RESVERATROL UPDATE: Glaxo has bought Sirtris, the company with an arsenal of SIRT-1 drugs that do what resveratrol does only more so.

UPDATE: More thoughts from Derek Lowe on what it means. “It’s still a long shot, but it’s one of the most intriguing ones in the history of medicine. Actually, from one perspective, you wonder how long a shot it is: a biochemical pathway that seems to extend healthy life in yeast, roundworms, flies, and mice would seem to have some odds of doing the same thing in man. A lot of drug programs have been started with a lot less backing them up, albeit for rather less earth-shattering indications. . . . a drug for aging is a perfect example of something the FDA has absolutely no idea of how to approach. Well, it’s not just the FDA, come to think of it: how on earth would you design a Phase II trial for life extension? How long would it take?”

Plus, Leon Kass will be unhappy.

UPDATE: Reader John Coleman emails:

The founders of Sirtris spoke to my class at Harvard Business School last week. They were extremely impressive, and, from a business standpoint, I would say this series of drugs is not as long a shot as
some people think. I’m not a scientist, so I don’t know the extent to which the drugs effects will transfer from mice to humans; but the firm is well run and the people in it have a great deal of faith in the power of resveratrol across a number of condititions.

There is a brand new Harvard Business School case available on Sirtris (we read it last week), but its not up on the HBS Press website yet. When it’s made available, I’d recommend you read it — it’s probably
the best layman’s guide to the company and the science around.

I look forward to its publication.