New Pill Aims to Extend Senior Dogs’ Healthy Lifespans
A biotech company in San Francisco called Loyal is moving closer to releasing a first‑of‑its‑kind pill designed to help senior dogs live healthier, longer lives. The drug, LOY‑002, just cleared two of the FDA’s three major regulatory steps for a planned 2026 launch.
It’s made for dogs 10 and older, at least 14 pounds, and works by mimicking the effects of caloric restriction — basically changing how cells process energy without changing a dog’s diet. It targets the IGF‑1 hormone, which is one reason big dogs tend to age faster than small ones.
Loyal’s STAY study enrolled 1,300 dogs across 70 vet clinics, making it the largest clinical trial in veterinary medicine. The FDA accepted the drug’s safety and effectiveness data earlier this year.
Researchers say the work could also help advance human aging science, since dogs share many of the same age‑related diseases — just on a much faster timeline.