© Harrison Jones/Imagn
Having a dog, or any pet, for that matter, can be one of life’s greatest joys. They are faithful companions who most dog owners consider members of the family.
Sadly, the harsh reality of dog ownership is that one day you will have to deal with the decline of your dog’s health and eventual passing. It’s just part of the agreement you make when you adopt a dog.
However, there are ways to expand your time with your best friend. Obviously, a healthy diet and regular exercise, as you would as a human being, are keys to keeping your dog healthy.
But what if it were as simple as giving your dog a regular pill that could extend their healthy life by as long as multiple years?
Loyal, a clinical-stage veterinary medicine company, believes it has developed a drug that could do just that.
Could A New Pill Actually Extend Your Dog’s Healthy Life?
As of now, Loyal is claiming that its pill, which it his put through multiple double-blind trials and is on the verge of submitting for FDA approval, can add at least one extra year of healthy life.
In the current trial the company is running, they’re hoping to show that it could be even longer than that.
But what do the facts say about the new pill?
The drug is currently called LOY-002, and Loya was founded in 2019 by Celine Halioua at the age of just 24. The company has raised $250 million so far, including $100 million in February from a firm that backed both Amazon and Tesla.
How does the pill work?
According to a veterinarian, if you put a dog on a strict diet where it eats way less food, that dog tends to live about two years longer. Eventually, the realities of age will still come for us all, but in general, the body ages more slowly.
Loyal claims that its pill gives dogs the same benefits as that routine without having to eat less. The dog keeps its appetite and its weight; it just ages more slowly.
What Are The Trials Showing?
The company’s latest clinical trial, called STAY, is a double-blind experiment.
Half of the dogs (who were signed up by their owners) received a beef-flavored pill every day, and the other half took a fake version that looks and tastes the same but acts as a control.
The FDA has reviewed safety data from over 400 trials, and thus far has found zero serious side effects, even at five times the normal dose.
Loyal has now cleared two of three hurdles for conditional approval, which means the company could technically start selling the drug while the full trial keeps going. The last hurdle, manufacturing, will be submitted to the FDA in 2027.
There are some caveats. The pill is designed to be taken by senior dogs aged 10 and older, and they must weigh at least 14 pounds.
So, where do things go from here?
If approved, Loyal’s pill would be the first drug the FDA has ever cleared to slow aging in any species. The company also has two more drugs in line for larger breeds.
Bigger dogs tend to die younger in part due to a hormone called IGF-1, which increases growth quickly, but also wears on the body.
There are no sure things in medicine. Especially in something as new and groundbreaking as “anti-aging.” But it’s hard to argue that the new pill isn’t extremely encouraging for dog owners everywhere.