William Morgan
Watching your beloved family dog get older is never easy, as old age brings with it a number of painful and hard to treat health complications for our canine companions.
But a radical new drug could prevent our four-legged friends from experiencing this pain and even give them a longer life, according to studies commissioned by manufacturer Loyal.
Called LOY-001 and LOY-002, these new therapeutics have leaped through regulatory rings like a dog at Crufts, getting the nod from the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine earlier this year - becoming the first lifespan-extending drugs to be found to have a 'reasonable expectation of effectiveness' by the agency.
These drugs, if they pass their final regulatory hurdles, could start being used within the next year to help many of our dogs to live longer and healthier lives.
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Loyal have been developing therapeutic drugs that can extend the life expectancy of medium and larger dogs for the past six years, with researchers focusing on why smaller dogs tend to live so much longer.
Larger dog breeds sadly tend to only live for up to 10 years, while smaller dogs can expect up to 16 years with their family before passing.
This is rare as very few other animal species have such an extreme disparity in size-based life expectancy.
Indeed, many larger animals will live for far longer than smaller species, with the largest land mammal, the African elephant, living up to 70 years.
The Loyal researchers believe part of this difference could be down to the hormonal source for this stark age difference in dogs, with large and giant breeds living with levels of the hormone IGF-1 28 times higher than smaller breeds.
In their multi-year study across hundreds of US veterinary practices, Loyal uncovered that this size-related aging mechanism was not an inherent part of their size but an 'accelerated aging disorder' from the breeding process.
In a bid to address the premature morbidity and mortality of large dogs, LOY-001 will come in the form of an injectable administered by veterinarians.
Meanwhile, LOY-002 will come in the form of a flavored daily pill, and will be intended for dogs aged 10 or older and weighing at least 14lbs to try and extend healthy lifespan by mitigating age-related metabolic dysfunction.
LOY-002 aims to mimic the massive health benefits of a calorie-restricted diet for older dogs, with evidence that controlled diets can extend a dog's lifespan by as much as two years.
Study participant vet, Arthur, the Principal Investigator at Baycrest Veterinary Hospital in St. Petersburg, said, “Before I joined the trial, we were trying to do things to help minimize [dogs’] pain and suffering as they aged, though there aren’t a lot of good options…
"The thing that tends to excite people the most [about LOY-002] is the possibility that they’re giving their dog something that will keep them around for longer.”