Big Pharma finally says the L-word
The announcement came not with fireworks but with slides and questions; yet in Copenhagen the shift was seismic. At this year’s Aging Research & Drug Discovery Meeting, both Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk publicly described their GLP-1 drugs as longevity medicines. One presentation ended with the question “Are GLP-1s the world’s first longevity drug?”; the next day, another began with the slide “Semaglutide as a proven longevity medicine.”
A new article by Longevity.Technology explores this moment in detail, but it is worth pausing on what it means when the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies start to speak the same language as geroscientists. For decades, Big Pharma has invested in diabetes, cardiovascular disease and oncology while avoiding aging itself; now, two of its most powerful voices have said the quiet part out loud. Once you name something, it exists – and with that, the field begins to change.
Is semaglutide truly a longevity drug? The purists will point out that lifespan extension in healthy populations remains unproven; that long-term tolerability over decades is an open question; that GLP-1s work indirectly through weight and metabolic control rather than striking at the canonical hallmarks of aging. And they would be right. But it is also true that GLP-1s reduce cardiovascular risk, may offer neuroprotective effects and are already altering multiple late-life disease trajectories at once. In short, they are doing things that geroscience has always promised but rarely delivered at scale.
The champagne moment for geroscience has arrived not in a mouse lab but in a crowded conference hall, with pharma executives on stage and investors in the audience. Whether you see this as a triumph of translation, a triumph of marketing, or a little of both, it matters that aging has been named, claimed and reframed. The conversation has moved from the sidelines to the centre of strategy – and that shift will echo through policy, pipelines and public perception alike.
🔗 Read the full analysis on Longevity.Technology HERE, plus discover how Infinite Epigenetics is teaming up with TruDiagnostic to make epigenetic testing more accessible.
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CPO
1wTirzepatide seems to reduce visceral (toxic) fat above and beyond regular calorie matched weight control. So there is definitely something to GLPs, probably not enough to change the curve of aging (Gompertz component) but shifting everything forward, like regular medicine does, is also quite valuable.
Longevity Activist / Healthy Aging / Silver Economy / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion / Senior Influencer / Speaker / Consultant
1wPhil Newman: Thank you for sharing part of the lecture on "medicines for longevity" presented at ARDD 2025. But I have a question: Is aging a disease? In my opinion, it isn't. Human life is a process with phases: conception, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, aging, and death. There is an interaction between genetics and the environment. And diseases can arise, whether genetically inherited or induced by habits and environments. Traditional medicine focuses on treating symptoms, not necessarily the root cause. But we need to analyze "why am I sick?" On the other hand, to live longer, we need money and social interaction. And, to date, anti-aging therapies and medications are not scientifically proven and are expensive. Important: while investments in healthy longevity through medications are growing, ageism is a global problem that contaminates aging and reduces life expectancy.
Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Neurxstem Inc.
1wNot so quick says Neurxstem CEO! 👎 Our precision data do not support such claims nor the claims by Lilly that their other drug works for Alzheimer's either. 🙄 Longevity can do without more snake 🐍 oil sales at big conferences. 🤥 In shock move, EU panel rejects Alzheimer's drug Leqembi https://pharmaphorum.com/news/shock-move-eu-panel-rejects-alzheimers-drug-leqembi Little evidence that GLP agonists address fundamental issues of Longevity or age-related diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's for example. "Fools rush in, where wise men fear to tread" including investors!