Celine Halioua, Loyal Dog
Celine shares her thesis on aging, longevity and how Loyal is helping Dogs (and humans) live longer
For more videos such as this one, follow along on Substack (https://findinggenius.substack.com/) This interview was sponsored by Trinet and Anchin.
Celine Halioua is the founder of Loyal Dog, a biotech startup with the goal of extending the lifespan of dogs.
Celine and I spoke about her deep experience studying longevity and working with the pioneers who have helped inform her thesis around aging. Loyal Dog recently raised a $27 million Series A, led by Khosla Ventures with participation from earlier investors including First Round Capital, Box Group, Collaborative Fund, The Longevity Fund, and Lachy Groom.
In our conversation, Celine shares more about her thesis and building a company that identifies plausible methods to develop medicines for diseases around aging, a seemingly obvious space where few companies are focused on developing novel treatments. Aging, per Celine, is the root cause of terminal brain cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases that impact dogs and humans. The Loyal team, an experienced group of scientists, is working through drug development and hopes to accelerate the process for drug approval.
Celine’s interest in the longevity space developed as Chief of Staff to Laura Deming at Longevity Fund and has unique insights approached this problem Celine has First healthcare side, venture side, and then on the Loyal (company-building side). As the name suggests, Loyal Dog is focused on developing medication for dogs to get the first ever-aging drugs approved and identify pathways for approval. Also, no one can argue why a dog should live forever?