Pathologies

The disease is characterized by age-related decline of muscle mass and muscle function, and its prevalence is increasing due to the overall aging of populations. It is estimated that up to 24% of people 65-70 years of age suffer from the disease and the rate is substantially higher in older people and in the elderly with obesity. Sarcopenia is the major cause of disability and frailty in the elderly, leading to a poor quality of life and significant healthcare expenditures due to frequent falls, bone fractures, patient immobility and requirement for institutional care. Worse outcomes are observed in individuals with both sarcopenia and obesity.

There are no approved drugs that increase skeletal muscle mass and strength, patient mobility and reduce frailty. The standard of care consists of nutritional diets, exercise and muscle strengthening programs that have limited efficacy. Therefore, there is an opportunity to discover new therapies for sarcopenia that increase muscle mass and strength, and also improve some of the associated comorbidities and underlying causes, such as obesity.