Sirtris Red Wine Drug shows promise for Type 2 Diabetes Patients
In December 2007, we had reported that drug company Sirtris Pharmaceuticals was working on a drug that mimics the protective effects of a chemical compound found in red wine. The drug in question, SRT501, is a diabetes drug, which has the potential to substantially reduce glucose.
According to Sirtris, reports from the early stages of a clinical trial indicated that the drug was safe and well tolerated too.
The drug is being targeted at those who suffer from Type 2 diabetes who had failed to respond to other treatments.
According to Sirtris officials, the results of an oral glucose tolerance test on patients administered the drug, which is based on Resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine showed significant improvement from a statistical point of view.
There are indications of a ‘strong trend of SRT501 lowering glucose’, said Christoph Westphal, CEO, Sirtris.
In fact the results of the study, came as a surprise to Westphal, as the drug candidate was previously aimed at working on the genes controlling eh process of ageing in humans.
A spokesman for Sirtris said the company has started a phase-2 study, where it is using SRT501 in combination with Metformin. Metformin is a drug that is widely used as a first line of defense against diabetes type 2. This phase would last 90 days and involve a test group of 130 patients. The results from that study would be available only later this year, the spokesman said.
Even though the drug has so far been very successful, it has still a long way to go before hitting the market. Westphal said it would take a minimum of four years for the drug to make its way to the market.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
This ingredient, resveratrol, is possible to obtain via supplements at dosages that equal the Dr. Sinclair Harvard study in which mice lived 31% longer. In November of last year Consumer Lab, the leading independent test organisation for supplements and over-the-counter drugs tested the leading resveratrol brands. They reported that not all products contained the amount of resveratrol claimed on their labels and web sites. Life Extension brand, for example contained less than 27% of the claimed resveratrol.Conversely, Biotivia Bioforte was the best value per 100mg and second highest potency product and Biotivia Transmax was the highest potency supplement of those passing the evaluations. Be sure that you are getting what you are paying for if you decide to use this so called miracle molecule.