Details on the Failed Phase 3 Trial of the resTORbio mTORC1 Inhibitor

The short version of the story regarding the failure of resTORbio's phase 3 trial of an mTORC1 inhibitor targeting immune function and influenza infection in old people is that the FDA forced a last minute change of the phase 3 endpoint from the phase 2 endpoint of a reduction in clinically confirmed infections to a more nebulous outcome of whether or not people reported feeling better. Which is far from the worst offense that FDA staff have committed in the course of hindering the adoption of new medical technologies, but it is illustrative of the obstacle that regulators pose. We can all speculate as to what was going on under the hood here, and which influences led to this outcome.

To my eyes, the field of mTOR based therapies remains something of a sideshow when it comes to human aging and longevity. The same is true of many of the metabolic manipulation approaches based on upregulation of stress response mechanisms. These mechanisms are known to produce sizable effects in short-lived species, but not in long-lived species such as our own. Thus here, mTORC1 inhibition does not produce a startling and large effect on infection rate and immune function, and nor should we expect it to, but it is cheap and it does produce some effect. mTORC1 inhibition replicates a thin slice of the beneficial calorie restriction response, and we know what calorie restriction can achieve in humans; this sort of approach isn't the path to very large gains.

We did a phase 2b and...

Source: Fight Aging! - June 16, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Politics and Legislation Source Type: blogs