A Note from Terry McAfee, Vice President Finance

Greetings!

I recently attended the Microsoft Alumni Foundation Integral Fellows Gala in Seattle. This event was a celebration of the many former Microsoft employees who have left Microsoft to create non-profit organizations that are making a difference in the world, particularly in the developing world. I felt some kinship with these "social entrepreneurs". Sierra Sciences' mission and the attitude of its investors and employees have a "social entrepreneur" aspect to them. When we succeed in developing a pharmaceutical that will stop or reverse cellular aging, the social benefits could be huge. I envision that the wisest members of our society will no longer be living lives preoccupied with physical decline but be living vibrant, healthy, productive lives.

Of course, as a business person, I cannot help but think that a medicine that stops or reverses cellular aging could have huge commercial benefits as well. Imagine, for example, a cosmetic that actually fulfills its marketing claims to reverse aging. Cosmetics are about an $8 billion market. I would expect that our medicine could have a significant impact on the drug treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, a $22 billion market. Although our development of such a medicine is still in the early stages, no one doubts that the potential for anti-aging products that really work will be huge.

Before human clinical trials are completed, a medicine for the animal market could be immensely profitable, extending the lifespan of valued service animals such as seeing-eye dogs and police dogs, prized animals such as thoroughbred horses, and household pets. Sales by U.S. firms of medicines for veterinary use is a more than $5 billion market, and market research suggests that many pet owners would readily pay for drugs to extend the lives of their pets.

Over the years, I've frequently found myself seeking "social entrepreneurial" business projects, opportunities "to do well by doing good." I believe that Sierra Sciences offers us that rare opportunity for financial gain while making a difference in the world.

Terry McAfee
Vice President Finance, Sierra Sciences LLC

ANTI-AGING NEWS

Less than two weeks ago, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University concluded a study of Ashkenazi Jewish centenarians, a homogeneous population that was already well studied genetically These scientists found, as expected, a correlation between longer telomeres and longer lifespans. They also found - again, as expected - an association between longer telomeres and protection from age-related diseases, better cognitive function, and lipid profiles of healthy aging.

The real groundbreaking discovery they made was the identification of a haplotype of the telomerase enzyme that was associated with both exceptional longevity and longer telomere length, as well as the genes that code for that enzyme. These genetic variations, already present in living people, show great promise in helping us understand the mechanisms of human aging and how to one day take control of them.

The paper, "Genetic variation in human telomerase is associated with telomere length in Ashkenazi centenarians," by Atzmon et. al., was published on November 13 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

SIERRA SCIENCES NEWS

Thanks to everyone who attended Dr. Andrews' presentations at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City! This week, Dr. Andrews will be heading south to Palm Beach, Florida. If you haven't heard his talk on telomere biology and its implications for human lifespan, be sure not to miss this one!

The presentation will take place at 12:30pm on Tuesday, December 1, at Café L'Europe at 331 S County Rd. in Palm Beach, FL, less than a minute off of Worth Ave.

Seating at this talk is limited, so if you're attending, please contact Gerard McKeon at Black Tie Magazine (gerard@blacktiemagazine.com) to reserve a spot.

Hope to see you there!

Bill Andrews' booklet on telomere basics is now online!

Telomere biology can be a difficult subject to explain, so earlier this year, Dr. Andrews put the science into a twenty-page booklet, "Bill Andrews on Telomere Basics: Curing Aging." If you've met Bill in the last nine months or so, you may have received a copy of the booklet.

Until now, this publication was available only in physical form. However, as of this month, it's now available online, along with animations to make the science more easily understandable.

That page is at http://www.sierrasci.com/science/index.html. If you know someone who's interested in anti-aging science, please help us out by forwarding the link to them!

At the Manhattan Beach Project earlier this month, Dr. Andrews was interviewed by representatives of National Geographic and SBS TV for an upcoming documentary on telomerase and its implications in anti-aging research.

In three weeks, camera crews from BBC Horizon will be here in Reno, Nevada to film Sierra Sciences' facilities and to interview Dr. Andrews and his father for a documentary on the aging process and human attempts to reverse it.

We'll be sure to keep you posted on how and where you can see these documentaries once they're complete and available to the public!

Sierra Sciences has a Facebook page that we use to keep our supporters up to date on the progress of our company. If you have a Facebook profile, you can receive these updates by "becoming a fan" of the company. Just visit this address and click "Become a Fan": Hope to see you there!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Sierra-Sciences/130839216671?ref=nf