A review of 2025's noteworthy advances in medical research, including GLP-1 receptor agonists as anti-aging drugs, tumor-agnostic therapies and xenotransplants.
A review of 2025's noteworthy advances in medical research, including GLP-1 receptor agonists as anti-aging drugs, tumor-agnostic therapies and xenotransplants.
During aging, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) undergo functional decline affecting their ability to regenerate the hematopoietic system and support lymphoid cell production. This functional decline contributes to some aging-related diseases. Moreover, aging is associated with biomechanical changes in HSCs, including alterations in nuclear envelope tension and nuclear mechanical integrity and mechanotransduction. However, it remains unclear whether aging of somatic stem cells can be prevented by targeting changes in nuclear mechanosignaling.
Siemens Healthineers AG became the latest company to sign a licensing agreement with Alzpath Inc. to use its pTau217 antibody in the development of a blood-based diagnostic assay for Alzheimer's disease. Alzpath previously signed deals with the likes of Roche AG and Beckman Coulter Diagnostics Inc. to use its pTau217 antibody to create diagnostic tests based for early detection and monitoring of Alzheimer's.
ADEL Inc. closed a year-end licensing deal worth up to $1.04 billion with Sanofi SA for ADEL-Y01, a specific tau-targeting Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate in a U.S. phase I study.
Researchers from Stanford University have reported that inhibiting the enzyme 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) promoted cartilage regeneration in mouse models of osteoarthritis due to either aging or tissue injury. An oral version of the inhibitor that the team used is in a clinical trial for sarcopenia; it improved muscle mass and strength in preclinical studies. However, the mechanism by which 15-PDGH inhibition works appears to differ in the two conditions.
It’s the biological resource that keeps on giving, and now UK Biobank has released the final tranche of data on the levels of 249 metabolites in the blood of its half a million participants.
Could GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), already used in obesity and diabetes, be repurposed as drugs to slow aging? Hong Kong, one of the places in the world with the highest human longevity, is also home to a scientific study on the effects of GLP-1RAs. For the first time, scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have assessed their pharmacological potential in later life using a multiomics preclinical approach.
South Korean researchers led by Lee In-suk of Yonsei University have reported the most complete oral microbiome catalog to date, with more than 72,000 genomes. Detailed in Cell Host & Microbe on Nov. 12, 2025, the database is expected to serve as a universal platform for academia and enable “precision microbiome medicine” for the industry, Lee told BioWorld.
South Korean researchers led by Lee In-suk of Yonsei University have reported the most complete oral microbiome catalog to date, with more than 72,000 genomes. Detailed in Cell Host & Microbe on Nov. 12, 2025, the database is expected to serve as a universal platform for academia and enable “precision microbiome medicine” for the industry, Lee told BioWorld.
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