Gero’s physics-first AI drug discovery platform is transforming breakthroughs in the physics of aging into a pipeline of medicines designed to treat age-related diseases and slow the aging process itself. The technologies shaping the next decade are being built now.
SINGAPORE & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AIDrugDiscovery–Gero, a physics-first AI drug discovery company developing therapeutics for age-related disease and aging biology, today announced that it has been named a 2026 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
This year’s cohort brings together 100 early-stage start-ups from 23 countries working across AI, energy, health, manufacturing, space, and the bioeconomy to tackle some of the world’s most urgent and complex challenges.
Gero was recognized for its pioneering platform that applies physics, large-scale human data, and AI to the biology of aging, a common driver of many chronic diseases and a major burden on global health systems.
Gero’s approach was inspired by a key and underappreciated observation: in certain species, nature has already achieved dramatically slower aging, including in extremely long-lived mammals such as naked mole-rats. This observation led Gero to develop a physics-based framework that decodes the underlying physical laws of aging from human data to discover new medicines.
While many aging biotech companies focus on cellular reprogramming to restore youthful function, Gero identifies slowing the aging process itself as a more durable way to extend healthspan and lifespan, while delaying functional decline.
Gero’s platform combines longitudinal human data, AI, and a physics-based aging framework for therapeutic target identification and drug design. The company has trained AI world models of human health on approximately 10 million longitudinal medical records, curated from a broader dataset of 100 million records, and integrated with molecular, omics, and genetic data.
Rather than treating age-related diseases as isolated conditions, the models distinguish reversible disease states from deeper, long-timescale aging processes. This enables the company to identify targets that may act upstream of multiple chronic diseases, creating a basis for disease-modifying therapeutic programs, while also pursuing a distinct class of interventions aimed at the aging process itself, designed to preserve resilience and delay age-related decline.
Gero’s platform is driving both the company’s internal pipeline and pharmaceutical partnerships. The company has a collaboration with Chugai Pharmaceutical, a member of the Roche Group, that includes an upfront payment and up to approximately US$250 million in milestones in addition to royalties. Gero previously conducted a research collaboration with Pfizer.
Using principles from statistical physics and dynamical systems theory, Gero’s framework was pioneered by Peter Fedichev, PhD, and later further developed in collaboration with Jan Gruber, PhD, of the National University of Singapore. This work helped shape gerophysics, the application of physics to aging, now recognized through a dedicated Nature Portfolio npj Aging collection co-edited by Fedichev, Gruber, and Gero Independent Director Brian Kennedy, PhD, among others.
As a Technology Pioneer, Gero will join the World Economic Forum’s global Innovator Communities, engaging with public- and private-sector leaders on technologies that can improve business and society.
About Gero
Gero is a physics-first AI drug discovery and development company focused on age-related diseases and the biology of aging. The platform builds AI models of human health from large-scale longitudinal real-world data, combining clinical, molecular, omics, and genetic data with physics-based modeling and AI-enabled target discovery, paired with ProtoBind-Diff, a generative AI model for small-molecule design directly from protein sequence. Gero partners with pharmaceutical companies on age-related disease and advances proprietary programs aimed at intervention in aging itself. Gero’s scientific work has been published in Science, Nature Communications, and other leading journals. The company is headquartered in Singapore, with a U.S. subsidiary in San Francisco. To learn more, visit gero.ai and follow Gero on LinkedIn and X at @hacking_aging
About World Economic Forum:
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).
About Technology Pioneers:
Launched in 2000, the Technology Pioneers is a leading community for early-stage companies from around the world that are shaping the future through breakthrough technologies and innovations. These companies are selected for their potential to have a significant impact on business and society and are invited to engage with public and private sector leaders through the World Economic Forum’s global platform.
The Technology Pioneers community is part of the Innovator Communities at the World Economic Forum, which convene the world’s leading global start-ups across different growth stages from early-stage Technology Pioneers to growth-stage Global Innovators and unicorn companies valued at more than $1 billion.
Contacts
Ami Atha
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