S C I E N C E The critical mission driving the creation of life science  clusters is to foster collaboration and the translation of life science  discoveries into commercialized technologies beneficial to human healthcare. Over 500,000 people worldwide lose their vision annually from a disease called wet age-related macular degeneration (“AMD”). Wet AMD is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of fifty. More than 1.6 million people are affected by the disease in the United States alone. With increasing senior populations in many countries, there is an urgent, growing need for a cure for Wet AMD. In December 2004, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved a new drug called Macugen ® for the treatment of all types of Wet AMD. Alexandria’s client tenant Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., launched the drug in collabora- tion with international pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, Inc., successfully delivering Macugen ® from the laboratory to the patient. A patient visits a medical  clinic demonstrating symptoms  of disease. 1