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Rapamycin

Limited evidenceUpdated November 1, 2026 · 6 sources · Written by the AumniVIDA team

What is rapamycin?

Rapamycin, also called sirolimus, is a prescription drug that suppresses the immune system and is approved to prevent kidney transplant rejection. It blocks mTOR, a growth signal inside cells. Because it extends lifespan in mice, some people take low weekly doses off-label to try to slow aging. No human trial has shown that it does.

Listed here because well-known people have tried it on themselves. Trying something is not recommending it; each entry says whether the person tells others to do it.

Who has tried it

Tried by 5 people we can source: 2 kept, 1 testing, 2 stopped.

Kept

  • Matt KaeberleinBiologist of aging, former director of the Dog Aging Project

    Dates not stated · Does not recommend it to others

    Started it to treat a frozen shoulder, which he says improved within two weeks and was 95% better by 12 weeks, and now takes it in 12-week courses with breaks of six to eight months, restarting when joint aches return.

    “By the end of 12 weeks, I was 95% back to my full range of motion.”

    Irish Examiner, Rapamycin: Could a simple pill add years to your life? (May 2024) · Status checked May 3, 2024 · Suggest a correction

  • Peter DiamandisCo-founder of Fountain Life and XPRIZE

    Dates not stated · Does not recommend it to others

    Takes 6 mg every Sunday night for three months, then a month off, under his medical team's guidance, to try to tune his immune system against aging.

    “Every Sunday night, my ritual includes a 6-milligram dose of rapamycin, taken weekly for a 3 month stretch, followed by 1 month off.”

    diamandis.com, Why I take 75 pills per day (July 2024) · Status checked July 7, 2024 · Suggest a correction

Testing

Stopped

What the evidence shows

Limited evidence

In people, the evidence is small and indirect. Low doses of everolimus, a close relative of rapamycin, improved the response to a flu vaccine in older adults by about a fifth [1], and a low-dose combination of two mTOR inhibitors was linked to fewer reported infections over the following year [2]. A larger phase 3 trial of an mTOR inhibitor then missed its main goal: it did not reduce respiratory illness in more than 1,000 older adults [3].

The PEARL trial gave healthy adults 5 or 10 mg of rapamycin once a week, or placebo, for 48 weeks. Visceral fat, the main outcome, did not change. Side effects were similar to placebo, and women on 10 mg gained some lean mass and reported less pain [4]. A 2024 systematic review of 19 human studies found some gains in immune, heart and skin measures, no clear effect on muscle, hormones or the brain, and more infections and higher cholesterol in people who already had age-related disease [5].

The strong results are in animals. Started late in life, rapamycin extended median and maximum lifespan in genetically mixed mice at three test sites [6]. No study has tested whether it extends life or delays age-related disease in healthy people, and the best human dose and schedule are unknown.

Safety

  • Rapamycin (sirolimus) is FDA approved to prevent rejection after a kidney transplant and for a rare lung disease. Using it to slow aging is off-label and unproven.
  • At transplant doses it suppresses the immune system and raises the risk of infection. A review of human studies found more infections in people with age-related disease who took it.
  • Known side effects include mouth sores, slower wound healing, higher cholesterol and triglycerides, and higher blood sugar.
  • It is not for anyone who is pregnant or trying to conceive, has an active infection or has surgery coming up, and many drugs and grapefruit change its blood levels.
  • Trial data in healthy people cover about a year. The long-term safety of low weekly doses is unknown, so any use belongs with a physician who monitors blood work.

Common questions

Does Bryan Johnson take rapamycin?

No. He took it from 2019 and stopped in September 2024. He reported skin infections, higher glucose, abnormal lipids and a faster resting heart rate, and judged that the benefits did not justify the side effects.

Does Peter Attia take rapamycin?

He has taken it on a pulsed weekly schedule since about 2018 and treats it as a personal experiment rather than advice. In October 2026 he said he was less certain about it, because no one knows the right human dose.

Does Matt Kaeberlein take rapamycin?

Yes, on and off. He first took it for a frozen shoulder and, as of 2024, takes it in 12-week courses with breaks of six to eight months. He calls it self-experimentation, not a proven treatment.

Does rapamycin extend lifespan in humans?

Nobody knows. It extends lifespan in mice [6], but human trials have only measured shorter-term markers such as vaccine response, infections, body fat and blood work, with mixed results [4] [3].

What did the PEARL trial find?

Weekly 5 or 10 mg doses for 48 weeks were about as safe as placebo in healthy adults but did not change visceral fat, the main outcome. A few secondary measures improved in some groups [4].

Is rapamycin safe to take for longevity?

Low weekly doses looked safe for about a year in one small trial [4]. Longer-term risks in healthy people are unknown, and rapamycin can raise infection risk, lipids and blood sugar. It is a prescription drug, so the decision belongs with a physician.

Sources

  1. 1.Mannick JB, Del Giudice G, Lattanzi M, et al. mTOR inhibition improves immune function in the elderly. Sci Transl Med, 2014. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3009892
  2. 2.Mannick JB, Morris M, Hockey HP, et al. TORC1 inhibition enhances immune function and reduces infections in the elderly. Sci Transl Med, 2018. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aaq1564
  3. 3.Mannick JB, Teo G, Bernardo P, et al. Targeting the biology of ageing with mTOR inhibitors to improve immune function in older adults: phase 2b and phase 3 randomised trials. Lancet Healthy Longev, 2021. doi:10.1016/S2666-7568(21)00062-3
  4. 4.Moel M, Harinath G, Lee V, et al. Influence of rapamycin on safety and healthspan metrics after one year: PEARL trial results. Aging (Albany NY), 2025. doi:10.18632/aging.206235
  5. 5.Lee DJW, Hodzic Kuerec A, Maier AB. Targeting ageing with rapamycin and its derivatives in humans: a systematic review. Lancet Healthy Longev, 2024. doi:10.1016/S2666-7568(23)00258-1
  6. 6.Harrison DE, Strong R, Sharp ZD, et al. Rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice. Nature, 2009. doi:10.1038/nature08221

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