Longevity Startup Doses First Human in Bid to Reverse Age-Related Sight Loss

Life Biosciences has dosed its first patient with a drug to reverse age-related sight loss. The company is testing its ER-100 drug, which it claims has restored vision in monkeys, for safety and side effects in a study of around 18 adults over the next year. The study targets patients with glaucoma and NAION, two conditions that cause damage to crucial cells in the optic nerve, which transmits visual information from the back of the eye to the brain.

ER-100 is designed to rejuvenate those cells so that they work again and restore sight. This marks the first-ever cellular rejuvenation therapy using this technology to receive FDA clearance to enter human clinical trials. Life Biosciences cofounder and professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, David Sinclair, said this provides the first chance to test whether the technology can “ameliorate human disease.” Sinclair emphasized that aging biology—understanding how the body’s cells and functions deteriorate over time—is at the root of longevity science.

ER-100 is the focus of major interest across biotech for its potential to reverse cellular aging. Life Biosciences, based in Boston, says it is developing applications for its technology to tackle a host of age-related diseases in a variety of organs, like fatty liver disease. “Our research has suggested that aging is driven in large part by the loss of epigenetic information, not irreversible damage.

This clinical study represents the first opportunity to test whether restoring that information can ameliorate human disease,” Sinclair said. Why this matters: The success of Life Biosciences' ER-100 drug could have significant implications for the treatment of age-related diseases. If proven effective, this technology could potentially be applied to a range of conditions, from vision loss to fatty liver disease.

For developers, this could mean a new avenue for treating diseases that were previously considered irreversible. For businesses, it could lead to new investment opportunities in the longevity space. For consumers, it could mean access to innovative treatments that could improve their quality of life.

However, questions remain about the long-term efficacy and safety of ER-100, and further research is needed to fully understand its potential.