A San Francisco biotech firm has created a drug that can make your dog live longer – and humans are the next step in their groundbreaking life longevity research.
On Tuesday – the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine agreed that the company’s data supports ‘reasonable expectations of effectiveness’ for their drug – which aims to extend dogs’ lifespans.
This landmark decision by the FDA is the final box that Loyal – the biotech firm pioneering this research – needed to check before veterinarians can start prescribing the miracle drug to our four-legged friends.
The drug by Loyal that has achieved ‘reasonable expectations’ of effectiveness is known as LOY-001 – one of the three drugs they’ve been working on.
LOY-001 – which is estimated to be launched in 2026 – intends to extend the lifespan and health span for large and giant breed dogs.
A San Francisco biotech firm has created a drug that can make your dog live longer – and humans are the next step in their groundbreaking life longevity research
On Tuesday – the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine agreed that the company’s data supports ‘reasonable expectations of effectiveness’ for their drug – which aims to extend dogs’ lifespans
LOY-001 – which is estimated to be launched in 2026 – intends to extend the lifespan and health span for large and giant breed dogs
The product is a long-acting drug that would be administered by vets every three to six months.
LOY-001 could potentially reduce the metabolic changes that come with aging – which.
Aging is associated with poor digestion and absorption of nutrients, so a drug that lessens the effect that aging has on the metabolism could lead to improved health and a longer life.
Other products that the company are continuing to work on are LOY-002, which is a daily pill that focuses on older dogs of all breeds except the smallest ones, and LOY-003, which is a daily pill for large and giant breeds of dogs only.
Loyal’s CEO is Celine Halioua, 29, from Austin, Texas. She studied at Oxford University, the University of Texas and Uppsala Universitet in Sweden before founding the biotech startup in San Francisco at the age of 24.
Halioua believes that dogs are just the first step in our ability to elongate lives – she thinks that humans will be next.
The CEO said: ‘Dogs are unquestionably considered the best model of human aging.
‘We have co-evolved with them, and they have a shared environment with us. They also develop age-related diseases over time. If we can do this for dogs, people will want it, too.’
She was reluctant to provide a specific age range that dogs would survive until – but said: ‘We are not going to make 80-year-old dogs’.
Halioua also avoided the specifics on pricing, revealing that Loyal’s products will be ‘affordable but not dirt cheap’.
Loyal’s CEO is Celine Halioua, 29, from Austin, Texas. She studied at Oxford University, the University of Texas and Uppsala Universitet in Sweden before founding the biotech startup in San Francisco at the age of 24.
Celine Halioua believes that dogs are just the first step in our ability to elongate lives – she thinks that humans will be next
Insulin growth factor-1, or IGF-1, is the growth-related compound that the extended-release implant aims to target.
IGF-1 declines to low-levels in older ages – a process known as ‘somatopause’ – which is associated with diseases like cancer, dementia and cardiovascular or metabolic diseases.
The pathway is thought to possess certain anti-aging and performance-boosting effects, including helping to build and retain muscle mass and bone mass.
However – in dogs IGF-1 is believed to reduce lifespan. For large dogs, this is because bigger breeds have 28 times more of the compound than smaller dogs have.
Smaller dogs usually lead longer lives than bigger dogs – which is why LOY-001 specifically focuses on elongating the lives of large breeds and looking at IGF-1 levels to do that.
The biotech firm is currently in the ‘companion dog clinical study’ stage of their medications development.
During this stage – they are conducting a large-scale nationwide study to evaluate the drug’s safety and effectiveness in real-world veterinary settings with pets.
The company is recruiting pups to take part in their study – but the dogs must be at least 10 years old, weigh 14 pounds or more and live near a participating trial site – which there are 62 of all across the U.S.
The company is recruiting pups to take part in their study – but the dogs must be at least 10 years old, weigh 14 pounds or more and live near a participating trial site – which there are 62 of all across the U.S
Halioua was reluctant to provide a specific age range that dogs would survive until – but said: ‘We are not going to make 80-year-old dogs’. She also avoided the specifics on pricing, revealing that Loyal’s products will be ‘affordable but not dirt cheap’
Smaller dogs usually lead longer lives than bigger dogs – which is why LOY-001 specifically focuses on elongating the lives of large breeds and looking at IGF-1 levels to do that
Over 1,000 dogs nationwide are currently involved in the four year study – all of them receive regular wellness visits and associated lab tests along the way.
Before testing the products in real life – Loyal did preclinical studies in controlled laboratory settings to prove that the drug will have an effect on the canines it aims to help.
Next – it did a pilot study to confirm that the study was safe and effective through data.
After the companion dog and clinical study – the company will work with the FDA to approve the drug so it can be prescribed to dogs – a process that can go into action now that the government agency has given the green light.
Loyal is a clinical-stage veterinary medicine company developing drugs intended to extend the health span and lifespan of dogs.
The company’s website states: ‘Our mission is to help dogs everywhere live longer, healthier lives.’
Loyal is part of another company called Cellular Longevity – which is a San Francisco-based biotech firm which researches how drugs can lead to longer lives by controlling the mechanisms of pathological aging.
The drugs created by the biotech companies aim to ‘delay the onset’ and ‘reduce the severity of age-related diseases’.
