Anti-aging pill for dogs has been certified as ‘effective’ but one major question remains

Anyone who's had to say goodbye to a beloved pet will know the feeling of wishing they could've had just a short while longer to spend with them.

But what if there was a pill that could allow you to do just that?

Last week (26 February), biotech startup Loyal announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had certified its new medication - an anti-aging pill for dogs - as having 'reasonable expectation of efficacy.'

As a dog ages, its metabolic health - how well their body converts food into energy - naturally declines, which can lead to issues such as changes in appetite and weight gain.

The drug - which comes as a beef-flavoured pill - aims to strengthen this in dogs aged '10 years and older' that weigh 'at least 14 lbs.'

But, while the company says the drug could extend a dog's healthy life by at least a year, they aren't claiming to have created a miracle.

Celine Halioua, Loyal’s founder and CEO, told The Guardian: "We’re not making immortal dogs. The way the drug extends lifespan, we hypothesise, is by extending health and thus shortening the rate of aging."

Now, the company is seeking approval from the FDA that the anti-aging pill is safe for use and can manufactured on a large scale.

They say they have 'extensive data supporting both' and hope to have gained such approval by the end of 2025.

But there's one major question that remains. If a drug can extend the lives of our fluffy friends, could it work for humans too?

A new anti-aging pill for dogs has been certified by the FDA as having 'reasonable expectation of efficacy' (Getty Stock Images)

The Dog Aging Project has been testing whether rapamycin - a drug that helps prevent rejection in human organ transplants - could improve a dog's heart and cognitive functions, thus extending their life by up to three years.

And it could have great implications on anti-aging in humans.

Daniel Promislow, a biogerontologist and co-director of the Dog Aging Project, said: "What we’re doing is the equivalent of a 40-year-long study on humans, testing the ability of a drug to increase healthy lifespan.

"If we’re successful with dogs, it could be a turning point in informing us how to give human populations extra healthy lifespan too."

The pill could provide answers on how to extend human lifespans too (Getty Stock Images)

And, Tom Rando, director of the University of California’s Broad Stem Cell Research Center, says that research from the likes of Loyal and the Dog Aging Project could provide a 'piece in the puzzle' when it comes to extending our own lifespans.

"The more human the animal gets that we can test our longevity drugs on, the more confidence we can have that these drugs will work on humans too.

"And having evidence of efficacy and safety in dogs gives us more confidence for doing human studies with these same drugs."