Sirtris Says (Resveratrol) Drug Helps Diabetics In Early Trials

By KEITH J. WINSTEIN
January 7, 2008 5:03 p.m. WSJ EXCERPT

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. said its formulation of resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, helped diabetics lower their blood sugar in an early-stage clinical trial.

Sirtris, of  Cambridge, Mass., is working on commercializing resveratrol and related drugs to fight a number of diseases. Advocates suspect that resveratrol may also increase lifespan, though that hasn't yet been shown.

Sirtris released results Monday from an early-stage study in 98 diabetics, at an investor conference sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. in San Francisco. It's the first study to show resveratrol's beneficial effects in humans. Previous studies had focused on mice and rats.

"We chose diabetes because it's a big market, but the biology says the drug could work on any number of diseases that afflict us," said David Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Sirtris. The company has said 2012 is the earliest it could get to the market with a diabetes drug, which would happen only if further phases of clinical testing in much larger groups of patients are successful.   

In the so-called Phase 1b study, Sirtris gave daily doses of its formulation of resveratrol to 67 diabetics who weren't on other treatment. It gave placebos to 31 others. The study took place in India.

After 28 days, those taking resveratrol had improved their score on an oral glucose tolerance test, which measures the body's ability to break down and use sugar -- a fundamental problem for diabetics. Those taking the placebo didn't show an improvement.

Resveratrol also seemed to lower baseline levels of glucose in the blood, though that result wasn't statistically significant. None of the patients reported a significant side effect, the company said.

In the study, resveratrol was given as a liquid, in daily doses of 2.5 or 5 grams a day. At typical pill sizes, that would mean four or seven pills a day. To get those doses with wine would require drinking roughly 20,000 glasses of Pinot Noir each day. Sirtris is also studying more-potent drugs, not based on resveratrol, that would require fewer pills.

Sirtris also compared its formulation of resveratrol against naturally-occurring resveratrol that is sold as a dietary supplement. The company's formulation, called SRT501, was used in the Indian study. According to the company's measurements, SRT501 enters the bloodstream and stays around about six times better than the natural product. (End of Excerpt)

Write to Keith J. Winstein at keith.winstein@wsj.com