Big Pharma leaders embrace GLP-1s as longevity drugs as debate grows on what this means for patients, pipelines and policy.
At the twelfth Aging Research and Drug Discovery meeting (ARDD) in Copenhagen, the air was heavy with expectation; the conference has long been a forum where academia, biotech and pharma test their ideas, but this year’s event carried a different charge. On consecutive days, senior voices from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk described GLP-1 receptor agonists not merely as treatments for diabetes or obesity, but as longevity drugs – a semantic shift with strategic weight.
Dr Andrew Adams of Eli Lilly asked the assembled audience whether GLP-1s might be the world’s first longevity drugs; the following day, Novo Nordisk’s Dr Lotte Bjerre Knudsen updated her title slide to read: “Semaglutide as a proven longevity medicine”. In a hall crowded with senior R&D leaders from global pharma, the message was impossible to ignore. Longevity has entered the corporate lexicon.
Longevity.Technology: It is difficult to overstate the significance of two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies standing on a stage and uttering the words “longevity drug”; for decades, Big Pharma has circled the aging conversation warily – investing in diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease while studiously avoiding the broader framing of aging as an actionable target. Now, with GLP-1 receptor agonists rebranded in Copenhagen as the first longevity medicines, the industry has given tacit permission for the rest of the sector to follow suit – and, crucially, for investors and policymakers to start considering healthspan as a legitimate endpoint. This pivot matters because once something is named, it exists; the longevity space has long needed Big Pharma to say the quiet part out loud.
Suddenly, the conversation has shifted from the fringes of geroscience to the front row of pharma strategy – and that should put a spring in the step of anyone invested in healthier, longer lives. GLP-1s may not yet tick every purist’s box for “true” longevity medicine, but they are already bending multiple disease trajectories at once and, in doing so, proving that interventions targeting the biology of aging can also drive blockbuster revenues. If GLP-1s are the first course, then the appetite they create – for novel targets, better biomarkers and combination therapies – could nourish the entire field. Geroscience has been waiting for its champagne moment; in Copenhagen, the corks finally popped.
Pharma finds its voice
That pharma’s attention has sharpened was confirmed by the conference’s field notes. Biologist and CSO of Gordian Biotechnology, Martin Borch Jensen remarked that attendance by pharma companies was higher than ever; Eli Lilly had the greatest presence, but Novartis, Genentech, AstraZeneca and Lundbeck also participated in panels and discussions. For an industry that has historically shied away from explicit engagement with aging biology, such visibility matters.
Alex Zhavoronkov, ARDD co-organiser and CEO of Insilico Medicine, described the moment in his newsletter as “a pivotal moment in the history of the modern pharmaceutical industry”, adding that “in less than 24 hours, the two largest biopharmaceutical companies presented these blockbuster diabetes and obesity treatments as the world’s first recognized longevity therapeutics.” He wrote that “this historic pivot signals that the longevity field has arrived in the mainstream… every company serious about the future of medicine must have a versatile GLP-1 molecule in their portfolio.”
Speaking to Longevity.Technology, Zhavoronkov added: “This is the 12th year we have organized ARDD, and for the first time, the R&D heads of both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk claimed to have the first longevity drugs that benefit patients beyond disease. With over 30 senior pharma leaders in the audience, these statements triggered significant interest in the pharma industry, with senior management beginning to formulate their own strategies for longevity therapeutics. I feel like many years of work are finally bearing fruit – at Insilico alone, we have now identified over 80 targets that could be classified as longevity targets, and there were over 40 startups at the event that follow a similar model. We are witnessing the birth of the longevity pharmaceutical industry.”
Oral GLP-1s and new directions
Beyond semantics, the focus now turns to what comes next. GLP-1s are already available in injectable form and, in the case of oral semaglutide (Rybelsus), as a daily pill for type 2 diabetes. But wider uptake is constrained by cost, tolerability and convenience. A truly viable oral GLP-1 with better safety and dosing convenience would shift the field again – easier to manufacture, store and combine with other interventions.
Zhavoronkov believes that “the future belongs to oral small molecules that are cheaper, easy to store and ship, combine, produce and administer”. He contrasted the setbacks of Pfizer’s danuglipron with Lilly’s continuing late-stage development of orforglipron, noting that “these cases highlight the central challenge: ensuring exceptional safety and tolerability for long-term use.”
This is where companies such as Insilico are training their attention. Rather than focusing solely on novel targets, Insilico has used its AI-driven chemistry platforms to design oral small molecules intended to overcome the limitations of current GLP-1 formulations. Zhavoronkov described the project as “Mission Impossible: the most sophisticated, longevity-friendly GLP-1 design imaginable”, explaining that achieving once-a-week dosing in a small molecule requires “extensive multi-parameter optimization to ensure sustained exposure and efficacy while minimizing side effects – a challenge perfectly suited for generative AI.”
Early evaluation of Insilico’s candidates has impressed pharma veterans, he reported, and the company is in active partnership discussions. “The industry is actively seeking differentiated small molecule oral drugs that can overcome the limitations of current options,” he wrote.
Trials that may shift the field
ARDD also highlighted trials that could further reframe the narrative. Lilly’s Alzheimer’s Primary Prevention trial is unusual in aiming at prevention rather than treatment, potentially opening the door to new surrogate endpoints [1]. The VIBRANT-I trial, testing rapamycin to delay ovarian decline, is ongoing; early signals are promising and results are anticipated in the near future, while a larger VIBRANT-II study is already in planning [2,3]; its design could serve as a platform to test other candidates faster than traditional multimorbidity trials. Meanwhile, the FAST project, repurposing samples from past studies to interrogate aging biomarkers, may soon yield results.
The presence of such trials alongside corporate declarations signals that longevity is not just a rhetorical flourish – it is becoming operational.
A new lexicon of aging
Whether GLP-1s will ultimately be enshrined as ‘true’ longevity medicines depends on future evidence. Extending maximum lifespan in healthy populations remains unproven, and long-term safety must be assessed. But the language shift itself matters: by calling GLP-1s longevity drugs, pharma has reframed the debate. What was once the preserve of academic conferences and niche startups has entered mainstream pharmaceutical strategy.
The consequences will ripple – in investment, in regulatory dialogue, in the design of future trials. The challenge now is to ensure that enthusiasm is matched by rigor, that hype is balanced with data, and that longevity becomes not just a marketing term but a measurable outcome.
The glass has been raised
Aging biology has not suddenly become tractable because two companies said so; the hard work of validation, replication and regulation lies ahead. Yet in Copenhagen the vocabulary shifted, and with it the sense of what is possible. Longevity, once discussed on the sidelines, is now spoken from the podium – and that, in itself, will change the field.
Photographs courtesy of Dr Alex Zhavoronkov and ARDD
[1] https://dian.wustl.edu/clinical-trials/primary-prevention-trial/
[2] https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05836025
[3] https://reports.obgyn.columbia.edu/2024-annual-report/ground-breaking-clinical-trial-explores-delaying-menopause/
