Announcement of a Special Lecture at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Aesthetic Dermatology

Renascience Inc. is pleased to announce that Professor Toshio Miyata, Chairman and CEO of Renascience Inc. and Professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, delivered a special lecture at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Aesthetic Dermatology, held at The Westin Sendai on August 1, 2026.

Conventional drug development is generally based on a single disease, a single therapeutic target, and clearly defined clinical endpoints. Aging, however, represents a continuous extension of age-related physiological changes and varies considerably among individuals. Under the current healthcare insurance system, aging itself is not regarded as a disease, making it difficult to develop drugs based on clearly defined diagnostic criteria and clinical endpoints. Accordingly, the commercialization of therapies targeting aging presents various challenges, including pharmaceutical regulations, clinical trial design, reimbursement systems, and business models. In recent years, however, new approaches distinct from conventional anti-aging measures such as dietary interventions, exercise, sleep management, and supplements have emerged. These include stem cell therapy, epigenetic reprogramming to rejuvenate aged cells, and senolytics to eliminate senescent cells, with clinical trials of these approaches now being conducted.

The pathophysiology of aging is not attributable to a single mechanism. Rather, epigenetic information, metabolism, inflammation, stem cell function, immunity, and other biological processes interact with one another, leading to a loss of homeostasis throughout the body. Senescent cells that are not eliminated and consequently accumulate continuously release inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, collectively known as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, or SASP. These factors induce chronic inflammation in surrounding healthy cells and tissues and contribute to the common pathological basis of age-related diseases, including atherosclerosis, fibrosis, neurodegeneration, and metabolic disorders. Therefore, interventions targeting aging require an approach that goes beyond improving a single pathological condition and instead seeks to restore disrupted systemic balance through multifaceted effects on biological functions.

Renascience’s PAI-1 inhibitor RS5614 acts in an integrated manner across multiple biological pathways. It has the potential to improve the aging-related biological environment, eliminate senescent cells, rejuvenate biological age, and prevent or treat various age-related diseases. RS5614 therefore possesses a profile and modality well suited to development as a senolytic therapeutic.

In the lecture, Professor Miyata provided an overview of the current status of longevity medicine, including geromedicine and gerotherapeutics, which will play an increasingly important role in the healthcare infrastructure of a super-aged society. He also discussed the challenges that need to be addressed and the potential of the PAI-1 inhibitor RS5614 as a senolytic therapeutic.