Village Global Podcast [Highlight] Why Dog Longevity Drugs Are the Fastest Path to Human Longevity with Celine Halioua
Feb 19, 2026
Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, who raised a $100M Series C to develop pet longevity drugs. She outlines Loyal's 10-year plan to move from dogs into cats and humans. She explains why pharma ignored aging, why dogs mirror human aging better than mice, and how dog-first drugs lower cost and speed translation to human therapies.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Company Vision: From Dogs To Human Drugs
- Celine Halioua expects Loyal to grow into a multi-subsidiary company focused on dog, cat, and human longevity with R&D and discovery units.
- She predicts aging will become an explicit drug category within pharma over the next decade.
Regulatory Beliefs Blocked Aging Drugs
- Pharma historically hasn't treated aging as a drug category because no one proved regulatory approval was possible.
- Celine believes demonstrating an approved longevity drug will be a catalyst for the whole industry.
Dogs Solve The Economics Problem
- The core barrier to human longevity drugs is economics and logistics, not biology.
- Dogs offer a faster, feasible path because they live shorter lives and use a cash-pay system for preventative care.