One of the most studied life-extending drugs in animals just failed its human test in a 13-week clinical trial co-funded by the DeSci community VitaDAO.
Those from Dr. The study, led by Brad Stanfield, a general practitioner based in Auckland, New Zealand, sought to find out how the drug so-called “rapamycin” performs in combination with exercise in older adults. “Rapamycin did not help. In fact, it may have made the situation worse,” said Dr. Stanfield.
Rapamycin is one of the most studied life-extending drugs in animals. So @BradStanfieldMD conducted a proper clinical trial to see what happened in humans. @vitadao And @LifespanNews co-financed it 💛
40 people aged 65 to 85, all completing the same training program for 13 weeks. Half got… https://t.co/PwlDmJ45WK
— VitaDAO 💛 (@vitadao) April 16, 2026
The study examined up to 40 sedentary people between the ages of 65 and 85. Once a week, half received 6 mg of rapamycin (sirolimus), while the other group received placebo pills, which are basically identical-looking inactive medications designed to contrast the effects of real medications.
The placebo participants improved more than the rapamycin group
All participants completed the same exercise programs. The idea was to use exercise to activate mTOR, which signals muscles to build proteins and become stronger, and then use rapamycin to trigger the body into autophagy, which has been shown in animal studies to promote long-term health.
“If you alternate the two, you get the best of both worlds. At least that was the theory,” said Dr. Stanfield.
Those who received placebos performed significantly better. They were able to cover longer distances, had better strength, and also completed approximately 3.4 more repetitions of chair-stand training than the rapamycin group.
Although the same rate of people reported side effects in both groups (85% each), Dr. Stanfield reported a higher number of events in the rapamycin group (99 vs. 63), so much so that one participant was hospitalized with pneumonia after receiving a single dose of rapamycin.
What went wrong in the clinical rapamycin test?
For comparison, a report from PubMed Central found that three months of rapamycin treatment increased the life expectancy of rodents by up to 60%. The effectiveness of the drug per se is therefore not in question. “The leading theory is a pharmacokinetic problem,” said Dr. Stanfield.
Pharmacokinetics is essentially the study of how long a drug remains in the body. In this case, rapamycin has a half-life of about 62 hours, which means it will interfere with workouts and the muscle building process.
“Even when taken the day after training, active drug levels persisted into subsequent training sessions, partially blocking mTOR when the muscles needed it most.” Dr. Stanfield explained.
He further concluded that “exercise remains the best measure to maintain function in older adults.”
Longevity research is increasingly becoming an important part of DeSci. The 13-week trial was co-funded by a decentralized autonomous community, VitaDAO has financed relevant studies since 2021, in contrast to traditional financing, which is intended to exacerbate the “valley of death” between discovery and clinical.
Crypto founders are not left out. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, has donated directly to labs and organizations focused on longevity.
Armstrong is that too Co-founder of ResearchHub and NewLimita biotech company that uses epigenetic reprogramming to combat aging, which it believes is the cause of most serious diseases.
Age is probably the main cause of most serious illnesses. As we age, our cells lose their function, which can lead to various diseases manifesting themselves, which is why most serious diseases correlate with age.
Yes, it’s more complex, but it’s an important component. @newlimit working on it… pic.twitter.com/pXJuL2gig1
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 14, 2026
