI-1 inhibitor

• Timeline: Phase 1 completed in February with Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial planned later this year.

• News: In February, Juvenescence announced that MDI-2517, its oral PAI-1 inhibitor, had completed Phase 1 testing, with the company reporting a favorable safety and tolerability profile and a once-daily dosing profile. The oral PAI-1 inhibitor is being developed for metabolic and fibrotic diseases, with a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study planned for later this year.

Life Biosciences

• Therapeutic Area: Optic neuropathies, cellular rejuvenation

• Modality: Partial epigenetic reprogramming gene therapy

• Timeline: Phase 1 initiated in Q1 with the trial's estimated primary completion in May 2027.

• News: In June, Life Biosciences announced it had dosed the first participant in its ongoing Phase 1 trial of ER-100, an investigational therapy for optic neuropathies that uses controlled expression of three transcription factors, OCT4, SOX2 and KLF4, as part of the company’s Epigenetic Restoration platform. The therapy is designed to restore youthful epigenetic patterns while maintaining cellular identity and function.

NewLimit

• Therapeutic Area: Aging biology, liver disease, and age-related metabolic disorders

• Modality: Epigenetic reprogramming therapy

• Timeline: First aging-reprogramming medicine planned to enter human clinical trials in 2027

• News: In June, NewLimit announced that it had raised $435 million in a Series C led by Founders Fund to advance its aging-reprogramming platform toward human clinical trials. The company says its approach aims to restore youthful function in aged cells, with results from a prototype medicine showing reversal of cellular age in old human liver cells.

Nula Therapeutics

• Therapeutic Area: Metabolic dysfunction

• Modality: Nuclear envelope-targeting small molecule

• Timeline: Phase 1b trial expected to begin in Q4.

• News: Nula Therapeutics is moving NLT-101, its lead nuclear envelope-targeting small molecule, toward its first new clinical study. The company plans to begin Phase 1b testing in metabolic dysfunction in Q4, while an up to $20 million ARPA-H award is supporting additional research into NLT-101's potential to improve physical, cognitive and other measures of function in aging.

Retro Biosciences

• Therapeutic Area: Aging biology, Alzheimer's disease, and age-related diseases

• Modality: Small molecules, cell therapy, tissue reprogramming, AI-enabled protein engineering, and iPSC-derived stem cell therapies

• Timeline: RTR242 is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

• News: In May, Retro Biosciences announced the initial close of its next financing round at a $1.8 billion pre-money valuation and outlined plans to expand its pipeline. It also highlighted the start of Phase 1 clinical trials for RTR242, an oral therapeutic designed to restart autophagy, the process cells use to break down and clear out damaged or unwanted material.

Rubedo Life Sciences

• Therapeutic Area: Dermatology, actinic keratosis

• Modality: Topical senolytic therapy

• Timeline: Preliminary Phase 1b/2a results reported in May with Phase 2b dose-ranging trial expected to begin in Q4.

• News: Rubedo reported preliminary results from 18 of 24 patients with actinic keratosis, a precancerous skin condition. After four weeks, patients treated with RLS-1496 had a 46% reduction in lesion count, compared with 11% in untreated controls. The company reported minimal irritation and no serious adverse events, and expects to advance the treatment into a Phase 2b dose-ranging study in Q4.

Turn Therapeutics

• Therapeutic Area: Atopic dermatitis (eczema)

• Modality: Topical small molecule

• Timeline: Positive interim Phase 2 data reported in July with enrollment expected to finish in Q4.

• News: Turn Therapeutics’s interim “clinically meaningful” Phase 2 results showed that 92.6% of participants treated with GX-03 had at least a 50% reduction in eczema severity after four weeks, compared with 65.2% of those receiving the vehicle. By eight weeks, 51.9% of GX-03 patients had achieved a 90% reduction in severity, compared with 34.8% on vehicle.