Surprise cancelation of leading aging conference in Copenhagen sparks rapid reaction from the longevity research community.
The longevity field was rocked yesterday by the news that the Aging Research & Drug Discovery (ARDD) 2026 conference will not take place in Copenhagen this year. For many years, the world’s largest event dedicated to longevity science and drug development, has drawn leading minds from academia, biotech and the pharmaceutical industry to the University of Copenhagen. It now appears that long-standing relationship has broken down. However, all is not lost, as plans emerged to move the event to the US as part of Boston Longevity Week.
University of Copenhagen professor Morten Scheibye-Knudsen first broke the news in a post on LinkedIn, stating, “It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we have to report that ARDD 2026 in Copenhagen is canceled.”
For the past six years, Scheibye-Knudsen has worked to produce ARDD alongside fellow aging researchers Daniela Bakula and Evelyne Bischof, and Insilico Medicine boss Alex Zhavoronkov. The event has always boasted an unparalleled academic lineup, but in recent years has grown in stature, attracting increasingly strong participation from leading biotech and Big Pharma companies seeking to harness aging and longevity science. Indeed, one of the highlights of last year’s conference was speakers from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk describing GLP-1s as “longevity drugs.”
While the reasons behind ARDD’s cancelation remain unclear, it appears the decision was made by the university, and was not expected by the organizers.
“Unfortunately, the University of Copenhagen decided last week that they would not be able to host the conference in the current form,” said Scheibye-Knudsen. “It has been extremely shocking for all of us involved. We poured our heart and soul into this. Hopefully we can rise from the ashes for 2027.”
A few hours later, Zhavoronkov reported that, following discussions with Harvard professors Vadim Gladyshev and Jesse Poganik, ARDD would still continue in some form as part of Boston Longevity Week in October, which involves 10 days of “conferences, hackathons, and networking events.”
“It will be a bit shorter and more focused on pharma and biotech – Boston is the capital of biopharma and we expect to have the highest level of pharma speakers, investors, and policy makers,” said Zhavoronkov, who also hinted at some controversy behind the decision, claiming that “University of Copenhagen made it impossible for the event to proceed as planned. I wish I was at liberty to tell the story…”
“But one day, we want to bring it back to Copenhagen,” he added.