SRT501, a diabetes drug candidate manufactured by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, can reduce glucose substantially, according to a statement released by the company Monday. The company also said reports from the early stages of a clinical trial indicated the drug was safe and well tolerated.
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SRT501, a diabetes drug candidate manufactured by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, can reduce glucose substantially, according to a statement released by the company Monday. The company also said reports from the early stages of a clinical trial indicated the drug was safe and well tolerated.
The experimental drug is being targeted at patients with Type 2 diabetes who had failed to respond to other treatment regimes. The company organized the Phase Ib study, covering a 28-day period, to check the tolerance levels, safety, and also the activity of the drug, administered in two dosage strengths.
According to Sirtris officials, the results of an oral glucose tolerance test on patients administered the drug, which is based on Resveratrol, a chemical present in red wine, showed marked improvement from a statistical point of view on the 28th day at two hours.
The company conducted the study on a test group of 98 diabetes patients who had received no treatment for the disease earlier, in India. Christoph Westphal, the Sirtris CEO, said there were indications of ‘a strong trend of SRT501 lowering glucose.” The result has come as a surprise, according to Westphal, as the drug candidate was earlier aimed at working on the genes controlling the process of ageing in humans.
Westphal said, “It was an unexpected surprise. We believe this is the first time a drug candidate targeted to the genes that control the aging process has been shown to be beneficial in human patients in a disease of aging.” SRT501 is also known as the ‘fountain of youth’ drug, after earlier studies showed it had the potential to act on a number of age-related diseases.
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.
Presenting this data Monday at the Annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, the company said the drug also did not have any side effects, dosage-related or otherwise.
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.
On another front, after-market trading saw Sirtris’s shares rising. The share value of the Cambridge, Massachusetts, based company jumped by 10.7 percent, registering a $1.41 hike to end at $14.60 in trading after hours. The company shares had earlier ended the day at $13.19 at the end of trading during regular hours.
According to Wikipedia, Consumer Lab, an independent dietary
supplement and over the counter products evaluation organization,
published a report on 13 November 2007 on the popular resveratrol
supplements. The organization reported that there exists a wide range
in quality, dose, and price among the 13 resveratrol products
evaluated. The actual amount of resveratrol contained in the
different brands range from 2.2mg for Revatrol, which claimed to have
400mg of "Red Wine Grape Complex", to 500mg for Biotivia.com Transmax,
which is consistent with the amount claimed on the product's label.
Prices per 100mg of resveratrol ranged from less than $.30 for
products made by Biotivia.com, jarrow, and country life, to a high of
$45.27 for the Revatrol brand. None of the products tested were found
to have significant levels of heavy metals or other contaminants.