In addition to humans, gene therapy to extend lifespan is also being studied in dogs. Credit: Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times/Getty
Scientists studying ways to extend healthy lifespan are increasingly turning their attention to companion animals. Earlier this month, researchers, biotechnology companies and dogs gathered in Toronto, Canada, for the first Animal Longevity Summit, where participants discussed canine cancer, cat diseases, gene therapy, regeneration and the biology of animals that thrive in extreme environments.
Vera Gorbunova, an aging researcher at the University of Rochester in New York, has attended many longevity conferences during her decades of research. But she said the Toronto meeting was unlike any she had attended before.
The small summit brought together academic researchers, industry scientists and several dogs. Its focus reflected growing interest in extending pets’ lifespans and improving the number of healthy years they live.
The programme included presentations by researchers who study aging in different animal species. Other speakers discussed canine cancer, axolotl regeneration and the genetics of mammals adapted to extreme environments. Company representatives presented work on gene therapy for dogs, probiotic pellets for cats and cryopreservation of pets.
“It may have been a slightly different group of people than you would see at a typical seniors’ conference,” Gorbunova said.
The meeting also highlighted the commercial forces behind the field. Cameron Hurlbert, a senior analyst at AniVC, a venture capital firm in Miami, Florida, said that the large investments supporting research into longer and healthier human lives were likely to drive interest in pet health as well.
The US pet and animal health market is estimated to be worth US$150 billion and is expected to grow as more people in the United States buy pet health insurance, Hurlbert said.
Developing treatments for cats and dogs
Most current attempts to extend pets’ healthy lifespans focus on diet, including probiotic preparations, Hurlbert said. For medical treatments, many companies are seeking to repurpose drugs that have already been approved for humans instead of developing entirely new medicines.
Not all companies are following that route. Cat Health Company, based in Bucharest, has announced plans to identify new drugs for age-related conditions in cats, including sarcopenia, a muscle-wasting disorder, and kidney disease. Alex Batisha, the company’s co-founder and chief operating officer, said it currently has two compounds in clinical trials and others in clinical trials.
Several companies are also pursuing gene therapy. Rejuvenate Bio, a biotechnology company in San Diego, California, is studying a treatment for mitral valve disease, the most common heart disease in dogs. Noah Davidson, the company’s co-founder and chief scientific officer, said this would be only the therapy’s first application. He hopes it could eventually be used to treat metabolic syndrome and extend lifespan.
Rejuvenate Bio has been working to lower the manufacturing costs of gene therapy, which is complex, to levels compatible with the pet market.
Genflow Biosciences is developing a gene therapy intended to extend dogs’ longevity and reduce sarcopenia. If the drug succeeds, the company hopes to sell it to a larger animal-drug company and use the proceeds to fund research into the same approach in humans, said Eric Leire, the Brussels-based company’s founder and chief executive.
Academic research and industry partnerships
Noah Snyder Mackler, a comparative-aging scientist at Arizona State University in Tempe, said academic researchers could also benefit from working with start-ups. Government funding for research involving dogs often prioritizes applications to human health rather than canine health, he said. As a result, university researchers might need industry partnerships to carry out studies that could produce treatments for dogs.
“We don’t have the resources to follow up on dog-centered interventions,” said Snyder Mackler, a researcher with the Dog Aging Project, a large collaboration investigating aging in dogs.
Gorbunova said she enjoyed the meeting. “It was a revelation to me to see how much people care about extending the lifespan of their pets,” she said.
Source: www.nature.com
