Longevity. Technology. Halioua studied neuroscience and nanobiotechnology at the University of Texas at Austin and Uppsala Universitet in Sweden.
Halioua’s idea for Loyal emerged from a memo she worked on during her time with Deming, which involved something called insulin-like growth factor 1. This hormone (IGF-1 for short) is naturally found in the blood. It was known back then that tweaking the hormone’s pathway could extend the life of mice. However, the effects on humans were unknown. It wasn’t until 2019 that Halioua revealed her knowledge of the hormone and its potential to extend the life of dogs on a summer camping trip. The trip was organized by a startup, and she didn’t know any of the investors and entrepreneurs to whom she revealed these details. Eventually, her idea made its rounds throughout Silicon Valley, where it eventually caught the attention of an interested venture capitalist. That man was Greg Rosen, who met with Halioua for coffee in San Francisco. Shortly after that meeting, she had just over $5M in funding from Rosen and others. But as luck would have it, the pandemic started in the first month that her office’s lease began. But that didn’t stop her new team from growing and hiring experts with another $6M in funding raised. The self-proclaimed “Oxford dropout” and her team of scientists have now identified two compounds that can delay the aging process of young, large dogs and help with cognitive decline. Loyal also has close to 70 employees, and half of its new investors are women—no small feat in a world where startups are backed significantly by male venture capitalists. As of 2023, Loyal is developing two drugs that target the underlying causes of aging. LOY-001 is expected to expand the lifespan of large breeds of dogs and is projected to enter companion dog studies this year. Whereas LOY-002 is intended to expand the lifespan of older breeds. If you’d like to help, Loyal is actively recruiting for upcoming studies in 2023.
@CELINEHALIOUA @CELINELEAHH
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