Noel Thomas Patton
Noel Thomas Patton, founder of T.A. SCIENCES®, was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His boyhood upbringing was a far cry from the breakthrough Biotech business he is engaged in today. Just as T.A. Sciences® is a hybrid of Traditional Chinese Culture and modern science, so is Noel Patton’s life which has included impressive business success both in America and China.
A graduate of Indiana University (1969) with an Honors Degree in Philosophy, Noel furthered his studies on the East Coast and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. He maintains an ongoing involvement with Young Presidents Organization (YPO) through its CEO and WPO graduate organizations.
In 1972 Noel purchased Patton Electric Company, the family appliance manufacturing business started by his father in 1945. By the mid 80's Patton Electric and many other US manufactures were facing fierce competition from low cost imports. In 1987 he moved with his family to Hong Kong, China, which was just opening up after Mao’s Cultural Revolution. As always a pioneer, Noel was a presence even in rural China at a time when no small American company had yet ventured into that territory.
As Noel and his family thrived in the adrenalin-charged culture and sophistication of Hong Kong and China, the business flourished. In 1995 Patton Electric Company was sold to a large publicly traded appliance firm. At this time, Noel began to indulge his passion for knowledge of new developments in age management and the latest breakthroughs in biotechnology. In particular, he began to explore the intersection between Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western medical science.
In 1999 Noel heard Professor Jerry Shay of the University of Texas Southwest give a speech about a naturally occurring enzyme called telomerase that made human cells "young" again. Meeting Dr. Shay was Noel Patton's introduction to the newly evolving scientific world of Telomere Biology. Noel immediately followed through and contacted leading edge California biotech company Geron Corporation, the industry leader in developing this new scientific frontier. And so began a tremendously positive and rewarding business relationship. Noel and his wife Eve invested in Geron and began helping this California-based firm to expand into Hong Kong. The Pattons were on hand when Geron and the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong discovered the cellular rejuvenation properties of the single molecule which we now call TA-65. TA-65 is a naturally occurring, but very rare, molecule found in the well known Astragalus plant.
In 2002 Noel and Eve secured exclusive worldwide rights to Geron's Telomerase Activation (TA) technology for non-prescription nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products and in 2007, after 5 years of development and safety testing, opened the T.A. Sciences office in New York City.
In 2005 the Pattons facilitated a joint venture between Geron and the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong. This company, TA Therapeutics (TAT), is developing Geron's Telomerase Activation (TA) technology for therapeutic prescription drug applications. While TAT's first drug candidate has the potential to cure a number of serious diseases, TAT hopes to file an application with the United States FDA by the end of 2008 with their first indication being a drug for rebuilding the weakened immune system of HIV/AIDS patients.
Noel and Eve currently travel between Hong Kong, California, and New York. The T.A. Sciences CenterTM, located on the Upper East Side in Manhattan markets telomerase activating nutraceutical and cosmeceutical age defying products derived from Geron's technology.
