While serious gene therapies against ageing are only just going through the first safety trials, treatments are already being sold elsewhere – without approval and without reliable data. A report in MIT Technology Review shows how this market works and why experts warn against it.
The offer
At the centre is Próspera on the Honduran island of Roatán, a special economic zone with its own set of rules. There, the company Minicircle offers a gene therapy with follistatin, a protein that is supposed to promote muscle growth – reportedly for around 25,000 US dollars. The company has not published any rigorous clinical data.
Another company, Unlimited Bio, planned a trial with 12 to 15 paying volunteers for early 2026: injections of follistatin, partly combined with the vascular growth factor VEGF, into arm and leg muscles. Applications for hair loss and erectile dysfunction are to follow later. VEGF is already offered in clinics in Honduras and Mexico and promoted by influencers as a “longevity drug”.
The criticism
- Health risks: the Finnish gene therapy expert Seppo Ylä-Herttuala warns that VEGF is a very potent agent that can cause oedema and – if it spreads through the body – even lead to blindness. “VEGF is not a longevity drug.”
- Immune reactions: gene therapies using viral gene vectors (AAV) can remain active for months and trigger immune reactions.
- No meaningful evidence: the bioethicist Holly Fernandez Lynch (University of Pennsylvania) stresses that such small studies do not allow any reliable conclusions – least of all about longevity. For healthy people, risks weigh particularly heavily.
- False expectations: high-profile advertising promotes a “therapeutic misconception”, warns the health researcher Michael Gusmano.
What you should look out for
Serious gene therapy trials are registered in public registries such as ClinicalTrials.gov or the EU Clinical Trials Register, are monitored by regulatory authorities and ethics committees and generally do not charge participants for the treatment. Offers that promise “rejuvenation” for a high fee usually do not meet these criteria. In Germany, gene therapy products are subject to strict approval rules as advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs).
Note: This article is for general information only and does not replace medical advice.
Sources
- MIT Technology Review: Gene therapies for muscle growth, erectile dysfunction and radical longevity (22.12.2025)
- PackGene: Roatán Island Pushes Regulatory Boundaries for Anti-Aging Gene Therapies
- Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (Bundesinstitut für Impfstoffe und biomedizinische Arzneimittel), responsible for gene therapy products in Germany
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