Dog lovers may soon be able to spend more time with their big fur babies with Loyal's pending life-extending drug.
The animal pharmaceutical company announced on Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the LOY-001, a drug able to improve aging conditions in dogs.
Celine Halioua, CEO of Loyal, said the company has "completed the technical effectiveness portion" so that "vets will be able to prescribe LOY-001 to extend the lifespan of large dogs."
For over four years, the pharmaceutical conducted interventional studies on FDA-approved models on 451 dogs to observe accelerated aging.
Results have shown the drugs to have effectively "improved clinically-relevant aging parameters" for large and giant breeds of dogs in simulation.
The San Francisco biotech firm aims to release the drug on the market as early as 2026.
Also Read: Dogs Are Man's Best Friend: Now Science Has A New Theory For This
What is LOY-001 and How Does it Works?
Loyal's experimental drug is an injection designed to lower IGF-1 hormones in large dog breeds.
The IGF-1, a hormone involved in growth and metabolism, can be seen in huge amounts in bigger dogs to help them grow when they are still a pup.
The same hormone, however, also causes rapid aging and the occurrence of age-related diseases as the dogs grow older.
These hormones became prevalent in large dogs due to selective breeding processes for many generations.
The LOY-001 is aimed to bring down IGF-1 levels in large breeds to the amount seen in their smaller-breed relatives. The drug is designed to be injected into dogs every three to six months.
LOY-001 is the first pharmaceutical drug that passed under FDA's Expanded Conditional Approval targeted at treating age-associated diseases in animals.
Related Article: 5 Things You Need for a Healthy and Happy Dog
Lifespan of Large Breed Dogs
Unlike in other species, bigger dogs usually have a much shorter life than the smaller breeds do. Along with that is the higher vulnerability to diseases and genetic problems.
Huge dogs like Great Danes, a dog specifically bred to be big, only have a life expectancy of eight to 10 years, while smaller breeds like the Pomeranians can live up to 12 to 16 years.
Loyal aims to resolve the "accelerated aging disorder" in large breeds in order to provide a safe and sure way for dogs to live much longer.
