Anti-ageing drug for clinical trials

27 March 2017 09:09

A new anti-ageing drug could hit the market in three years' time

A new anti-ageing drug could hit the market in three years' time

Want to slow down the ageing process? A new drug claims to be able to do just that - and experts have suggested it could be on the market in three years.

What's more it's reckoned the drug could also help astronauts travel to Mars by reducing the impact of cosmic radiation.

Human trials

Nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) was found to have a dramatic rejuvenating effect on ageing mice. Now it's to be tested on humans in clinical trials in the US.

Researchers at the University of South Wales and Harvard Medical School carried out the trials.

It works to combat ageing by repairing the body's DNA - when DNA is damaged it can make the body age faster. NMN brings these DNA benefits by boosting a chemical called NAD+ which is involved in the process of DNA repair.

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What the experts say

Lead scientist Professor David Sinclair said: "The cells of the old mice were indistinguishable from the young mice, after just one week of treatment.

"This is the closest we are to a safe and effective anti-ageing drug that's perhaps only three to five years away from being on the market if the trials go well."

NASA has also taken an interest in the team's research. The space agency wants to protect astronauts travelling to Mars from the effects of radiation.

The research was reported in the journal Science

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