Researchers Pursue Medicines That Mimic Some Effects of Exercise
Researchers are pursuing pills that mimic some exercise benefits, though scientific and regulatory hurdles remain.
Exercise builds muscle, strengthens bones, lowers blood pressure and improves mood. Scientists hope that by deciphering how movement produces those effects, they can develop drugs that replicate parts of the response. The work requires extensive experimentation to untangle the many biological pathways involved. Identifying the hormones, enzymes and other molecules linked to physical activity is only the first step; researchers still need to convert that knowledge into safe and effective treatments, a process in which more than 90% of treatments that enter human studies fail.
Regulatory questions add another obstacle. Thomas Burris, a pharmacologist at the University of Florida whose work focuses on diseases that respond to exercise, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and dementia, said the FDA approves medications to treat diseases, not to enhance wellness, according to the report.
Burris and colleagues are studying a receptor that remains switched on even without exercise. Working out appears to boost the receptor in muscle cells, which helps build endurance over time. His lab has spent years designing a drug that increases the receptor’s activity directly. Mice treated with the compound ran longer and farther than untreated mice, Burris said. They “become marathon mice without having to do any type of exercise,” he said. There are also indications in mice that the compound mimics some cognitive benefits of exercise and could help treat heart failure. Burris founded a company called Pelagos to move the work into a clinical trial.
Other exercise-mimicking drugs have reached human studies. In June, the biotech firm Cambrian Bio reported that its experimental drug ATX-304 boosted metabolism and reduced liver and belly fat in people with obesity and prediabetes. The drug activates a metabolic switch that helps cells sense when energy supplies fall and coordinates production of more fuel, the same switch that helps people sustain long sessions of jumping rope or swimming laps. Cambrian hopes the drug will help people lose weight without losing muscle, a common concern with GLP-1 medicines.
Scientists have already identified many important exercise-related signals and developed compounds to regulate them, according to the report. Some preliminary results have been promising enough that doping authorities have proactively banned the compounds. MIT Technology Review said there may never be a pill that delivers all the benefits of exercise, but research could lead to new medicines that mimic some aspects of working out. It rated progress at 5 on its meter, noting that understanding of how exercise benefits the body is still coming into focus and that drug development is prone to failure.