There is a new drug discussed in the story below (a drug to lower IGF-1 levels in large dogs to improve their healthspan and lifespan - is actually going through the first FDA approval process for a drug to slow aging (in this case, for dogs).
When Celine Halioua was named to the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, she told us that “There has never been a drug approved for aging for any species, dog or human. My core goal in life is to get the first drug approved.”
She’s now one step closer to her goal. On Friday, her company, Loyal announced that it has received a protocol concurrence from the FDA for a clinical trial of one of the longevity drugs that it has developed for dogs. If the clinical trial hits its desired endpoints, the drug could go to market as soon as 2025.
“We’re building this path to approving an aging drug for dogs,” Halioua, 28, says. “So that once somebody figures it out once, then it applies to others.”
An interview With Loyal CEO & founder Celine Halioua
Why do smaller dog breeds live longer than bigger dog breeds when it’s usually the opposite in the wild?
This question gets to the very heart of the problem we are addressing. The age disparity among dog breeds is both heartbreaking and unnecessary. At Loyal, we believe this is the direct result of a gene mutation that humans have bred into large and giant breed dogs that causes an over-expression of a growth hormone. And this overexpression doesn’t just affect lifespan — there are also common aging diseases associated with large dog breeds like hip and elbow dysplasia and arthritis. When people first began to breed dogs to focus on specific characteristics, they had no understanding of genetics. They focused instead on one or two desired characteristics, without realizing there were other, possibly harmful, repercussions also at play.