At its core, the purpose of medicine is to improve, and oftentimes extend, life through the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The logic to this approach is easy enough to follow; by discovering and staving off diseases people will live longer and avoid the things that shorten their life. But what if a healthy life, outside of the context of disease, could be extended? Anti-aging is an idea that medical research has started to explore more seriously, but until recently still seemed like something out of science fiction. However, like so many scientific discoveries throughout history, new research may be showing us that healthy life extension may, in fact, be more science than fiction. The end results of this research remain to be seen, but the possibilities are limited only by our imagination.
While no one can predict the future, looking to non-human based fields may offer small windows into what it may hold. In doing so, we find one such contemporary example, which is even approaching FDA approval… at least for dogs.
That’s right, as futuristic as it sounds, a bio-tech company based in San Francisco is anticipating conditional approval from the FDA by 2026 for a drug that they hope to claim can extend the life of large dog breeds an average of one year. No diseases attached, simply an average of one extra healthy year lived (that’s seven dog years for those keeping track). While Loyal, the company in question, would still have to finish a wider clinical trial to receive full approval, an accelerated conditional approval would allow them to begin marketing this drug in as little as two years.
The drug in question, currently labeled LOY-001 in the pre-marketing phase, works by reducing insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels. While Loyal’s research has not been publicly shared, this proposed mechanism appears to show promise, and has gotten the attention of the FDA in a way that indicates it’s something to be taken seriously. For those interested, it is predicted to be particularly effective for large dogs, as it’s believed that IGF-1 helps stimulate early accelerated growth which in turn accelerates their aging process. This makes sense, as large dogs have a shorter lifespan on average (for example, the average lifespan of a Great Dane is 8-10 years, while a Chihuahua’s is 12-20 years), and have also shown to have higher levels of IGF-1. As such, it’s anticipated that this early approval will be for dogs over 40 pounds.
Life extending drugs in animals are not a new concept. For example, research has shown that rapamycin results in an increase of the life expectancy in mice through interaction with the mTOR pathway. However, the work that Loyal is proposing to do is on a much bigger and, frankly, more commercial scale. The implications of such a drug are layered, and inevitably end in a conversation about the potential use in humans. After all, dogs are fairly good human models, and the science of anti-aging may partially translate with further investigation. But before we get ahead of ourselves, it must be said: There is no guarantee that LOY-001 will even get full approval when the data from their full clinical trial returns. Reading this may be the only time you ever hear of Loyal, LOY-001, or IGF-1 reduction-based mammalian life extension. After all, many breakthroughs look good on paper, but don’t pan out.
But suppose it does. Say it does work as intended, and the FDA goes on to pass LOY-001 off as a legitimate product. Immediately, dog owners can rejoice at the prospect of spending more time with their beloved pets, which for many is as much a triumph as any advancement in human medicine. Long term, it may give us an entirely new framework to think about the biology of aging, and the steps at which we can intervene to delay it.
It could also give us clues as to what ethical, economic, and regulatory issues could arise from such a development. Suppose a similar life extending drug was developed for humans. Who would have access to it? How much would it cost? Who would be in charge of making these choices? The intersection of pharmacological regulation, medical ethics, and simple business would create a situation that could stretch these areas to their limits. Long gone are the days of medical advancements being discovered strictly in academic institutions, and private research funding is just as likely to go to a biotech start-up in the Bay Area as it is to your local medical school. As such, it’s vital that the medical community considers what steps would be necessary to keep such a drug from becoming simply a commercially-driven luxury.
Make no mistake, if LOY-001 is approved by 2026, it’s discovering company Loyal will most likely market it as just that; a luxury drug for dog owners that can afford it. It will be expensive, and as anyone who has ever loved their pet would most likely confirm, people will pay for it. This commercialization of such a drug happens all the time. If you need a more human example, look no further than what is happening with Ozempic and other GLP1 agonists in America today. Tighter regulation may be required, and keeping access equal and unbiased would be an uphill task.
These are questions we must continue to think about. Like I said, you may never hear of LOY-001 again, and maybe we are still decades away from finding drugs that delay the aging process in humans. But then again, maybe we’re not. And if we’re not, we should do everything we can to learn from how such an advance is rolled out for man’s best friend.
References:
Anthes, E. (2023, November 29). Could a drug give your pet more dog years? The New York Times, p. 1.
Barnett, B. G., Wesselowski, S. R., Gordon, S. G., Saunders, A. B., Promislow, D. E., Schwartz, S. M., Chou, L., Evans, J. B., Kaeberlein, M., & Creevy, K. E. (2023). A masked, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial evaluating safety and the effect on cardiac function of low-dose rapamycin in 17 healthy client-owned dogs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1168711
Canditi, N. (2024, February 13). This anti-aging drug may work in dogs, but can it help you live longer? NAD+ Aging Science.
Loyal. (n.d.). Helping dogs live longer, healthier lives. loyal.com. https://loyal.com/about
Thompson, D. (2024, February 16). Would you buy a drug to extend your dogs life? Plain English with Derek Thompson. other.
Brady Anderson is a medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, class of 2025. He loves writing and enjoys the outlet it offers, both intellectually and emotionally. When not studying or trying put his kids to bed, he enjoys chipping away at one of the several books he's reading, exploring Arizona's deserts, and overanalyzing art and culture. He graduated from Brigham Young University in 2020 with a BS in Psychology. Feel free to reach him at bradyanderson@arizona.edu.