Preliminary analyses from Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and a University of California San Diego trial suggest popular diabetes and weight-loss medicines may affect biological-ageing markers, though they have not been shown to extend life.
Early company-backed analyses suggest that widely used GLP-1 medicines may do more than curb appetite and improve blood sugar: they may also slow some measures of biological ageing. At the Aging Research and Drug Discovery conference, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly presented data indicating that semaglutide, sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound, were associated with people appearing biologically younger on so-called ageing clocks than those given a placebo.
The findings, however, remain preliminary and should be read cautiously. According to the conference presentations reported by MIT Technology Review and Gizmodo, Novo’s review of past trial data for semaglutide suggested users were typically two to three years biologically younger than placebo recipients on most clocks, with one heart-related measure pointing to a gap of around four years. Eli Lilly’s analysis of tirzepatide showed a similar direction of effect on epigenetic clocks, which estimate biological age by reading chemical changes on DNA.
A separate line of evidence is beginning to give the idea more scientific weight. Researchers at the University of California San Diego reported the first randomised, placebo-controlled human trial to test semaglutide’s effect on ageing markers in adults with HIV, finding a 9% reduction in biological ageing speed. The team said the drug lowered several markers linked to mortality risk and age-related illness, but it stopped short of claiming the medicine can extend lifespan or reverse ageing.
That distinction matters. None of these results means Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound has been approved as an anti-ageing treatment, and the evidence so far comes with major limits. The Novo and Lilly work has not been peer-reviewed, it was presented by the companies’ own scientists, and the studies focused on people with obesity or type 2 diabetes rather than the general population. Ageing clocks are useful research tools, but they are still proxies, not proof that someone will live longer or avoid disease.
Even so, the broader interest is understandable. GLP-1 drugs are already known to reduce weight, improve glucose control and lower cardiovascular risk, all of which can affect how people age. A federally funded trial now under way will test whether GLP-1 medicines and other drugs can add healthy years in older adults, while a separate Phase 2 study of tirzepatide at the University of Texas Medical Branch is recruiting participants aged 55 to 70 to examine DNA-methylation measures of biological age, with results expected in 2027. For now, the best reading is that the drugs may influence some pathways linked to ageing, but the clinical meaning of that signal is still unknown.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
