A clinical-stage veterinary medicine company called Loyal for Dogs has uncovered a new way to play God. A new drug called LOY-001 received news it has passed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine’s “Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness” test. Announced on November 28th, founder, and CEO Celine Halioua was exceptionally proud.
“Loyal was founded with the ambitious goal of developing the first drugs to extend healthy lifespan in dogs. This milestone is the result of years of careful work by the team. We’ll continue to work just as diligently to bring this and our other longevity programs through to FDA approval,” said Halioua.
Targeting giant and large breed dogs, the drug is designed to give them a longer life, and one with less pain and discomfort. Targeting growth hormone “IGF-1,” the drug blocks it in adult dogs, thus giving them a longer life in theory.
In a press release, the company explained that the hormone was seen in these breeds at 28x the rate seen in a smaller breed. They believe this is strongly influenced by the high rates of selective breeding, and even inbreeding with these massive canines.
Data from a 452-dog study of 84 different breeds, all between 2 and 18 years old, showed great promise and potential. In an FDA letter to the company, they said “The data you provided are sufficient to show that there is a reasonable expectation of effectiveness.”
According to the American Kennel Club, these large dogs have an eight-12-year life expectancy, but small dogs can expect 10 to 15. Chihuahuas can easily live up to 20 years. This kind of God-like change still has a lot of trials to go through before it’s widely available. According to the company, they are targeting 2026 for a release if everything goes well.
