Experimental Longevity Compounds: Rapamycin, Metformin and Others

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Rapamycin (also called sirolimus), metformin and dasatinib are prescription medicines approved for specific diseases. Studying them for aging is experimental. This page summarizes trials and drug information only. It gives no starting, stopping or dose advice and does not suggest anyone obtain these medicines. Talk with your prescriber about any medicine you take. Aging is not an indication listed on the drug information pages we read.

Evidence labels used: approved medicine (for the disease named), promising but limited, preclinical (cells/animals only), insufficient evidence, mixed. See How We Label Evidence in Longevity Research.

Why these medicines are studied

Geroscience is the field that tries to change the biology of aging in order to delay several age-related diseases at once. A 2025 JAMA review describes it as aiming to slow age-related disability and prevent age-related diseases. [1] A 2024 review of eight drug and compound groups tested in people (metformin, NAD+ precursors, GLP-1 drugs, TORC1 inhibitors, spermidine, senolytics, probiotics and anti-inflammatories) said multiple trials have started against age-associated diseases, and called the hope that they slow aging an expectation, not a result. [2]

Rapamycin (sirolimus)

Approved use. MedlinePlus says sirolimus is used with other medicines to prevent rejection of kidney transplants and to treat lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a rare lung condition. [3] Aging is not listed.

Animal evidence: preclinical. Rapamycin extended lifespan in genetically varied mice at three test sites. [4] The National Institute on Aging mouse program lists it among agents that raised median lifespan. [5]

Human evidence: insufficient. The PEARL trial (129 enrolled, registry record) tested weekly low-dose compounded rapamycin or placebo for 48 weeks in healthy older adults. Adverse events were similar across groups and the main outcome, visceral fat, did not change significantly; some secondary results improved in subgroups. [6][7] A one-year trial cannot show effects on lifespan. Detail: Rapamycin and mTOR Inhibitors in Aging Research.

Risks. MedlinePlus warns that sirolimus can make it harder to fight infections and may raise the risk of cancer, especially lymphoma and skin cancer. [3] Those warnings come from transplant use, a different population from healthy people.

Metformin

Approved use. MedlinePlus says metformin is used alone or with other medicines to treat type 2 diabetes. [8] Aging is not listed.

Evidence: insufficient, with mixed signals. Interest grew from animal work and observational findings in people with diabetes. A 2025 review described methodological limits in early findings and an emerging uncertainty about its anti-aging potential. [9] A 2019 editorial noted it is not known whether protective effects seen in people with chronic disease extend to people without it. [10] In one trial of healthy adults aged 65 and older doing resistance exercise, metformin blunted muscle gains compared with placebo. [11] Detail: Metformin and Aging Research.

Risks. MedlinePlus warns of rare but serious lactic acidosis, and says to tell the doctor about kidney disease, among other conditions. [8]

Senolytics (dasatinib plus quercetin)

Senolytics aim to clear "senescent" cells, which stop dividing and build up with age. [1] In a 12-person randomized pilot in lung fibrosis, the combination was feasible and generally well tolerated, though sleep disturbance and anxiety were more common in the treated group; it was too small to judge benefit. [12] In a 60-woman trial in postmenopausal women, the main bone-resorption marker did not differ from control. [13] Label: insufficient evidence. See Senolytic Drugs and Cellular Senescence, Senolytics and Autophagy.

Other medicines with their own pages

GLP-1 medicines, testosterone, menopausal hormone therapy and growth hormone are each studied for diseases or hormone deficiency, not for aging itself: GLP-1 Medicines and Healthy Aging Research, Testosterone Therapy and Aging, Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Aging and Growth Hormone and IGF-1 in Aging. Prescribing a medicine for a use not on its label is explained at Off-Label Prescribing for Longevity.