A geroscience response to cancellation of the UK’s medicines repurposing programme : challenges and opportunities

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Rattray, Nicholas and Rattray, Zahra and Bellantuono, Ilaria and Lasky-Su, Jessica and Cox, Lynne (2025) A geroscience response to cancellation of the UK’s medicines repurposing programme : challenges and opportunities. The Lancet Healthy Longevity, 6 (8). 100744. ISSN 2666-7568 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanhl.2025.100744)

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Abstract

After just 4 years of operation, the discontinuation of the UK’s Medicines Repurposing Programme in April, 2025,1 marks a concerning shift in drug development—particularly for geroscience. The programme—intended to repurpose existing medicines towards new indications that could improve patient outcomes and reduce health-care costs—encountered several setbacks, including limited viable candidates, regulatory and licensing barriers, and National Health Service restructuring, all of which delayed tangible results. However, its discontinuation should not be seen as conceptual failure. Rather, it underscores systemic disincentives embedded in a framework that favours novel, commercially protected innovations.

ORCID iDs

Rattray, Nicholas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3528-6905, Rattray, Zahra ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8371-8549, Bellantuono, Ilaria, Lasky-Su, Jessica and Cox, Lynne;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)