image: Figure 3. Conceptual framework for aging alignment in disease models and therapeutic development. This schematic illustrates the spectrum of aging-related diseases (ARDs) based on their mechanistic overlap with fundamental aging processes. Based on our assessment, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) demonstrates the strongest aging alignment. This framework supports a bidirectional approach to therapeutic development: insights from aging biology inform disease-specific interventions, while clinical efficacy in high-alignment conditions like IPF provides validation feedback for potential geroprotective strategies. The therapeutic strategies shown (senolytics, telomere activation, TNIK inhibitors, epigenetic modulation, and metabolic regulation) represent promising approaches that may translate across multiple ARDs based on their promising results in IPF models and human patients.
Credit: Copyright: © 2025 Zhavoronkov et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
“In this review, we propose hallmark decomposition as a method of measuring the potential of a therapy to translate from a disease-specific treatment to a general geroprotector.”
BUFFALO, NY — September 4, 2025 — A new research perspective was published in Volume 17, Issue 8 of Aging (Aging-US) on August 16, 2025, titled “Age-related diseases as a testbed for anti-aging therapeutics: the case of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.”
In this research perspective, Alex Zhavoronkov, Dominika Wilczok, Feng Ren, and Fedor Galkin, from Insilico Medicine, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and Duke University, propose a new method to evaluate age-related diseases based on how closely they align with the biological processes of aging. Their analysis shows that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive lung condition, is one of the diseases most strongly associated with aging. This makes IPF a promising model for testing new anti-aging therapies with the potential to treat multiple age-related conditions.
“This perspective explores how aging-related diseases (ARDs) can serve as experimental platforms for discovering new geroprotective interventions.”
While many age-related diseases are used as models for aging research, not all accurately reflect the biology of aging. To address this, the authors developed a scoring system that measures how closely a disease is connected to the key hallmarks of aging, such as inflammation, genetic instability, and impaired cellular repair. Using this system, they evaluated 13 common age-related diseases and found that IPF had a particularly high overlap with aging biology.
IPF is a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and a rapid decline in lung function. In contrast to the gradual loss of function seen in normal aging, IPF progresses more than five times faster. The authors highlight that IPF shares nearly all of the biological features associated with aging. These similarities make IPF a strong candidate for studying aging and testing therapies that target its underlying causes.
The authors also discuss different therapies currently being developed for IPF that are also designed to address aging itself. These include drugs that clear senescent cells, activate telomerase to maintain chromosome health, or repair damaged signaling between cells. Some of these treatments, such as senolytic combinations and AI-discovered compounds like rentosertib, are already showing early promise in preclinical or clinical trials.
In addition, the authors point out that IPF’s fast progression and clearly measurable outcomes offer an advantage for clinical testing. If a therapy proves effective in IPF, it may also be useful for other conditions that share similar aging-related mechanisms, including diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. This approach could accelerate drug development and reduce costs by focusing on therapies that target shared biological pathways.
Overall, this perspective supports a shift in pharmaceutical research toward treating aging as an underlying cause of many chronic diseases. By positioning IPF as a model for aging-related drug development, the authors propose a strategic pathway for testing and expanding anti-aging therapies across a wide range of health conditions.
Read the full paper: DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206301
Corresponding author: Alex Zhavoronkov – alex@insilico.com
Keywords: aging, drug development, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, ipf, scoring
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Journal
Aging-US
Method of Research
News article
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Age-related diseases as a testbed for anti-aging therapeutics: the case of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Article Publication Date
16-Aug-2025
COI Statement
AZ, FG, and FR are affiliated with Insilico Medicine, a commercial company developing and using generative artificial intelligence and other next-generation AI technologies and robotics for drug discovery, drug development, and aging research. Insilico Medicine has developed a portfolio of multiple therapeutic programs targeting fibrotic diseases, cancer, immunological diseases, and age-related diseases, utilizing its generative AI platform and a range of deep aging clocks and AI life models.