AgelessRx sponsored the PEARL trial, a 48-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study designed to assess the safety and possible benefits of intermittent rapamycin dosing for slowing the ageing process. Following a year of data collection, AgelessRx released the findings and hosted a webinar featuring experts who reviewed the outcomes and responded to additional questions. This episode delves into important questions left unaddressed during the webinar.

Key Points:

In this episode, Matt addresses unanswered questions from the webinar, covering topics such as the difficulties in finding the ideal dosage, the high costs of conducting large-scale longevity trials, the distinctions between compounded and generic rapamycin, and the potential benefits of using functional outcomes as trial endpoints instead of focusing solely on reversing ageing.

• PEARL Trial Overview: The episode discusses the PEARL trial, which evaluated the safety and efficacy of rapamycin in reducing ageing signs. The study had limitations, such as using a compounded version of rapamycin with lower bioavailability.
• Rapamycin Dosing Challenges: Matt highlights issues with determining optimal doses of rapamycin for longevity, as the study was underpowered and didn’t find significant efficacy due to low participant numbers and dosage complications.
• Compounded vs. Generic Rapamycin: The podcast explains the difference between compounded and generic rapamycin, emphasizing that compounded versions used in the study were less bioavailable, affecting the study’s outcomes.
• Sex Differences in Rapamycin Response: Early indications suggest women might be more responsive to rapamycin at lower doses compared to men, but the data are not definitive, requiring more research.
• Dosing Strategies for Longevity: There’s ongoing debate over whether high, short-term rapamycin peaks or sustained lower doses are more beneficial. Matt speculates that peak levels might be more critical for longevity benefits.
• Future of Rapamycin and Ageing Trials: The high cost of large, long-term trials on rapamycin remains a barrier, with current studies being too small to definitively prove its benefits for human longevity​.