Researchers at UT Health San Antonio have formally registered a large study that will test whether two drugs already sold for diabetes and related conditions can help people stay healthy and physically able as they get older. The study, called VITAL-H, appeared on the U.S. trials registry ClinicalTrials.gov on November 6, 2026, and is listed as not yet recruiting1.
The two drugs are semaglutide taken as a pill and dapagliflozin, each compared with a placebo (a dummy pill)1. Semaglutide is the drug sold as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, and dapagliflozin is sold as Farxiga2. Neither is approved to slow aging itself2.
What happened
The registry record lists the sponsor as The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio1. It describes a Phase 2 trial, a mid-sized test that comes before the largest studies, with an estimated 1,200 participants1. The conditions it targets are listed simply as “Aging” and “Functional Decline”1.
According to the record, the study aims to address the gap between lifespan and healthspan, which it defines as years of life free of age-related diseases and disabilities1. People would take the study medicines for 36 months, followed by 6 more months of observation without treatment1. The planned start is January 2027, and the date for collecting the main results is December 20301.
The record gives its reason plainly: there are limited ways to slow age-related decline in health and function, and few reliable ways to measure early changes in healthspan in people1.
What the trial will measure
The main measure, or primary outcome, is the Short Physical Performance Battery, a standard set of physical performance tests, scored as a continuous number and tracked from the start of the study to the end, about 36 months later1. In other words, the core question is whether people on either drug keep more of their physical function over three years than people on the placebo.
Earlier coverage described a broader set of measures. Because a true lifespan study in humans would take decades, Texas Public Radio reported, the researchers plan to track biological markers and a World Health Organization framework called “intrinsic capacity,” which covers a person’s overall physical and mental abilities, including mobility, thinking, senses and vitality2. The trial’s full name, “Validation & Intervention Testing for Aging, Longevity and Healthspan,” reflects that dual goal of checking measures of aging and testing treatments1.
Where the record and earlier reports differ
The new registry record does not match everything said about VITAL-H earlier in the year. Readers should know about three differences:
- Number of drugs. In March, Texas Public Radio reported that the study would examine three FDA-approved drugs: rapamycin, semaglutide and dapagliflozin2. The registry record lists only dapagliflozin, oral semaglutide and a placebo1. The sources do not explain why rapamycin is absent.
- Number of people. UT Health San Antonio said at that time that the trial would enroll 726 adults in their 60s, according to the radio report2. The registry gives an estimated enrollment of 1,2001.
- Groups. The radio report said participants would be split into four groups, one for each of three drugs plus a placebo group, and followed for three years2. With two drugs listed in the record, the group design may have changed, but the record text provided does not spell it out.
Plans for trials often shift between announcement and registration, and registry records can be updated later. The record is the more recent document.
What it does not show yet
This is a plan, not a finding. No one has been enrolled, and no results exist1. The record says the two drugs have shown promising results in laboratory and early human studies, but that more evidence is needed1.
The wider idea behind the trial is also unproven in people. A 2009 study at the same institute found that rapamycin extended lifespan in mice, which helped establish the idea that targeting basic aging biology might delay many diseases at once2. But that promise remains unproven in humans, and later work in marmosets by San Antonio-area researchers suggested the benefits were more modest than enthusiasts had hoped, even though the drug appeared generally safe2.
Even if the trial finds a difference in physical test scores, that would not by itself show that the drugs slow aging or lengthen life. It would show a difference in the measures the trial tracked, in the people it studied, over three years.
Who is behind it and who pays
The study is run from the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at UT Health San Antonio2. Its director, Elena Volpi, leads the effort2.
The money comes from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, or ARPA-H, a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services2. The institute announced in February 2026 that it would receive up to $38 million in federal funding3. That award is part of an ARPA-H program called Proactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience, or PROSPR, which announced $144 million in funding across seven institutions to identify early markers of aging and run the first clinical trials aimed at extending the number of years people live in good health2. The program’s manager is Andrew Brack2.
The sources provided do not mention funding from the companies that make either drug.
How it fits the field
VITAL-H belongs to a growing push to test drugs that are already approved and familiar to doctors for a new purpose: delaying the decline that comes with age. Researchers who study aging are increasingly interested in drugs that touch several age-related processes at once rather than a single disease, Texas Public Radio reported, which is part of why semaglutide fits the study2. Dapagliflozin lowers blood sugar by helping the kidneys remove glucose through urine, and researchers suspect it may affect some of the biology that links aging to chronic disease2.
Barshop leaders describe VITAL-H as the largest healthy-longevity trial the center has led, according to the radio report2. They have said South Texas will be central to recruitment, including Hispanic communities that have often been underrepresented in clinical research2.
What to watch next
- When the trial opens to recruitment, planned for January 20271.
- Whether the registry record is updated to add rapamycin back, change the number of groups, or revise the enrollment target.
- Which other measures beyond the physical performance test are added to the record, such as the “intrinsic capacity” measures described earlier2.
- Main results, which the record does not expect before December 20301.
