Companies are investing millions to combat ageing and mortality. And this phenomenon doesn’t just concern humans: a series of startups are working on extending the lifespan of our pets, raising major ethical questions.
Sadly, pets don’t live forever. Dogs, on average, live between 10 and 13 years, although there are significant variations depending on the breed. Cats, meanwhile, have a life expectancy of between 12 and 15 years.
Causes of death vary from one animal to another, although death from old age is not always the main cause. Dogs are susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases and cancer when they reach an advanced age, which has an impact on their life expectancy.
Now, biotech companies such as the United States startup Loyal are trying to remedy this by helping pets age better. Loyal is currently developing three drugs – LOY-001, LOY-002 and LOY-003 – which could potentially extend the life expectancy of dogs.
The first is aimed at large dogs such as Great Danes and labradors, while the second is intended for older dogs of almost all sizes and breeds. LOY-003, on the other hand, would be better suited to larger canines like mastiffs and Newfoundlands.
Another difference is that LOY-001 would be administered by injection, unlike LOY-002 and LOY-003, which would be taken in the form of a tablet.
While Loyal is maintaining some mystery about the composition of its drug prototypes, the New York Times claims that LOY-001 acts on IGF-1, a hormone related to insulin that plays a crucial role in muscle and bone growth.
In some animals, including mice, IGF-1 is also linked to ageing. In 2022, Martin Holzenberger and colleagues succeeded in considerably extending the lifespan of transgenic mice by depriving them of the gene responsible for synthesis of the IGF-1 receptor.
As such, Loyal researchers are reportedly investigating whether it might be possible to extend the life expectancy of other animal species, particularly dogs, by influencing the level of IGF-1 produced by their bodies.
With this in mind, the startup is conducting several clinical trials on dogs of different ages and breeds. Its research seems so promising that it is of interest for the US Food and Drug Administration, which concluded in November that the data provided by Loyal was sufficient to demonstrate that there was a potential “reasonable expectation of effectiveness”.
The startup hopes to obtain approval for commercialisation in the next few years, so it can bring its drugs to market as soon as 2025 for LOY-002 and 2026 for LOY-001 and LOY-003, with the promise that they will enable “at least one year of healthy lifespan extension”, Loyal founder and CEO Celine Halioua told the New York Times.
Loyal is not the only startup working in this niche of the pet market: other companies are developing ways to extend the life expectancy of pets by helping them to avoid developing certain debilitating diseases, such as chronic renal failure in cats and atopic dermatitis in dogs.
Gallant Therapeutics, for example, is working on a number of stemcell-based treatments to improve the health of dogs and cats. The startup recently raised US$15 million, demonstrating the appeal of its research.
If it’s really possible to slow down the ageing process in pets, it’s fair to ask which owner could possibly resist? But above all, to what end? Is it really in the pet’s best interest, or is it more a question of postponing painful bereavement? That’s not to mention the question of the animal’s consent.
Indeed, there is no way of knowing whether an animal wishes to prolong its life, or even that it might aspire to cheat death. On this point, biotech companies such as Loyal and Gallant are clear in stating that none of the treatments they’re developing will enable pets to live indefinitely.