Pills to delay your pet's aging: is it ethical?

BarcelonaWhat would you do if you could extend the life of your pet? start-up American company Loyal wants to launch a pill to make this possible before the end of this year, according to the company itself. In fact, last week it took a step closer to achieving this: the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified the efficacy of one of its drugs, the LOY-002 pill. It is a daily treatment intended to prolong the healthy life of dogs over 10 years old. However, it would not be suitable for everyone: it would only be viable for those weighing less than 6.35 kg.

The LOY-002, a meat-flavored pill, is not the only project that Loyal has in the works. The start-up San Francisco-based Loyal is also working to achieve the same goal for older dogs. LOY-001 and LOY-003 are treatments designed for overweight and giant dogs with shorter life expectancies and are still in early stages. All of these drugs aim to mitigate and reverse the metabolic changes associated with aging. Loyal is not a rare elderly: There are several companies in the world focused on this same objective.

"We should rethink what we spend our money on," says the doctor, researcher and writer Salvador Macip. The scientific popularizer, despite recognizing that companies can invest where they see fit, considers it "curious" that they decide to allocate so much effort here and not on people. However, Macip assures that "this argument can be demagogic" and that, at the end of the day, all progress ends up adding up. Specifically, according to the Guardian, Loyal is said to have raised $125 million in funding from companies that have refrained from investing in human longevity projects.

A precedent for increasing human longevity?

The Californian technology company has repeatedly said that the effectiveness of its studies could also benefit humans – and any other species – in the future. “It is true that, from a scientific point of view, it is an interesting experiment,” says Macip. However, he explains that any of these pills would not be extrapolated to people and that the composition should be different. In addition, he says that, above all, it should be verified whether these treatments end up achieving what they promise.

If this is the case, he does not doubt that an advance of this nature would be “positive.” “It is not about prolonging life, but about improving our conditions,” says Macip. Pills such as LOY-002 do not seek to prolong life per se, but to delay as much as possible the diseases and symptoms that appear with age. The popularizer and researcher also wonders who would end up having access to these medications: “The rich? Or should they be included in the public health system?”

"There is a very fine line between treatments and improvements," says the expert. Macip says that this is one of the big questions in current research: "Should we prioritise and encourage improvements when we still don't have treatments for many important diseases?" Ethically, it is difficult to resolve, he says.

What is missing for it to be approved?

According to Loyal, the last two requirements for obtaining conditional approval from the FDA are to ensure its safety and manufacture. The company explains that it has a "large amount of data" that would demonstrate that these two points are met. The scientific basis of the drugs dates back to studies promoted by Purina during the 1990s. The results of the research indicated that caloric restriction could extend the life of dogs and delay diseases such as osteoarthritis and cancer.