ANTI-AGING PILL FOR DOGS CERTIFIED AS ‘EFFECTIVE’ BY FDA
Source: People (Extract)
Posted: February 27, 2025
A longer, healthier life for senior dogs may soon be possible. A new anti-aging pill for dogs is one step closer to reaching the market!
Loyal, a biotech startup focused on longevity treatments for pets, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has certified its latest medication as having a “reasonable expectation of efficacy.”
Before the pill can be prescribed by veterinarians, it still needs full FDA certification confirming it’s safe for use and can be manufactured at scale. Loyal says it already has “extensive data supporting both” and aims to receive conditional approval by the end of 2025.
Designed as a beef-flavoured tablet, the treatment targets dogs aged 10 years and older that weigh at least 14 lbs (about 6.3 kg). According to Loyal, the pill works by supporting metabolic health — a key factor that naturally declines as dogs age.
If successful, this could mark a major breakthrough in helping our senior pups stay healthy and happy for longer.
Loyal says the pill isn’t a miracle cure, but the results could still be remarkable. Early projections suggest it may add at least one extra year of healthy life for dogs.
“We’re not making immortal dogs,” said Celine Halioua, Loyal’s founder and CEO, in an interview with The Guardian. “We believe the drug works by extending health — effectively slowing the rate of aging rather than stopping it.”
In other words, the goal isn’t endless life, but more good years filled with energy, comfort, and tail wags.
Loyal isn’t the only group exploring how to help our pups enjoy more healthy years. The Dog Aging Project, led by researchers at the University of Washington, is studying how rapamycin — a drug originally used in human organ transplants to prevent rejection — might extend a dog’s lifespan by up to three years. Early findings suggest the drug could boost both heart health and cognitive function, according to The Guardian.
“Our study is light years ahead of anything that’s been done on humans,” said Daniel Promislow, biogerontologist and co-director of the Dog Aging Project. “What we’re doing is the equivalent of a 40-year human study, testing how a drug could extend healthy lifespan.”