EDITOR: Many regard the purchase as another form of professional acknowledgement of the current and potential benefits derived from resveratrol. On that same day, well-known Longevinex, produced by Reservatrol Partners LLC, announced a break-through new formulation of their resveratrol consumer product. But it appears that the Longevinex product may pre-date the Sirtris product acquired this week by GlaxoSmithKline.  

 

The article below "Insider Bulletin" is a press release from Resveratrol Partners LLC providing some detail of the potential conflict between the two products.

Published with permission.

 

Insider Bulletin – Resveratrol Watch -
Longevinex® parallels Sirtris’ SRT501 drug

 

April 22, 2008 5 AM EST – Resvertrol Partners LLC announces its 3rd generation Longevinex resveratrol-based matrix

 

April 22, 2008 4:32 PM EST - GlaxoSmithKline PLC announces it intends to offer $720 million for Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and its proprietary SRT501 micronized resveratrol drug.

 

It came as a surprise that on the very day that Longevinex® chose to introduce its new micronized/microencapsulated dry powder resveratrol-based matrix dietary supplement that Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, a developmental drug company with its SRT501 resveratrol drug, announced that GlaxoSmithKline PLC agreed to purchase Sirtris for $720 million cash.  (The introductory announcement for 3rd-generation Longevinex® was determined by depletion of inventory of its inventory of liquid-filled capsules and there has been no discussion or communication between Sirtris or any of its agents regarding a buyout or buyout date by another company.)

Parallels between Sirtris’ SRT501 drug and 3rd-gen Longevinex are striking. 

According to its 10-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission File Number 001-33465 December 31, 2007) SRT501 is a stabilized resveratrol with added excipients that achieves higher blood concentration in mice (4-fold) and 8-times Sirtuin 1 gene activation.  The 10-K filing also says the “company has also increased levels of resveratrol that reaches the blood by optimizing particle size.”

Sirtris was incorporated in the State of Delaware on March 25, 2004.  It was first issued patents on March 19, 2008 the U.S. patent office issued a patent to Sirtris for a broad range of Sirtuin 1 gene activators.  Sirtris claims it has a patented Sirtuin 1 gene activator that is equivalent to resveratrol at 1/10th the dose.  http://www.sirtrispharma.com/Science/Technology/tabid/3732/Default.aspx 

Of interest, on October 23, 2003 Resveratrol Partners LLC (Sardi, B, et al, filed), dba Longevinex®, filed a provisional patent, and a later initial filing on October 25, 2004, for its stabilized, enhanced-bioavailability resveratrol matrix, encapsulated in a sealed oral capsule.

Similar to SRT501, the 3rd-generation Longevinex® features micron-sized resveratrol in a matrix of other antioxidant stabilizers and emulsifiers, enveloped in a matrix of vegetable-based starches and dextrins which are designed to enhance gastric absorption, promote immediate bioavailability and protect its molecular integrity.  This makes 3rd-gen Longevinex® a near twin of SRT501.

Sirtris’s 10-K filing says “resveratrol is currently available for sale by other companies as dietary supplements. If we were to elect to market SRT501 as a dietary supplement, we believe we could do so without the need to complete lengthy and costly clinical trials.” This essentially concedes that SRT501 is plain resveratrol that features an enhanced delivery system.  The entire 10-K filing is found here:  (http://msnmoney.brand.edgar-online.com/EFX_dll/EDGARpro.dll?FetchFilingHTML1?ID=
5818721&SessionID=jD3hWZnjVRJFbg9  It is SRT501 that was utilized in a widely publicized mouse study published in Nature Magazine, November 1, 2006, where SRT501 prolonged the life of rodents fed a high-fat diet, and was used successfully in a preliminary human study among diabetics in India.

 

Of additional interest is that Sirtris reveals that SRT501 activates another gene-derived protein, other than Sirtuin 1, called PPAR gamma coactivator 1 alpha, or PGC-1a.  The activation of PGC-1a, via a process called deacetylation, is said to play a central role in increasing the function of mitochondria as well as favorably affecting muscle fiber type switching, fatty acid oxidation/transport and control of the gluconeogenic pathway.  Sirtris’ 10-K filing says it is “not aware of any successful drug development efforts directly targeting PGC-.” Longevinex® will soon reveal data showing its unique matrix also activates PGC-1a.   ####

 


 



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