Longevity Startup Loyal Raises $100M for Canine Drug
Loyal, a startup developing longevity drugs, has raised $100 million in a Series C funding round. The capital will be used to advance its canine longevity drug toward FDA review. The round brings the company's total investment to $250 million, underscoring significant investor interest in translational longevity science.
- Loyal is developing three distinct drugs: LOY-001 (an injection) and LOY-003 (a daily pill) are designed to extend the healthspan of large and giant breed dogs by reducing the growth hormone IGF-1, which is linked to their accelerated aging. LOY-002 is a daily pill intended to improve the metabolic health of senior dogs of most sizes to delay age-associated diseases. - The company's founder and CEO is Celine Halioua, who left a DPhil program at Oxford and worked at the Longevity Fund before starting Loyal in 2019 with the goal of getting the first-ever drug approved for extending lifespan. The company's board includes Laura Deming, founder of the Longevity Fund, and Kevin Zhang, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures. - Loyal is pursuing a "conditional approval" from the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), a pathway for drugs that demonstrate a "reasonable expectation of effectiveness" and meet safety and manufacturing standards. The FDA has already accepted this effectiveness data for LOY-001 and LOY-002, a landmark step for a longevity therapeutic. - The company's focus is on extending "healthspan"—the period of life spent in good health—not just lifespan. This approach aims to reduce the period of disability and disease in later life, which is a primary driver for euthanasia in dogs. - The company projects that LOY-002 could be available under conditional approval in early 2025, with LOY-001 and LOY-003 potentially available in 2026. All of Loyal's drugs will be available only by prescription from a veterinarian. - To gain full FDA approval, Loyal is conducting large-scale clinical trials, such as the STAY study for LOY-002, which enrolled over 1,000 dogs at veterinary clinics across the U.S. Half of the dogs receive the drug and half receive a placebo to gather robust data on effectiveness and safety. - Research in canine longevity is seen as a stepping stone for human health, as dogs share our environment and experience many of the same age-related diseases. This makes them a strong translational model for studying aging and developing interventions that could one day benefit humans.
