Kick Westra

{"updated":"2026-09-27","handle":"KickWestra","article_url":"","tracked":48,"watch":[{"n":"Life Biosciences","l":"Private","t":"","s":"Phase 1","work":"A one-time gene therapy that aims to reset aged cells to a younger state, starting with eye diseases that damage the optic nerve.","helps":"Restore lost vision, and show that cell age can be turned back in people.","why":"The first human test of resetting cells to a younger state.","now":"First patient treated in June 2026. Next: first safety data."},{"n":"NewLimit","l":"Private","t":"","s":"Preclinical","work":"mRNA treatments that reset the gene settings of aged liver cells.","helps":"Make old liver cells work like young ones again.","why":"One of the best-funded bets on resetting cell age ($435M raised in June 2026).","now":"First human trial planned for 2027."},{"n":"Retro Biosciences","l":"Private","t":"","s":"Phase 1","work":"RTR242, a pill that aims to restart the cell's recycling system (Alzheimer's first), plus lab-made blood stem cells.","helps":"Help cells clear built-up waste and replace worn-out blood stem cells.","why":"Fast mover: first human dose 15 months after picking a disease. Backed by Sam Altman.","now":"In its first human trial (Australia). More trials planned for 2026–27."},{"n":"Loyal","l":"Private","t":"","s":"Vet pivotal","work":"LOY-002, a daily pill meant to extend healthy lifespan in senior dogs (study in 1,300 dogs).","helps":"Longer, healthier lives for dogs, and the first drug ever approved to extend lifespan.","why":"The furthest-along lifespan drug I track: only the manufacturing review is left.","now":"FDA accepted the efficacy and safety parts. Final manufacturing part due later in 2026."},{"n":"BioAge Labs","l":"Public","t":"BIOA","s":"Phase 2","work":"BGE-102, a pill that blocks NLRP3, a switch that drives chronic inflammation.","helps":"Lower the chronic inflammation behind heart disease and other age-related diseases.","why":"Listed (BIOA), $381M in cash, and trial results due in H2 2026.","now":"Trial dosing since June 2026. Results expected H2 2026."},{"n":"Rubedo Life Sciences","l":"Private","t":"","s":"Phase 1","work":"RLS-1496, a skin cream designed to clear senescent cells (cells that stop dividing but don't die).","helps":"Treat skin conditions such as psoriasis and aged skin, and prove that clearing senescent cells works in people.","why":"Could be the first to show that clearing senescent cells helps people, after the first company in this field shut down.","now":"Positive early results in March 2026. Larger early trial ends later in 2026."}],"theory":{"what":"A theory that most hallmarks start with one problem: cells losing their instructions (their epigenetic information). If it's right, resetting cells could fix many hallmarks at once.","ex":"A gene therapy that resets cells to a younger state in its first human trial (eye disease), reset treatments that extended lifespan in old mice, and chemical reset cocktails in cells.","miss":"A safe way to reset cells across the whole body, long-term safety data, and agreement that the theory is right (other scientists dispute key evidence).","who":"Life Biosciences (first human trial); NewLimit, Retro, Altos Labs, YouthBio and Shift (lab stage).","bn":"Delivery & safety: getting the reset genes into the right cells without causing tumours.","cos":["Life Biosciences","NewLimit","Retro Biosciences"]},"hallmarks":[{"n":1,"k":"GI","name":"DNA damage","sci":"Genomic instability","lvl":3,"what":"Damage to our DNA builds up faster than cells can repair it.","now":"A drug that blocks 'jumping genes' is in a larger ALS trial. In mice, boosting a DNA-repair gene (SIRT6) extended lifespan.","cos":[],"ex":"Sun protection and not smoking (both cut DNA damage), a drug that blocks 'jumping genes' in larger ALS trials, and a DNA-repair gene therapy (SIRT6) tested in old dogs.","miss":"A way to repair or remove DNA damage across the whole body, and proof that lowering it slows aging in people.","who":"Transposon Therapeutics (larger trial, ALS); GenFlow (gene therapy, dog study).","bn":"Science: the damage is random and different in every cell, and current tools can't fix it body-wide."},{"n":2,"k":"TA","name":"Shrinking chromosome tips","sci":"Telomere attrition","lvl":2,"what":"The protective tips of our chromosomes (telomeres) get shorter every time a cell divides.","now":"Telomeres were lengthened in 2 patients with a rare telomere disease. Not yet tested in normal aging.","cos":[],"ex":"A hormone drug (danazol) and a stem-cell therapy that lengthened telomeres in patients with rare telomere diseases, and telomere gene therapy in mice.","miss":"Proof that longer telomeres slow normal aging, and a way to lengthen them without raising cancer risk.","who":"Elixirgen Therapeutics (early human trial, 2 patients).","bn":"Safety: most cancers keep their telomeres long to keep growing, so lengthening them carries cancer risk."},{"n":3,"k":"EA","name":"Cells losing their instructions","sci":"Epigenetic alterations","lvl":2,"what":"The chemical marks that tell each cell which genes to use drift over time, so cells slowly lose their identity.","now":"The first human trial of a therapy that aims to reset cells to a younger state started in June 2026 (eye disease). In old mice it extended lifespan.","cos":["Life Biosciences","NewLimit","Retro Biosciences"],"ex":"A diet-and-lifestyle program tested on epigenetic clocks, a gene therapy that resets cells in its first human trial (eye disease), and reset treatments in mice and cells.","miss":"A safe way to reset cells across the whole body, and long-term safety data in people.","who":"Life Biosciences (first human trial); NewLimit, Retro, Altos Labs, YouthBio and Shift (lab stage).","bn":"Delivery & safety: getting the reset genes into the right cells without causing tumours."},{"n":4,"k":"LP","name":"Protein clumps","sci":"Loss of proteostasis","lvl":4,"what":"Cells get worse at folding and cleaning up proteins, so faulty proteins clump together.","now":"Drugs that clear one type of clump (amyloid) are approved for Alzheimer's. None clears clumps in general.","cos":[],"ex":"Approved drugs that clear amyloid clumps in Alzheimer's, and drugs in trials that clear several clump types or restore protein production.","miss":"A treatment that restores the cell's protein quality control in general, instead of clearing one protein at a time.","who":"Eisai/Biogen and Lilly (approved Alzheimer's drugs); Attralus, Calico, Cognition Therapeutics and Alnylam (trials).","bn":"Science: each drug targets one protein; nobody knows yet how to fix the whole system."},{"n":5,"k":"DM","name":"Cell recycling slows down","sci":"Disabled macroautophagy","lvl":4,"what":"The cell's built-in recycling system slows down, so waste builds up inside cells.","now":"Rapamycin boosts cell recycling and is approved for organ transplants. The first pill built to restore recycling is in its first human test.","cos":["Retro Biosciences"],"ex":"Fasting and exercise (studied as ways to boost it), spermidine supplements, rapamycin (approved for organ transplants), and a pill built to restore it (Retro Biosciences), in its first human trial.","miss":"A way to measure cell recycling in living people, and a drug proven to restore it in aging.","who":"Retro Biosciences (first human trial); Vandria (early human trial).","bn":"Science: there is no validated way to measure cell recycling in living people."},{"n":6,"k":"DNS","name":"Metabolism signals out of tune","sci":"Deregulated nutrient-sensing","lvl":4,"what":"The systems that sense food and control growth get miscalibrated.","now":"Rapamycin and two diabetes drugs extend lifespan in mice and are approved for other uses. A healthy-aging trial of rapamycin in people missed its main goal.","cos":["Loyal","BioAge Labs"],"ex":"Calorie restriction (tested in a 2-year human trial), rapamycin and diabetes drugs such as metformin and acarbose (approved for other uses), and a dog-lifespan pill in a large study.","miss":"A drug approved for aging, and a finished human trial with aging itself as the outcome (the planned metformin trial, TAME, never started).","who":"Loyal (final dog study); Aeovian and Cambrian (early human trials); BioAge (mid-size trial).","bn":"Regulation: aging is not an approved use for a drug, so no one has run a full trial with aging as the outcome."},{"n":7,"k":"MD","name":"Weaker cell power plants","sci":"Mitochondrial dysfunction","lvl":4,"what":"Mitochondria, the power plants of our cells, produce energy less efficiently.","now":"The first drug aimed at mitochondria was approved in 2025, for a rare disease. Supplements such as NAD+ boosters show small or mixed effects in people.","cos":[],"ex":"Exercise, supplements (NAD+ boosters, urolithin A), a drug approved for a rare mitochondrial disease (2025), and boosting stem cells with extra mitochondria in an early trial.","miss":"An approved mitochondrial drug for a common age-related disease.","who":"Mighty Therapeutics (approved, rare disease); Vandria and Minovia (early trials); Niagen and Timeline (supplements).","bn":"Science: supplements show small or mixed effects, and no drug has been proven in a common disease."},{"n":8,"k":"CS","name":"Zombie cells","sci":"Cellular senescence","lvl":3,"what":"Damaged cells stop dividing but don't die, and send out signals that harm nearby tissue.","now":"Clearing them extends lifespan in mice. The first company to test this in people shut down in 2025; a skin cream had positive early results.","cos":["Rubedo Life Sciences"],"ex":"Exercise, supplements (fisetin, quercetin), a leukemia drug tested off-label, a skin cream in human trials, and immune-cell and vaccine approaches in mice.","miss":"An approved drug, a test that counts these cells in people, and proof that clearing them helps people live healthier.","who":"Rubedo (skin cream, early human trial); Altos Labs and Deciduous (lab stage). Unity shut down in 2025.","bn":"Science: there is no standard way to measure these cells in people."},{"n":9,"k":"SCE","name":"Repair cells run out","sci":"Stem cell exhaustion","lvl":4,"what":"Stem cells, which repair our tissues, become fewer and weaker.","now":"Stem-cell therapies are approved for a few diseases (knee cartilage, a transplant complication). A trial in frail older adults has been published.","cos":["Retro Biosciences"],"ex":"Stem-cell therapies approved for a few diseases (knee cartilage, a transplant complication), stem-cell treatments tested in frail older adults, and lab-made blood stem cells.","miss":"A therapy that rejuvenates your own stem cells, and cell therapies that are cheap to make.","who":"Mesoblast and Medipost (approved products); Longeveron and Immunis (trials); Retro and Ossium Health.","bn":"Cost & money: cell therapies are expensive to make, and several of these companies are close to running out of cash."},{"n":10,"k":"AIC","name":"Cell signals get mixed up","sci":"Altered intercellular communication","lvl":3,"what":"The signals cells send each other through the blood shift in a harmful direction.","now":"Connecting old mice to young mice extended their lifespan. In a small human trial, replacing blood plasma lowered biological-age scores.","cos":[],"ex":"Blood-plasma exchange (a hospital procedure already used for other conditions), plasma-based products in trials, a klotho protein tested in monkeys, and a muscle drug awaiting FDA approval.","miss":"Agreement on which blood factors actually drive aging.","who":"Scholar Rock (awaiting FDA decision, muscle disease); Alkahest (plasma products, trials); Juvena (early trial).","bn":"Science: the key blood factors are still debated, and study results conflict."},{"n":11,"k":"CI","name":"Constant low-level inflammation","sci":"Chronic inflammation","lvl":4,"what":"The immune system stays slightly switched on all the time, which damages tissue.","now":"Several approved drugs calm inflammation. In a large trial, one cut heart events by 15% but also caused more deadly infections.","cos":["BioAge Labs"],"ex":"Exercise, approved anti-inflammatory drugs (for other conditions), and new pills that block an inflammation switch (NLRP3) in trials.","miss":"A way to calm chronic inflammation long-term without weakening the body's defence against infection.","who":"BioAge (mid-size trial); Insilico Medicine (large trial, lung fibrosis); HCW Biologics (early trial).","bn":"Safety: blocking inflammation broadly raised deadly infections in a large heart trial."},{"n":12,"k":"DYS","name":"Gut bacteria out of balance","sci":"Dysbiosis","lvl":2,"what":"The mix of gut bacteria changes with age, with fewer helpful types.","now":"Giving old fish the gut bacteria of young fish extended their lifespan. In people, only small pilot studies so far.","cos":[],"ex":"Diet, probiotic supplements (such as Akkermansia), approved microbiome drugs for a gut infection (C. diff), and young-to-old gut-bacteria transfers in animals.","miss":"Knowing which microbes cause aging-related harm, and a way to keep a young microbiome long-term.","who":"No company in this tracker targets it as its main aging approach.","bn":"Science: which microbes matter is still unclear."}]}