Exploring the Fountain of Youth at the Molecular Level: How BioAge Labs Extends Human Healthspan

At just 40 years old, Kristen Fortney has spent more than half her life thinking about the science of aging. Why such dedication?

"When asked about this, I usually blame reading too much science fiction," says the CEO and co-founder of BioAge Labs, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, with a laugh. "My co-founder Eric Morgen and I have been discussing aging since high school." Today, they are no longer just talking. Through BioAge Labs, the two are working to develop treatments that target the molecular mechanisms of aging to extend people's healthspan. Many diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's, are driven by this aging process.

Aging is "the huge, unsolved root cause behind all these diseases. Our overall vision is: if we understand aging more deeply, we can target, treat, or even prevent these diseases," says Fortney.

BioAge uses an AI-driven discovery platform to analyze longitudinal data from human biobanks along with detailed health records, mapping key molecular pathways that influence healthy human aging. Building on this, the company aims to target these aging mechanisms with internally discovered drugs or already-existing licensed molecules.

Extending healthspan

Aging itself is not at fault, but Fortney believes the way we ageisproblematic. Therefore, BioAge focuses more on extending human "healthspan"—that is, increasing the number of healthy years as we age, rather than simply extending total lifespan.

"Lifespan is how long you live; healthspan is how long you stay healthy," says Fortney. "I love this term because it emphasizes staying healthy longer. It's not about lingering in a hospital for extra years, but healthy years spent out of nursing homes and playing with grandchildren."

Fortney notes that the average human lifespan is just over 80 years, but the average healthspan—marked by the age of first onset of age-related chronic disease—is in the early 60s. "Then there are 20 years, about a quarter of life," she says. "It's a long, slow decline. From a medical standpoint, it's the most expensive period of your life, with low quality of life. We know we can do better."

In fact, there is already substantial real-world evidence that humans can do better. Around the world, there are people who live past 100 and remain healthy for most of those years. "You might think, 'They live longer, so they'd have 40 years of decline,' but that's not the case," she says. "These people have delayed onset of multiple age-related diseases. They maintain mental and physical function much longer than the rest of us. They are living proof that this concept is feasible in the human context."

So, aging is inevitable, but the diseases that accompany aging are not. The key is to find out what people with long healthspans have in common, and that's where biobank analysis comes in.

In December, the company announced positive Phase 1b clinical data for its drug BGE-105. The drug is designed to prevent muscle atrophy—a common feature of human aging, exacerbated by hospitalization or other forced inactivity.

"I think many people who enter science are inspired by science fiction. It really paints a picture of possible worlds."

"In human cohorts, we found that middle-aged people with higher apelin levels are more likely to live longer and have linear improvements in muscle function," says Fortney, meaning that compared to peers, the higher the apelin level, the better the effect.

Studies show that treatment with BGE-105 (a small molecule agonist of the apelin receptor APJ) "resulted in a statistically significant prevention of muscle atrophy compared to placebo after 10 days of strict bed rest in healthy volunteers aged 65 and older," the company states.

Beyond muscle aging treatments, BioAge's pipeline also includes candidates targeting immune aging, including eye diseases and brain aging (indications currently undisclosed).

Imagining possibilities

Fortney and Morgen have been friends since their teenage years, often exchanging favorite science fiction stories and authors in childhood. Fortney liked (and still likes) writers like Vernor Vinge and Greg Egan, whose "hard science fiction" emphasizes scientific accuracy and, more importantly, possibility.

"I think many people who enter science are inspired by science fiction. It really paints a picture of possible worlds," says Fortney. "Of course, a lot of it doesn't align with real science, but it gets you excited about the potential and possibility of building new things."

After all, nature has precedents for longevity, such as the bowhead whale, which can live up to 200 years; the Greenland shark, with an average lifespan of about 400 years; and the hydra, a freshwater invertebrate that can regenerate and is essentially biologically immortal.

Humans can also be extremely long-lived.

"It's not about lingering in a hospital for extra years, but healthy years spent out of nursing homes and playing with grandchildren."

"In the U.S., 1 in 1,000 people live past 100. These people have delayed onset of multiple age-related diseases. They maintain mental and physical function much longer than the rest of us. They are living proof that this concept is feasible in the human context," says Fortney.

Therefore, BioAge's work focuses less on what's "wrong" with patients and more on what people with longer healthspans are "doing right." By identifying factors associated with "doing right"—such as higher apelin levels being linked to lower rates of muscle atrophy—researchers hope to develop treatments against aging.

"You really don't want to compare diseases only when things 'break,' but ideally, observe people while they're still healthy and ask, 'What predicts the future?'" says Fortney.

If all goes well, predicting the future of aging will no longer be a science fiction plot—it will become reality.