A first-in-human clinical trial of an immune rejuvenation therapy designed to restore the function of worn-out T cells is expected to begin later this year, building on research led by UCL scientists into the mechanisms of immune ageing.

The Phase 1 trial will focus on exhausted or senescent T cells, which accumulate with age and in chronic disease and become less effective at coordinating immune protection.

Researchers hope that metabolically resetting these cells may help the immune system regain characteristics associated with younger, healthier immune responses. The work may have clinical utility for diseases such as cancer, HIV and dementia.

Our immune system protects us from infection, cancer and disease. However, as we age, some immune cells become exhausted and lose their ability to function effectively. This process, known as immune ageing, can leave people more vulnerable to illness and less able to respond to health challenges.

The new therapy, developed by biotech company SenTcell founded by Dr Alessio Lanna (UCL Medicine), is designed to rejuvenate these worn-out immune cells. Rather than attacking diseased cells directly, it works by restoring the immune system’s natural ability to recognise and respond to threats.

The treatment is a liquid formulation administered by intramuscular injection, similar to many commonly used vaccines. Once delivered, it is designed to reprogramme key pathways that drive immune dysfunction, helping immune cells regain characteristics of younger, healthier cells.

The goal is to improve immune resilience, enhance protection against disease and ultimately support healthier ageing.

Dr Lanna said: “People living with HIV are now able to live long and healthy lives thanks to major advances in treatment, but many still experience features of accelerated immune ageing. Similar patterns of immune dysfunction are also seen in cancer and other chronic diseases.

“This trial is an important step towards testing whether we can safely rejuvenate exhausted immune cells and restore aspects of healthy immune function. Our goal is to help establish immune rejuvenation as a new way of treating diseases linked to immune ageing and dysfunction.”

The trial builds on research suggesting that some dysfunctional T cells – a type of white blood cell that helps coordinate the body’s immune response – can be restored to a more youthful, functional state. Researchers are focusing on CD4+ T cells, often described as the “conductors” of the immune system because they help direct other immune cells to respond to infection, cancer and disease.

Inside every cell, chromosomes are protected by structures called telomeres, which sit at their ends like protective caps. Telomeres help shield genetic material from damage and gradually shorten as cells divide over time, making them a well-established marker of biological ageing.

Previous laboratory studies suggest that rejuvenated CD4+ T cells may be able to release telomere-containing structures into the bloodstream. Researchers have termed these structures “telomere rivers” and are investigating whether they could help explain how rejuvenated immune cells influence the health and function of other tissues throughout the body. This idea remains under active investigation and has not yet been demonstrated in humans.

The research programme has received support through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP), recognising its potential to address significant unmet needs associated with age-related immune decline and immune dysfunction.

UCL researchers are preparing for Phase 1 of the trial, which will carefully select adult participants and is expected to focus initially on people with evidence of immune dysfunction, including immune ageing and chronic viral infection. Participants will undergo detailed immune profiling before and after treatment.

Investigators will look at whether the therapy can restore features of healthy immune function. As an early-stage trial, the primary goals are safety and biological activity rather than demonstrating clinical benefit.

If successful, the programme could establish immune rejuvenation as a new therapeutic approach: restoring the immune system’s protective capacity instead of targeting each pathogen or disease process separately.

Researchers believe the strategy could eventually have relevance for conditions characterised by immune exhaustion, including chronic infections, autoimmune disease and cancer, while also informing broader efforts to improve healthy ageing.

Vipoglanstat has reached the halfway point for patient recruitment in a phase 2 endometriosis trial.

Gesynta Pharma said 50 per cent of the target of 190 patients have been randomised in the NOVA trial.

The study is evaluating vipoglanstat, described by the company as a novel, non-hormonal, non-opioid drug candidate for the treatment of endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside the uterus, often causing severe pain and, in some cases, infertility.

The condition affects more than 10 per cent of women of reproductive age.

Top-line results from the study are expected in 2027.

The NOVA trial is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 proof-of-concept study evaluating vipoglanstat in women with endometriosis across Europe.

This means patients are assigned to treatment groups by chance, neither participants nor researchers know who receives the drug or placebo during the study, and the results are intended to show whether the treatment has enough evidence to move into later testing.

The trial is assessing the efficacy and safety of two dose levels of vipoglanstat and will provide information for the design of a subsequent phase 3 programme.

Eva Johnsson, chief medical officer and vice president of clinical development at Gesynta Pharma, said:

“Reaching the halfway point in patient recruitment marks a major milestone for our Phase 2 clinical trial in endometriosis. Achieved well ahead of schedule, the rapid progress reflects strong participation from clinical sites and great interest among eligible participants. This momentum highlights the urgent need for better treatments.

“We are now eager to complete enrolment and proceed to the next phase of evaluation.”

Patric Stenberg, chief executive of Gesynta Pharma, said:

“The NOVA trial is a significant advancement in a field with few ongoing clinical trials, and a key step toward establishing a strong foundation for a future Phase 3 programme for vipoglanstat.

“Given the immense medical need, our focus remains on delivering a treatment that is highly effective, safe, and well-tolerated.”

Vipoglanstat is an orally active drug candidate designed to reduce pain and inflammation by targeting mPGES-1, an enzyme that produces prostaglandin E2, a substance linked to inflammation in endometriotic lesions.

A preclinical proof-of-concept study in an advanced endometriosis model found that vipoglanstat significantly reduced pain-related behaviours and endometriotic lesion burden.

Gesynta said previous clinical studies have supported the drug candidate’s safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamic effects in humans. Pharmacodynamic effects refer to how a drug acts in the body.

NOVA stands for the Non-hormonal Option, a Vipoglanstat Assessment trial.

Endometriosis commonly presents with severe period pain, known as dysmenorrhoea, pain between periods, pain during sexual intercourse, gastrointestinal symptoms and infertility.

Current management is typically limited to painkillers, hormonal therapies and surgery.

Despite its prevalence, Gesynta said endometriosis remains a critically underserved area of women’s health.

The company said the disease is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated, with few new treatment options available to patients.

Approximately 190 patients aged 18 to 45 will receive vipoglanstat or placebo over four menstrual cycles.

The primary objective is to evaluate the effect of vipoglanstat on endometriosis-related pain during non-menstrual days.

Secondary objectives include assessing the effect on menstrual pain, known as dysmenorrhoea, pain during sexual intercourse, known as dyspareunia, use of opioid rescue medication and quality-of-life measures.

Changes in endometriotic lesions, areas of tissue linked to the condition, will also be explored using MRI scans.

Gesynta Pharma said its research on targeting mPGES-1 began at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

The company said a second drug candidate, GS-073, is ready to enter clinical phase 1 for the treatment of chronic inflammatory pain.

Gesynta Pharma’s shareholders include Hadean Ventures, Industrifonden, Innovestor Life Science, Linc, HealthCap, XGen Venture and other specialist investors.

By Wolfgang Hackl, CEO, OncoGenomX Inc., Allschwil, Switzerland

As the FemTech World Awards 2026 winners are revealed, it is a privilege to reflect on the Research Award 2026 sponsored by OncoGenomX Inc., and on the exceptional standard set by this year’s finalists.

On behalf of OncoGenomX Inc., sincere thanks to every applicant and congratulations go to the nominees whose work continues to push women’s health innovation forward.

Research Awards matter because they do more than recognize excellence in a single moment; they help elevate the science, courage, and systems thinking needed to transform women’s health at scale.

This year’s three finalists represented three different but equally important forms of progress. Natural Cycles brought forward one of the largest studies ever conducted on menstrual and ovulatory patterns in perimenopause, analysing nearly one million cycles from more than 197,000 women across over 140 countries.

That project stood out for both its dataset scale and its ability to translate new evidence into a regulated product designed to support women navigating a historically under-researched life stage.

IVI RMA stood out for scientific rigor and clinical precision. Its multicenter, double-blinded, non-selection study on non-mosaic segmental aneuploid embryos offered high-quality evidence on implantation and live birth outcomes, helping move fertility care away from assumption and toward a more evidence-based approach to embryo management and patient counseling.

UN ESCAP’s ‘Femtech in South-East Asia: Unlocking innovation for women’s health’ stood out for a different reason.

Rather than focusing on one product area or one clinical question, it mapped an entire emerging ecosystem.

The report examined the state of femtech across key South-East Asian markets, documented barriers such as financing gaps, stigma, weak ecosystem support, and data challenges, and then translated that research into practical recommendations for governments, investors, founders, and ecosystem builders.

In many ways, all three finalists are winners.

Each project excelled on core evaluation criteria including originality, relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.

Each also offered something genuinely valuable to the future of women’s health: stronger evidence, clearer decision-making, more informed product development, and greater visibility for unmet needs that have gone too long without sufficient attention.

The final decision was therefore a genuine head-to-head race.

The jury supported its discussion with a numerical scoring approach, but it also looked carefully at systems impact: the extent to which a project not only advances one intervention, but improves the wider conditions under which innovation can emerge, scale, and endure.

That perspective mattered in this category, because the strongest research is not always only the most technically impressive; sometimes it is the research that opens doors for many future innovations to follow.

On that basis, the OncoGenomX Jury selected UN ESCAP as the winner of the Research Award.

The decisive factor was not simply that the report was comprehensive, though it was.

It was that the project helps change the environment around innovation itself.

It provides a practical roadmap for strengthening research, improving data governance, expanding founder support, addressing gender bias in investment, scaling innovative finance, and integrating women’s health more fully into policy and development agendas.

That broader enabling effect is what distinguished the UN ESCAP project. Natural Cycles demonstrated outstanding research translation, and IVI RMA demonstrated exceptional clinical rigor.

UN ESCAP, however, showed how research can influence the structures that determine whether many other femtech solutions will ever be funded, adopted, trusted, and scaled. In that sense, its impact reaches beyond one company, one product, or one clinical pathway, and toward a healthier innovation landscape overall.

Warm congratulations again to all finalists and nominees.

And special congratulations to UN ESCAP on receiving the OncoGenomX Research Award at the Femtech World Awards 2026.

The jury’s decision reflects deep respect for all three projects and a shared belief that women’s health advances fastest when excellent science is paired with the power to reshape the systems around it.