The genetic disorder known as Progeria causes premature aging. Children suffering from the disorder look like eighty-year-olds, dying of heart attacks and stroke by the time they are teens.

Eminent geneticist Gordon Harris of Boston General has discovered a breakthrough treatment for Progeria, but the National Institute of Health just refused to renew his grant request. Hoping to secure a new source of funding, he approaches Celestica, a Swiss-based pharmaceutical company.

Celestica finds Harris's research intriguing. He's devised a treatment that effectively arrests the aging process. Not sharing Harris's concern for the one in a million children suffering from Progeria, the company plans to mass-market the new drug as an age-inhibitor, charging a premium price to those who can afford it. They name Harris's new treatment Juvena, after the Roman god of youth.

When Harris refuses to cooperate, he discovers just how far Celestica will go to protect company profits. Threatened, kidnapped, and framed for murder, the geneticist finds himself battling the international conglomerate, while Celestica obscures important information to secure FDA approval for Juvena.

Celestica doesn't want the public to know that Juvena has just one significant side effect: once you start taking it, you can't stop-not if you want to keep breathing.