From MIT Technology Review · · 1m 30s
Exercise in a pill
Researchers are decoding how movement benefits the body to develop drugs that mimic exercise's perks for people who cannot work out.
In brief
Researchers are decoding how movement benefits the body to develop drugs that mimic exercise's perks for people who cannot work out. Scientists are developing medicines that replicate exercise's health benefits for people with frailty, disability, or chronic illness, though regulatory and technical hurdles remain…
Why exercise in a pill matters
Exercise builds muscle, strengthens bones, lowers blood pressure, and boosts mood. Researchers want to develop medicines offering the same benefits for people with frailty, disability, or chronic illness.
The scientific challenge
Scientists must untangle the myriad pathways by which exercise promotes health, identify hormones and enzymes involved, then turn that knowledge into safe drugs. More than ninety percent of treatments entering human studies fail.
The regulatory hurdle
The FDA approves medications to treat diseases, not to enhance wellness, says Thomas Burris, a pharmacologist at the University of Florida whose work focuses on diseases that respond to exercise.
“The FDA approves medications to treat diseases, not to enhance wellness”
Burris's marathon mice
Thomas Burris's lab designed a drug that boosts a receptor in muscle cells, helping build endurance.Mice treated with the drug ran longer and farther than untreated mice.
“become marathon mice without having to do any type of exercise”
Pelagos and human trials
Burris's compound shows indications it mimics cognitive benefits of exercise and could help treat heart failure. Burris founded a company called Pelagos to carry the work forward into a clinical trial.
Cambrian Bio's ATX-304
In June, biotech firm Cambrian Bio reported its experimental drug ATX-304 boosted metabolism and reduced liver and belly fat in people with obesity and prediabetes.Cambrian hopes it will help people lose weight without losing muscle.
The short version
Scientists are developing medicines that replicate exercise's health benefits for people with frailty, disability, or chronic illness, though regulatory and technical hurdles remain.
