Anti-aging 'dog pill' moves closer to FDA approval. 'Humans may be next,' scientists claim

While aging is a natural part of life, scientists have always had the desire to slow it down by decades. But where numerous studies didn't yield any results for humans, a new project revolving around our canine companions has shown some promising progress. As reported by The Guardian, researchers at Loyal, a biotech startup company, have developed an anti-aging pill for dogs that aims to extend their healthy years. It was recently certified as having a 'reasonable expectation of efficacy' by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and it now awaits a 'safe to consume' certification. Made for dogs 10 years or older, this beef-flavoured pill, LOY-002, is suitable for daily intake and is expected to add at least one extra year of healthy life to a middle-aged dog.

According to People, the company is confident that the pill can boost metabolic health in animals, which will, in turn, increase their lifespan. Celine Halioua, founder and chief executive of Loyal, further shares with The Guardian how they are not "making immortal dogs" and that the pill carries its own limitations as well. Halioua also opines what the study can mean for humans, "Finding out how to prevent canine age-related decline is a really strong proxy for doing the same with humans because dogs get similar age-related diseases, and share our environments and habits in ways laboratory mice do not."

However, Loyal isn't the only company that has tried to tap into the science of animal longevity. The Dog Project has also taken initiative in trying to extend the life of dogs by studying and testing the use of rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug often used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients. The researchers talk about how the drug has the potential to increase the lifespan of dogs by boosting their heart and cognitive health through its effects on cell growth and metabolism. Daniel Promislow, a biogerontologist at the University of Washington and a co-director of the Dog Aging Project, tells The Guardian, "Our study is light years ahead of anything that’s been done on humans or can be done on humans."

Furthermore, as reported by Texas A&M University, the Dog Aging Project, which is backed by $7 million from the NIH, has initiated a TRIAD (test of rapamycin in aging dogs) trial to study the effect of the drug in companion dogs. So far, 170 dogs are enrolled, with a goal of reaching 580 across 20-plus sites. Launched in 2019, the program has already enrolled over 50,000 dogs to study healthy aging, with findings expected to benefit both dogs and humans. Early results show that low doses of rapamycin may improve heart health, mobility, and cognitive function, offering a new path in anti-aging research. 

Promislow further shares how this research can be beneficial for humans, stating, "If we’re successful with dogs, it could be a turning point in informing us how to give human populations an extra healthy lifespan too." Professor Tom Rando, director of the University of California’s Broad Stem Cell Research Centre, also shares with The Guardian, "The more human the animal gets that we can test our longevity drugs on, the more confidence we can have that these drugs will work on humans too. And having evidence of efficacy and safety in dogs gives us more confidence for doing human studies with these same drugs."