Drug could extend female fertility by five years, early data suggests
A drug which could extend female fertility for five years is safe for young and healthy women to use, according to early results from a small study.
The study, which is being conducted by researchers at Columbia University in the US, is investigating the potential of using rapamycin – an existing immunosuppressant drug which is currently used to treat tumours and to prevent the recipient of a kidney transplant's body from rejecting the new organ.
What could these results mean?
Labelled the Validating Benefits of Rapamycin for Reproductive Aging Treatment (Vibrant) study, the research is investigating whether the drug can slow down the ageing of the ovaries, therefore extending fertility, delaying menopause and dialling down the risk of age-related diseases.
'The results of this study... are very, very exciting. It means that those with age-related fertility problems now have hope when before, they didn’t,' Yousin Suh, a professor of reproductive sciences and professor of genetics and development at Columbia University, told the Guardian.
She said that these early results mean it's realistic to hope that the drug could decrease ovary ageing by 20%, without women experiencing the side effects which commonly impact those who take the drug, such as high blood pressure, headaches and nausea.
'These early results mean we now have a clear shot at our ultimate goal: using rapamycin to extend the lifespan of the ovary and thereby delaying the menopause, while also extending the lifespan of the woman and improving her health and quality of life,' she added.
Suh noted that participants in the randomised, placebo-controlled study self-reported improvements in their energy levels, memory and quality of their skin and hair. Such findings are consistent with other studies which have investigated rapamycin and have suggested that it could increase one's lifespan by 9-14% by revitalising organs as you age.
Suh, who believes that the results of the study will be 'just as exciting' as the study scales up, noted that: 'in a way, our results are too good to be true – except, because rapamycin is so well-studied, we know they are true. These results are like a dream come true.'
How does rapamycin work?
According to these early results, rapamycin, taken as a small, weekly dose, causes the ovaries to release fewer eggs each month – taking the average number from around 50 to around 15.
It's from this finding that the study's authors have estimated that the dose decreases ovarian ageing by 20%.
When could the drug become available?
More good news is that because rapamycin is a cheap drug which is already widely used, once enough evidence has been gathered to support its use for ovarian ageing, progress should be fast, Zev Williams, associate professor of women’s health and the chief of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the study's co-lead author, told the Guardian.
It's this same reality that has made finding funding to study this drug hard, historically, he added. 'The very features of the drug that make it so promising and give it such great potential for having a quick and major impact for women are, ironically, the very factors that make it hard to find funders for the study.'
'That’s why this hasn’t been done before: it’s an expensive study and a lot of women will benefit from it – but there’s no motivation for pharmaceutical companies to invest because there’s no possibility of making money from an off-patent drug.'
These results are very exciting, but more research will be needed before the drug could potentially be made available for this use. In two years the study will report results from a bigger 'phase 2' study. After that, it will need to go to a 'phase 3' trial, before the process of making a drug available to prescribers can begin.
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