The standard agreement of Silicon Valley is: spend money now, predict a revolutionary future, and hope the market understands. By 2026, this agreement has forcefully entered a field that a decade ago was almost entirely academic: anti-aging. Billions of dollars have flowed into biotech companies promising to reverse aging. Here is a review of who is actually close to results, and who is still promising.
1. Altos Labs - The Giant No One Has Seen Results From
Funding: $3 billion in a single round. Investors: Jeff Bezos, Yuri Milner, and secret offices from Saudi Arabia. Founders: Almost every major legend of aging research, including Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Manuel Serrano, and others. The Chief Scientist and co-founder is Rick Klausner (former director of the NCI), while the CEO is Hal Barron, former President of R&D at GSK, appointed in 2022.
Product: Partial reprogramming. Introducing Yamanaka factors into old cells to return them to a youthful state, without turning them into stem cells (and thus without losing their identity). This technology has been praised since 2016 when it was published. But since Altos was founded in 2022, we are in 2026 and still haven't seen clinical results.
Status: Not yet in human trials. Most results are still in isolated organs. The company spans three facilities (San Diego, Cambridge UK, San Francisco) with about 300 researchers. The market expects clinical trials to open towards 2027-2028.
2. Life Biosciences - The First Winner
Funding: Approximately $220 million by 2026. Chief Advisor-Founder: David Sinclair from Harvard. CEO: Jerry McLaughlin.
Product: ER-100, a gene therapy based on three Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4) delivered via AAV virus directly into the patient's eyes. This rejuvenates nerve cells in the visual organs.
Status: FDA approval for human trials in January 2026. This is the first-ever trial of partial reprogramming in humans. First patients: glaucoma and NAION (acute optic nerve injury) patients. The trial is Phase 1 (safety), with results expected by the end of 2026 or 2027.
Why this matters: While Altos tries to treat the entire body at once, Life starts step-by-step in a limited organ (the eye). This is a more cautious approach but also safer and with a higher chance of clinical success.
3. Retro Biosciences - The Ambition for 10 Years
Funding: Sam Altman (OpenAI) injected a seed round of $180 million in 2022. In later rounds, the company raised a total of approximately $1.18 billion, according to a valuation of about $1.8 billion (this is the valuation, not the funding amount). Official ambition: to add 10 years to human lifespan.
Product: Two parallel paths:
- Reprogramming of hematopoietic stem cells (unique blood stem cells)
- RTR242: A pill that boosts autophagy (cellular cleaning). Now in human trials for Alzheimer's
Status: Early stage, but RTR242 is already in the clinic. Results expected in a year.
4. NewLimit - Anti-Aging of the Immune System
Funding: $130 million in Series B round (2025). Founders: Brian Armstrong (CEO of Coinbase), Blake Byers, and lead scientist Jacob Kimmel.
Product: Epigenetic reprogramming of T cells (part of the immune system). They aim to reverse the aging of the immune system, not the entire body.
Status: All trials in mice. Entry into the clinic expected in 2027.
5. Calico Labs - The Elephant at Google
Funding: The partnership with AbbVie brought in about $1.5 billion in initial funding (2014), growing over the years to approximately $3.5 billion cumulatively. The company was founded in 2013 by Alphabet (Google), led by Arthur Levinson as CEO, with the announcement and backing coming from Larry Page.
Product: Unclear. The company is known for being very secretive. Among other things, it has been revealed that they invest in research on the naked mole rat (a creature that lives over 30 years!) and broad genetic studies.
Status: 12 years after founding, still no product in the clinic. The most stuck point in the field.
6. Rejuvenate Bio - Rejuvenating Pets
Funding: Approximately $50 million. Founders: Daniel Oliver (CEO), Noah Davidsohn, and George Church. The company was born from Church's lab at Harvard.
Product: An interesting approach. Starting with dogs. If the company can dramatically extend the lifespan of dogs, it will be a proof of principle. They have shown that with partial reprogramming, old mice improved all health metrics without side effects.
Status: Trials in dogs with heart problems. If successful, they will be the first to prove partial reprogramming in a large animal.
7. Shift Bioscience - The Epigenetic Clock for Treatment
British (founded in 2017), raised approximately $18 million in total ($16 million seed round announced in 2024). They developed their own epigenetic clock and are now using it to design molecules that turn the clock back.
8. Genflow Biosciences - SIRT6
British. Aims to license the SIRT6 gene as a drug. SIRT6 is a specific protein that is more active in super-centenarians (people who lived over 110 years). The company is trying to create a pharmaceutical version of it for the general population.
9. BioAge Labs - Drugs from Healthy People
Unique approach: Follow very healthy people over 80, identify unique blood components, and develop drugs that mimic these components.
10. Loyal - The First Pet Company on the FDA Track
Loyal has not yet received full FDA approval, but it is the first to pass a significant milestone on the path to conditional approval: the FDA accepted its RXE package (Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness) in February 2025. The drug LOY-002 is intended for older dogs (age 10 and up, from about 6.5 kg), and the goal is to extend healthy lifespan by about 12 months, a target not yet clinically proven or approved. Even so, this is evidence that an FDA approval pathway for anti-aging drugs is possible.
11. Insilico Medicine - AI for Drug Design
An American-founded company, with headquarters in Hong Kong and offices worldwide. Uses AI to design anti-aging drugs. Discovered INS018_055 (Rentosertib), a molecule that works against pulmonary fibrosis (a sign of aging), now in Phase 2.
Summary: Who is Actually Advancing in 2026?
The representative in the clinic: Life Biosciences. The representative with the most money: Altos. The representative with the most noise: Retro. The representative with concrete results in large animals: Loyal. The representative with the most novel approach: NewLimit.
The realistic expectation: By 2030, we will see the first clinical trials conclude. By 2035, if everything goes as planned, the first longevity drug could reach the clinic. Until then, these companies will be a crucible of immense research.
What Does This Mean for You?
If you are 50 or older, these drugs are still far off. But if you are 30, there is a good chance that during your career there will be progress that significantly extends your life. Until then, the proven interventions remain the same: physical activity, nutrition, sleep, and social relationships.
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