US biotech start-up gets FDA approval to develop drug to make dogs live longer

San Francisco-based biotech startup Loyal is developing a drug designed to extend the lifespan of dogs, with the potential for human applications if successful.

Loyal received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month for a drug aimed at prolonging healthy life in dogs. The company’s 30-year-old founder and CEO, Celine Halioua, left a PhD program at Oxford to pursue research in longevity in San Francisco. Following the FDA’s approval, Halioua stated that the drug could be available on the market within the next year.

“I think the quality of life improvement will actually be even more striking to dog owners, but it’s harder to quantify versus mortality, which is, unfortunately, quite simple,” Halioua said, according to the Sunday Times.

Loyal has secured $150 million in funding and is part of a growing trend in Silicon Valley to address aging as a treatable condition. Several other longevity-focused startups have raised billions of dollars, with investors including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong. Halioua has expressed interest in applying Loyal’s research to humans, though the company’s initial focus on dogs aligns with a cultural shift in which pets are increasingly viewed as family members.

Loyal’s drug mimics the metabolic benefits of caloric restriction, an approach known for extending lifespan in animals. Unlike weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, the drug does not act as an appetite suppressant.

“The idea is: can we emulate the benefits of caloric restriction and its beneficial impacts on metabolic fitness, but without suppressing appetite? Because nobody wants an appetite suppressant for their dog,” Halioua explained. “Everyone asks me, ‘Is this just Ozempic for dogs?’ And the answer is no.”

The FDA’s recent decision adds to the initial approval the company received in 2023 for treatment in large dogs, which typically have shorter lifespans than smaller breeds. The latest efficacy approval applies to dogs at least 10 years old and weighing over 14 pounds. Loyal is currently one year into a multi-year trial on over 1,000 dogs to evaluate long-term safety and efficacy, though the FDA could allow the drug to reach the market next year if certain safety and manufacturing benchmarks are met.

Halioua anticipates skepticism but remains confident in her approach, saying she is “cautiously ready.”

“My contrarian take is [that] going dogs-first is the fastest way to develop lifespan-extension drugs,” Halioua said. “The biology is extremely similar.” 

“I think people being able to go to their veterinarian and buy a drug to extend their dog’s lifespan, they’re inevitably going to ask the question, ‘Why does this exist for my dog and not my grandma?’" she added. “It’s that cultural normalization."