Inside BIO 2025: Where Longevity Is Gaining Ground, But Still Fighting for a Seat at Pharma’s Table
How much aging research/longevity was present at BIO International Convention 2025? It is the most important convention for pharma, so exactly as expected, it was all drug discovery pipelines and CROs; companies related to aging were almost impossible to find, usually hidden within larger national/state pavilions. In 4 days, I managed to find 2 longevity clinics, 4 AI powered dual-purpose drug discovery companies, 4 longevity supplement brands, 3 repurposing or preclinical aging therapeutics, 1 wearable and 1 precision nutrition company. As I was walking around the convention centre, my brain was screaming that “~90% of the diseases being targeted at BIO could, in theory, be prevented through aging research”. Technically, almost every booth could be linked back to longevity. But to stay honest in my count, I set a clear rule: unless “aging” or “longevity” was explicitly mentioned in the company name or brief, it didn’t make the list.
Longevity Clinics
I was familiar with the company from the Forbes Middle East Healthcare Leaders summit, where PureHealth's CEO Shaista Asif was on the panel with Dr Evelyne Bischof (who is the head of our Longevity Education hub; free, accredited longevity medicine courses). However, at that time I did not realize that PureHealth is the UAE’s largest integrated healthcare network, really focused on longevity. I will risk saying that among massive providers globally, they might be the most committed to longevity medicine. I talked to Maitha Ahmed, the head of PR, who emphasized how the location of their main longevity clinic in Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, the largest medical complex in UAE, strategically places them as “open to everyone” following their mission of democratizing longevity. PureHealth was tucked away inside the large UAE pavilion, clearly relying more on pre-scheduled meetings than walk-by discovery. If I hadn’t known about them in advance, I would’ve completely missed that they’re positioning themselves around healthy longevity.
PureHealth is a publicly traded company listed at the UAE stock exchange at 2.44 aed per share (0.66 usd). They were recently listed as one of the 100 Listed companies in UAE: now that’s a step for longevity medicine.
Biongevity is a longevity clinic in Dubai. I had the honor of meeting Dr Kapoor, BioAro group founder, who shared with me that their longevity supplement “Longevity+” just got certified by the Dubai government, thereby becoming the first UAE’s official longevity supplement. The clinic offers whole geome and exome sequencing, telomere length measurement, gut and skin microbiome analysis, pharmacogenetic testing (which I applaud because I think it’s severely underhyped) and general biomarker analysis followed up by physician consultation. They also have a separate branch BioSport, for maximizing athletes’ health and performance, and soon they will open BioMind, for AI-powered mental health support. They seem to be especially focused and skilled in genetic analysis, so if you’re looking for a trustworthy provider in Dubai, that’s your place!
Wearables and supplements
Attention longevity clinics! This FDA cleared, UK-based company sells raw data accelerometers, which is an alternative to making your patients buy a fitbit. They can track exactly the type of wearable data you want, and you will finally know if your patients actually adhere to their longevity protocol, or just claim they do. Think of all the behavioral studies it could inform! Their device was already used in over 200 clinical trials, and 1500 publications, but the longevity space of their application is still waiting to be filled. They can track over 150 digital biomarkers including acceleration, physical activity intensity, sedentary vs movement activity, posture changes, sleep / wake time and sleep event characterisation. One of the longevity related trials their device is being used in is “Effects of lifestyle changes in an obese metabolically healthy elderly population (ISRCTN11769612)” or “Establishing a life course cohort for advances in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sarcopenia (ISRCTN54061440)”. The company has operations in 40 countries and has no software or licensing fees for devices.
In my opinion, the two functions that make them stand out over popular wearables is that their device can be worn on wrist, ankle or waist without compromising on data quality, and that they provide an adherence report with wear-time compliance data. So House MD would be satisfied; everybody lies, but now you can detect, if they do regarding their protocol adherence.
LongevityLab’s Sooo.me
This Lithuanian startup, founded by Erika Paule, MBA, and Šarūnas Paškevičius, PhD, cultivates a variety of mushrooms believed to offer longevity benefits. What sets them apart is their innovative use of bioreactors, rather than traditional farming methods, to grow their fungi. The company is now focused on scaling up production to meet growing demand. Their pharma-grade nutraceutical brand is called Sooo.me and they offer 8 types of their longevity mushroom blends: lean, calm, ace, cellular, focused, immune, energetic, solid. Four of them are pure, single mushroom extracts, four contain known geroprotectors like spermidine, quercetin, fisetin or berberine. Some of the less known active ingredients I found in their blends include Shilajit Mumijo (50mg), which is a plant based resin derived from rocks (phyto-mineral), commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine that is supposed to have antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties, or Japanese knotweed: an ingredient from traditional Chinese medicine that contains high amounts of trans-resveratrol; SOOO.me sells it under their “solid” nutraceutical, 350mg per capsule.
I appreciate that they make an effort to measure the purity of their active ingredients, like they did for transresveratrol with HPLC. I would also highly recommend them to test their Shilajit for heavy metals. Depending on the blend of your choosing, the price per box is between 36 to 76 euro.
Here comes a supplement with validated with a 12 week human clinical trial. Myoki, Muscle252, the korean synthetic peptide, increased the muscle mass by 2.52% in sarcopenia patients, which translated to improved results of grip strength and walking speed. On a biomarker profile, it increased IGFF-1 and testosterone, while decreasing catabolic markers like myoglobin or creatinine kinase, all with p value less than 0.05. It is a direct myostatin inhibitor; myostatin is a protein that inhibits muscle growth, and its levels typically increase with age, contributing to age-related muscle loss.
The company claims it is the only FDA registered oral peptide for muscle health. They also claim no side effects, which I find hard to believe, but I also did not find any data suggesting otherwise. It would be great to see several extended trials (and before you come at me, I know they cost a lot;)) especially in healthy volunteers to see if there is any kidney/liver toxicity with prolonged use, and if the benefits plateau after a certain duration of administration. When I was wondering about that, I tried to find the published clinical trial results, but I didn’t find anything on google scholar. However, since this is a Korean company making it’s way to the american market, I will give them the benefit of doubt, and assume that the trial is published in korean journals, while I await response from company’s representatives to send me the entire paper.
Another pne of their peptied that might be relevant to aging sells under the name “ProGsterol”. The active ingredient name is Deglusterol and it’s a synthetic peptide that is supposed to increase adiponectin, upregulate AMPK and downregulate TNFalpha. In their clinical study on type 2 diabeties patients, after 12 weeks they saw a higher than placebo reductions in fasting blood glucose and insulin, homa-IR and hba1c; similarly positive results were observed in prediabetic patients. They have another study to compare he effect of progsterol with metformin, and another one to see combination therapy effects.
While Caregen is rather known for designing their peptides for aesthetic medicine (which theoretically I could also claim to be involved in aging; at least be lowering the subjective/psychological age), I was impressed by the trial results I’ve seen for those two supplements in their booklets. I will update this post when I will recieve the link to the published online version, even if in korean.
This Florida-based company with over 200 000 customers offers genetic testing and biomarker profiling to create a 400 page report telling you how to eat and how to exercise. I always approach these solutions with caution, because I have not seen enough published data to believe that my genes carry information about my body’s nutritional preferences; I think there is so much more in play: microbiome, the actual active ingredient concentrations in produce, acute health states etc. I am rather in favor of frequent blood biomarker monitoring and adjusting accordingly, preferably with longevity physician guidance. The company also offers IV supplement drips, which are marked as “not advised, as there is not enough evidence” in the longevity medicine protocol. The company doesn’t list the genes they test on their website, but they shared them with me during the conference. A careful look at this gene panel shows that only some of the included genes offer useful insights for nutrition, while many have limited or no practical value in guiding dietary choices.
I would say that there are only two, 100% useful genes that their kit offfers: LCT (lactose intolerance) and CYP1A2 (caffeine and some drugs metabolism). On the other hand, if you had a variant in either, you probably realized that diary or coffee doesn’t serve you, before the test could tell you that.
From the mildly useful ones, only if supported by blood tests, genes like MTHFR, MTR, and MTRR are involved in methylation pathways that process folate and vitamin B12. Variants in these genes may raise homocysteine levels and could point to a need for higher intake or active forms of these B vitamins. VDR variants can slightly alter the way the body responds to vitamin D, which might influence supplementation needs. Genes involved in antioxidant defense like GSTT1, GSTM1, SOD2, and GPX1 may impact the body’s ability to manage oxidative stress, suggesting some people may benefit from higher antioxidant support. Finally, many genes in the panel such as IL1A, IL6, TNFA, IL10, and CRP are tied to inflammation, but their effects are small and inconsistent across studies. They don’t offer reliable guidance for diet unless supported by clinical markers. Other genes like HTRA1, FTO, TCF7L2, and COMT are often included in commercial reports, but they have limited value for nutrition because their effects are either too small or too uncertain. Structural and immune-related genes such as COL1A1, CDH13, and HLA-DQA1/DQB1 are not useful for tailoring nutrition. While genes like APOE and APOA1 are involved in cholesterol metabolism, they are only meaningful when paired with cholesterol blood tests; on their own, they don’t dictate specific dietary changes.
Fortunately, the company also offers blood biomarker testing, but at additional cost, and they rather claim that the genes will tell you everything. So in conclusion, if you want to find out all that, why not do whole genome sequencing and consult with the longevity physician based on your blood biomarkers? Nevertheless, for people who don’t know anything about healthy longevity and just want to be healtheir, it is not the worst place to start, and is certinely a good call, if the results would motivate you to take better care for yourself. But do you actually need to pay all this money just to choose healthier foods and exercise more?
MollinQ
This korean company designed a new, resveratrol derived molecule. They are still in early stages, but composed a 4-phase plan of molecule’s application: cosmetics ->clincial dermatology -> menopause symptom relase ->longevity supplemets. Their molecule holds a US patent.
Dual purpose AI drug discovery
There is so much to write about Insilico Medicine that I don’t know where to start. If you have not read their latest Nature Medicine paper showing the positive phase 2a results of the world’s first AI-developed drug, you are clearly missing out and are not keeping up with the latest news in biotech. Their TNIK-inhibitor, Rentosertib, not only increased forced vital capacity in IPF patients, but also decreased the biological age by 2-3 years measured by multiple proteomics clocks.
The good news is not stopping, as they recently oversubscribed their series E raising over 123 million USD, completed phase 1 dosing of MAT2A inhibitor for solid tumors, launched a new component of their Pharma.AI platform, all within the last 2 weeks!
As a natural result, their representatives at BIO were fully booked with meetings and the booth was overflowing with interest. The CEO, Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, spoke at multiple panels. His and his team's dedication to fulfilling the company's mission of extending productive longevity for all, was vibrantly present in each interaction with Insilico.
There comes another connection from ARDD! Kristen Fortney, the CEO of Bioage Labs was on multiple panels. BioageLabs recently had a lot of good news such as expanding their discovery platform by data from Norway’s HUNT Biobank - one of Europe's most comprehensive population health studies or that their once-daily oral NLRP3 inhibitor has completed IND-enabling studies and is advancing toward the clinic, with Phase 1 single-ascending-dose data expected by year-end. Wait, that’s not the end! Their team advanced to semifinals of XPrize Healthspan competition! On this wave of success, I can’t wait for Kristen’s talk at the upcoming ARDD. Perhaps we’ll learn something about their drugs in discovery in collarobartion with Lilly or Novartis? Can’t wait!
Ps. Kirsten was one of the co-authors of my latest paper; check it out!
I had the pleasure of listening to the talk from Juvena’s CEO Hanadie Yousef at the longevity summit dublin 2024, which I covered for longevity.technology. At BIO, she was on the panel with Kriten Fortney about weight-loss management. Juvena Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of protein-based therapeutics that restore tissue homeostasis by leveraging a proprietary AI-enabled discovery platform called JuvNET. This platform systematically mines the secretome, the collection of proteins secreted by regenerative stem cells, to identify and engineer novel biologics with pro-regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and metabolic effects. Recently, they secured a multi-target partnership with Eli Lilly in 2025. Fingers crossed!
There comes the ARDD sponsor! Rejuvenate BIO’s booth was within the Belgian pavilion. Although I didn’t manage to catch any representatives between their meetings, I was very happy to see them on site. Rejuvenate Biomed is a longevity AI drug discovery start up who developed two proprietary platforms: CombinAge, an AI-driven tool to predict synergistic drug combinations, and CelegAge, an in vivo system using C. elegans to assess healthspan impact. Their lead candidate, RJx-01, is a novel, orally administered combination drug developed for sarcopenia. Preclinical and Phase 1b clinical studies have shown RJx-01 significantly improves muscle mass, strength, and fatigue resistance, with a strong safety and bioavailability profile, positioning it as a promising first-in-class therapy. They recently dosed the first patient in their phase 2 study on older persons with severe acute exacerbation of COPD
If you want to get to the details of the company’s science, listen to their CSO Evi Mercken speak at ARDD 2023 or CEO Ann Belien at ARDD 2022
Longevity therapeutics
I was approached by their co-founder and chief clinical officer Jacqueline Iversen, who I had the pleasure of meeting during the last ARDD. They are developing an anti-inflammatory repurposed combination drug. For one which has just which has completed phase 1 clinical trial, they are looking for collaborators specializing in metabolic biomarkers of aging.
Hidden deep within the Argentinian pavilion, I owe thanks to the promotional video Exomass played by the coffee stand, that explained how the brian ages. If not for that, I would have missed this promising start-up that uses neural stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (NSC-EVs) for Parkinson's diseases. Their latest publication in Nature Sceintific Reports shows that NSC-EVs offer strong neuroprotection in Parkinson’s disease cell models by enhancing dopaminergic neuron survival and reducing oxidative stress. They are about to publish the in-vivo results in rats, and I hope they wouldl test their treatment on healthy aged mice too, perhaps following the protocol form our latest paper).
On a side note, while writing this article down I relaized that Gustavo Carrizo, the inspiring BD executive for Exomass and PhD candidate in immunology at Johns Hopkins, is a part of Nucleate - a PhD student led organisation supporting student biotech entrepherneurship, with advosiors such as Geoge Church, who I had honor of meerting at the Hravard China Forum earlier this year. Check them out!
This California based company has a great mission statement: Transforming medicine by rewinding cellular aging clocks. Their objective is targeting shortening telomeres, and they use IPF and other types of fibrosis as models. Their solutions include activating telomerase, followed by proprietary lipid nanoparticle delivery of their drug to target. Their technology is in the pre-IND stage and they are about to raise for series A.
Honorable Mentions
UAE Department of Health - The UAE pavilion had a separated space for the department of health - the name known to everybody in healthy longevity medicine, given that they are the first governmental body to approve a HLM protocol, and implement it across regions clinics. Can’t wait for their next move in longevity.
Harry Robb - I had a serendipitous pleasure of bumping into Harry Robb, who helped build Longevity.Technology and now is a VC in Lifespan Vision Ventures. Harry was so kind as to direct my attention to some of the companies at BIO that could interest me, when I was losing hope for minding more than 3 longevity companies at BIO (honestly, big pharma and national pavilions took all the attention and almost all space;)). We met at ARDD; here comes a conclusion from this story- go to conferences and make good connections, because you never know when you will get an unexpected helping hand!
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That would be it from what I found at BIO in longevity. If you’ve been at BIO and you noticed something that I didn’t, please reach out and let me know! I go to many conferences, 80% are dedicated purely to aging research, and i admit I enjoy them a lot more than the non-aging-focused. However, BIO will definitely become my favoirte of the “other” conferences I visited so far (is it because it had at least some aging component? Shhh, nobody’s gonna know;)).