1Challenging but essential targets for genuine anti-aging drugs

Contrary to what one might conclude from the popular press, anti-aging drugs do not yet exist, in the sense in which the term “drug ” is normally used. Since a drug is assumed to be effective against its target human pathology, and since the vast majority of deaths in the developed world are from aging-related causes, it is inappropriate to describe something as an anti-aging drug unless one has good reason to believe that it will appreciably extend the life expectancy of those in the developed world who receive it. A drug that rejuvenates aspects of the aged body but does not increase life expectancy is an anti-frailty drug, not an anti-aging one. This distinction is critical for decision-makers in the drug discovery sphere because, while the market for anti-frailty drugs (even unproven ones) is large, that for genuine anti-aging drugs—which, as I explain here, are now foreseeable—will certainly be far larger. In this article I survey the main aspects of age-related degeneration that are believed to be essential targets for genuine anti-aging drugs—that is, without whose amelioration human life expectancy probably cannot be greatly increased—and some promising strategies for the design of such drugs