Key points from the interview:

• Sprague Dawley rats usually live 24-36 months
• previous recorded maximum lifespan of 45.5 months
• Sima has now lived 47 months
• average lifespan in treated cohort increased, but Sima is outlier
• difference may be due to variation of original biological age, or success of each application - lots of variables
• healthspan was also extended - measured cognitive function and organ function
• aiming to double or triple maximum lifespan
• plasma treatments seem to be temporary, E5 treatment is semi-permanent
• seems to be a different mechanism that determines maximum lifespan
• ovary plays an import part if female ageing
• Cold Spring Harbor hid us in a corner - ageing community would prefer to overlook us
• 1 rat month is equivalent to 2.5 years - so equivalent of human living an extra 20 years
• think we will do better than that
• wants to do a dog study
• looking at different methods of administration, e.g. patches
• could generate more activity per milligram
• competitors all believe ageing happens at the cellular level - but has been shown that's not the case
• if you put a young cell in and old body, then it becomes old, and vice versa
• may be able to synthesize E5 in future (currently from pigs)
• original intention was to use plasma exchange - but now thinks that effect would be temporary
• skin test looking good 7 months later (single application) which might suggest no pro-ageing factors in blood
• final question... when might we be able to increase maximum lifespan of humans
• Harold thinks maybe about a year... and will be one of the first volunteers!

See more details about the experiment in the blog: Harold Katcher’s E5/Elixir (Young Plasma) Rat Trial Results