Every dog parent knows the feeling: no matter how many years we get with our furry best friends, it’s just never enough. What if we can give them a little more time to play fetch, go on walks, and snuggle on the couch?

Meet Loyal: The Startup Changing Pet Care

Loyal, a San Francisco startup founded by Celine Halioua, isn’t just trying to treat the diseases dogs get when they grow old. Instead, they are developing drugs to delay canine aging itself, potentially extending our dogs’ lives.

Their longevity pill currently in the works targets senior dogs, LOY-002, is designed as a daily prescription pill for dogs aged 10 and older. Rather than waiting for sickness to strike, the pill targets metabolic and hormonal imbalances before they develop into diseases. By changing the dog’s metabolism to mimic a low-calorie diet, it has been shown to extend their lives.

The Road to Approval: A Historic FDA Timeline

Loyal was founded in 2019. In February 2025, they hit their first major milestone when the FDA accepted the drug’s “Reasonable Expectation of Effectiveness”.

As of January 2026, the FDA has officially accepted the Target Animal Safety section for LOY-002. The drug has now cleared two of the three major technical sections required before market launch. With effectiveness and safety both checked off, the only remaining step toward launch is pursuing FDA Expanded Conditional Approval. If LOY-002 clears this final hurdle, it would make history as the first FDA-approved longevity drug for any species.

While Loyal’s initial market is our canine companions, the hope is that proving aging can be slowed in dogs will someday open the door to an even larger market: humans. However, this represents a far greater challenge—one that would cost at least $1 billion and take over a decade to achieve. For now, just the thought of gaining a little more time with our beloved dogs is absolutely something to celebrate.