Giving our best friends more time: Healthy aging for dogs (Celine Halioua, CEO of Loyal)

Loyal is a San Francisco-based startup that is seeking to treat the underlying causes of aging in dogs. Loyal has raised $11 million in seed funding so far, and is planning to start clinical trials of medications in 2022 and 2023. In this episode, BioAge VP-Media Chris Patil talks with Celine Halioua, CEO and founder of Loyal. Celine beginswith by describing the striking difference in lifespan among the dog species, with smaller breeds like the Chihuahua living twice as long as larger breeds like the Great Dane. She explains how historical inbreeding to create larger dogs actually caused them to age faster, and her plan to develop a drug that compensates for this accidental genetic disorder. Celine tells us about The Healthspan Study, which tracks aging markers in dogs, as well as what inspired her to start Loyal, and how their research complements the goals of the University of Washington Dog Aging Project. Celine breaks down the role of caloric restriction in anti-aging across species, why dogs are one of the best models for human aging as a disease, her background in neuroscience and longevity, and her passion for developing drugs for healthspan and lifespan extension. Celine also offers her perspective about encountering skepticism in the biotech industry, the unique challenges faced by young women founders, and overcoming sexist assumptions following the controversial story of Elizabeth Holmes. Finally, Celine shares what’s next for Loyal and her dream to build a consumer-focused pharmaceutical company that people love. To learn more about Loyal and their dedication to aging health for dogs, visit https://loyalfordogs.com/ (LoyalForDogs.com).  Episode Highlights: https://loyalfordogs.com/ (Loyal )is seeking to determine why, on average, the larger a dog breed is, the shorter their lifespan We do not see a 2X lifespan differential among varieties of other animals Loyal also looks at ways to pharmacologically improve metabolic resiliency and fitness in aged animals to give them a longer, healthi