TA Sciences announces TA-65 Options

[resveratrol]

From today's LEF homepage (http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?N...6&Section=AGING):

New Product Scientifically Battles Aging at the Cellular Level-Exclusively licensed from the Geron Corporation, TA-65 is the world's first Telomerase Activator

PR Newswire

04-09-07

NEW YORK, April 9, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Telomerase Activation Sciences, Inc. (TA Sciences) announced on March 12 its license with Geron to develop and market non-therapeutic products using Geron's small molecule telomerase activators. Now TA Sciences announces the opening of the TA Sciences Center in Manhattan where customers can purchase TA Sciences' first product, a nutraceutical containing the telomerase activating agent "TA-65."

"TA Sciences welcomes our first customers and the launch of the world's first telomerase activator product," said Noel Thomas Patton, founder of TA Sciences. "A natural consequence of aging is the shortening of telomeres (caps of DNA located at the ends of all chromosomes), which ultimately results in loss of cell function. TA-65 offers the potential of reducing or reversing telomere shortening and battles tissue and organ degeneration by rejuvenating aging cells."

TA-65 is the result of vigorous scientific research that began at Geron in 1992. Already the response from the scientific community to the news of TA Sciences' ground-breaking launch has been very enthusiastic: "Telomerase Activation is the single most promising approach to reversing the effects of aging," said Michael Fossel, MD, PhD., Clinical Professor of Medicine at Michigan State University, author, and recognized authority on aging and age- related clinical disease.

And Dr. William H. Andrews, founder of Sierra Sciences, LLC and one of the principal discoverers of the telomerase genes, said: "Cleopatra, Ponce de Leon, and untold others throughout the ages have searched for the secrets of youth. That search has been futile, until now: Telomerase Activation is the first and only scientifically sound way to approach anti- aging. TA-65 is the first product in history that has been proven to slow or reverse cellular aging. Congratulations to TA Sciences and Geron!"

On April 30, 2007 TA Sciences plans to publish the results of the Pivotal 2005 Anti-Aging Trial, which is the first ever human clinical trial of a telomerase activator. This trial shows statistical verification of the anti- aging benefits of telomerase activation.

The TA Sciences Center is located at 24 E. 64th Street in New York. The company offers its telomerase-activating products as part of the 12 month "Patton Protocol." The driver of TA Sciences' product line is the telomerase- activating small molecule "TA-65," sold under license from Geron. For more information on TA Sciences visit http://www.TASciences.com or call 888-360-8886. For more information on Geron visit http://www.Geron.com.

SOURCE TA Sciences Inc.

CONTACT: Greta Blackburn of TA Sciences Inc., cell, +1-818-634-5941

URL: http://www.tasciences.com

http://www.Geron.com

http://www.prnewswire.com www.prnewswire.com

Discuss.

[lucid]

Nice... I wasn't expecting to see a product like this for a while! I'm want to see mice studies! Off to pubmed.
Hmmm. No luck yet. There is a good discussion of telomerase that occurred recently in the SENS forum on ImmInst though. Checking it out will get you up to speed.

[proteomist]

Nice... I wasn't expecting to see a product like this for a while! I'm want to see mice studies! Off to pubmed.

Good luck. You'll find some studies on Astragalus extract, but since they never name their active ingredient it's rather tough. 'TA-65' brings up nothing.

Edit: Pubmed search 'astrogaloside' brings up hits, but 'astrogaloside' and 'telomere' or 'telomerase' brings up nothing.

Posts on other boards indicate these guys want to charge >$25,000 to participate in their one year 'study'.

This post has been edited by proteomist: Apr 9 2007, 08:20 PM

[resveratrol]

I'd also like to add to this question to the discussion:

What is the consensus on the viability of telomerase activation as an anti-aging strategy? Bogus or no?

[lucid]

The jury is still out. The principle concern is that telomerase activation will increase tumor growth and cause malignancy. That said there is some evidence out there that suggests that telomerase may help to induce apoptosis of genetically damaged cells which causes a decrease in cancer rates. So who knows at this point.

I haven't seen NEARLY enough evidence to ever consider participating in the study. Here is the link to the good telomerase discussion in SENS:
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?act...=173&t=12276&s=

Telomerase activation will be part of longevity treatments in the future however I don't think we know enough to test this product on humans right now....

[maestro949]

From the Geron site (cached)

Menlo Park, CA — February 3, 2006 -- Geron Corporation (Nasdaq: GERN) announced today the presentation of studies showing that its small molecule telomerase activators, TAT0001 and TAT0002, enhance the functional activity of immune cells from HIV/AIDS donors. The research, presented at the Gordon Research Conference “The Biology of Aging” in Ventura, California, demonstrated that the telomerase activators not only increased the proliferative capacity of cytotoxic (CD8+) T-cells and their ability to produce a virus-fighting molecule, gamma Interferon (IFNγ), but also improved the ability of CD8+ cells from HIV-positive donors to inhibit virus production in infected CD4+ T-cells.

The new data, presented by Rita Effros, Ph.D., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, was the product of a joint research effort between Geron scientists, Dr. Effros and colleagues at UCLA. The ongoing research in Dr. Effros’ laboratory is supported by TA Therapeutics, a joint venture between Geron Corporation and the Biotechnology Research Corporation, a company established by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

During the progression of HIV disease, certain immune cells called CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells undergo accelerated replicative senescence (cellular aging), and lose their ability to proliferate and kill HIV-infected CD4+ T-cells. Previous work by Dr. Effros and colleagues demonstrated that introducing the telomerase gene into CD8+ cells from HIV/AIDS donors increased their proliferative capacity, their ability to produce IFNγ, and their ability to inhibit viral replication and kill HIV-infected T-cells. Dr. Effros demonstrated that the small molecule telomerase activators TAT0001 (GRN951) and TAT0002 (GRN665) improved the proliferative response of T-cells and increased IFNγ production. The new data presented at the Gordon Conference showed that HIV-specific CD8+ cells pre-treated with either TAT0001 or TAT0002 had enhanced ability to inhibit viral replication when co-cultured with HIV-infected CD4+ cells.

“The new work conducted by Dr. Effros confirms and extends her earlier studies with TAT0001 and TAT0002, showing that our drug candidates enhance multiple functions of the cytotoxic T-cells that keep HIV in check,” stated Calvin B. Harley, Ph.D., Geron’s chief scientific officer. “These data, our ongoing safety studies and other product development activities are leading us to a novel pharmacologic approach for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.”

Geron is a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing three groups of products: i) therapeutic products for oncology that target telomerase; ii) pharmaceuticals that activate telomerase in tissues impacted by senescence, injury or degenerative disease; and iii) cell-based therapies derived from its human embryonic stem cell platform for applications in multiple chronic diseases.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements in this press release regarding future applications of Geron Corporation’s technology and compounds constitute forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, need for additional capital, reliance on collaborators, need for regulatory approvals or clearances, and maintenance of our intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Geron’s periodic reports, including the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005.

Rita B. Effros, Ph.D

The small molecule telomerase activators:

TAT0001 (GRN951)
TAT0002 (GRN665)

From WIKI Astragalus

Medicinal use

Astragalus membranaceus, or huángqí (黄芪, literally "yellow leader"; also called běiqí, 北芪, literally "northern leader") is a tonic herb originally used in Chinese medicine. It is believed to be a galactagogue, and recent studies show that it may strengthen the human immune system.

The natural gum tragacanth, which is used in pharmaceuticals and textiles, is obtained from Astragalus tragacanthus. It is claimed to help the immune system, and to increase the body's resistance to common viruses.

In western herbal medicine, Astragalus is primarily considered a tonic for enhancing metabolism and digestion and is consumed as a tea made from the roots of the plant. It is also traditionally used to strengthen the immune system and in the healing of wounds and injuries[[1]].

According to [TAsciences.com], a derivative of this plant called TA-65 can be used as a telomerase activator. This company, which has a license from Geron Corporation, will begin offering TA-65 as a neutraceutical anti-aging substance in April of 2007.

[jorgepl22]

We'll have to wait for the results of the trial on the 30th.

[tom a]

Have there even been any animal studies of these sort of telomerase activators?

Such a technique would seem to be very powerful, with potentially great effects either in the positive or negative direction -- perhaps both.

Why haven't I heard about animal studies regarding this, if they exist?

[lucid]

I sent them an email yesterday asking that question. Hopefully I will get a response.

[lucid]

Here is a brief summary of ta science's study of at-65:
There are some pretty huge biomarker improvements.
http://www.tasciences.com/ta/blum.html

And the email he sent me:
Dear Dr. Demere,
Please see Dr. Calvin Harley's 2002 paper titled "Telomerase is not an Oncogene." You can find it in the Science Library section of our web site.
Yours truly,
Noel Thomas Patton

The paper:
http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v21/n4/f...l/1205076a.html

[health_nutty]

Is this actually available for sale?

[edward]

I believe that they're administering it as part of their $20,000/year anti aging therapy.

Sign me up [:o]

$20,000 mmm Let's see I could sell my car and get a bike (probably an anti-aging strategy in itself)...

[edward]

I'd like to see more research on Astragalus if indeed a component of this herb increases telomerase then isolating it and seperating it from or getting a highly concentrated standardized extract shouldn't be to hard.... Can we say the next resveratrol...

[niner]

... I smell hucksterism. I'd give it five years, minimum.

If by hucksterism you mean they are out to milk this thing for all it's worth, then that sounds about right. But I don't smell fraud here. The early human trial results that lucid mentions above are pretty impressive. At first blush, $20-25K for a few pills seems like a ripoff, but if you consider all the diagnostic work that will need to be done in the year-long 'trial', it is probably not that far out of line. I would consider this today if I were 70 years old. As it stands, if it looks good in 10 years, I'm in.

[snowhow]

Here's a question:
On their website, they say that this stuff comes from the astragalus plant in China. I have searched the web and I have found a lot of studies in everything from ulcers to chemotharapy. Clearly this stuff does have some medicinal value. So has anyone heard of or know about any other independent studies, other than Geron, where the astragulus plant was used or tested for telomerase activation, or any other kind of anti-aging?

[maxwatt]

In China the plant is used for menstrual problems, and for anemia, in combination with other herbs.

[xanadu]

I'll let all you eager early adopters be the guinea pigs here, same as with any other new junk that is totally unproven. I might try the herb, it has a long history of use but will stay away from refined substances and stay really far away from proprietary blends with unknown ingredients. But don't let that slow down the rest of you, go out and test it for me. If it pans out in a few years, I may try it.

[snowhow]

I'm not going near anything without some kind of outside independent results. My point is that these people are the only ones that I can find who claim to have researched this. Are there any others besides these people?

[reason]

http://www.fightaging.org/archives/001181.php

http://www.fightaging.org/archives/001178.php

[lucid]

This is almost certainly a scam.  www.prnewswire.com appears to be
merely a marketing/advertisement site masquerading as a news site.

The "product" is not a drug, but rather a "Chinese plant extract" of
some sort.  The TA Sciences website offers such claims as "male sexual
enhancement", "softer skin", "clearer vision", etc.  Red flags are
already popping up all over the place!

I have a feeling that this "Pivotal 2005 Anti-Aging Trial" to be
announced at the end of the month will be a poor-quality, unpublished
pseudo-study.

A response:

This is no scam. Geron staff consists of arguably the best telomere
experts in the world. Yes, the TA Science site appears inexplicably
amaturish and scamish, but the molecule is the result of years of work
by some of the world's leading scientists. A report on the clinical
trial is due to surface on April 30. The protocol offered is clearly
designed by and for medical professionals. I'll have more info when
they return my call or email, and will report further if warranted.

Well, I am hopeful that this thing works. But, I would eat dirt before I try that first.

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