Nutritional science for mind health products
DSM Nutritional Products
Cristoph Westphal and Michelle Dipp, formerly of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and now GSK executives, were both involved in establishing the Healthy Lifespan Institute, a non-profit organisation that was selling resveratrol dietary supplements at $540 for a one-year supply.
A spokesperson for GSK told NutraIngredients: “GSK is aware that the non-profit Healthy Lifespan Institute was started by GSK/Sirtris employees Michelle Dipp and Christoph Westphal last year. The employees told the company about their involvement, and their support of the non-profit is unrelated to their roles at GSK.
“However until today, GSK was not aware that the Health Lifespan Institute was selling a resveratrol formulation on the internet. The Company has instructed the GSK employees to cease their association with this activity and Michelle Dipp and Christoph Westphal will be resigning their positions on the Board of Healthy Lifespan.”
The pair’s involvement in the Institute was voluntary, and the company confirmed that both remain executives of GSK.
Neither Westphal nor Dipp were available for comment prior to publication, but the Xconomy website quotes Dipp as saying: “Our main business is bringing new drugs to patients through our work at Longwood and (Glaxo). But there was so much demand for (resveratrol).”
The GSK spokesperson added that the Healthy Institute resveratrol is different than GSK’s resveratrol-based drugs. “The two products – resveratrol and SRT501 – are different formulations. The resveratrol is a 250 mg powder capsule. SRT 501 is a 5g liquid suspension. SRT501 is a formulation of resveratrol with higher bioavailability than the chemical alone,” she said.
The promise of long life
Resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, is often touted as the bioactive compound in grapes and red wine, and has particularly been associated with the so-called 'French Paradox'. The phrase, coined in 1992 by Dr Serge Renaud from Bordeaux University, describes the low incidence of heart disease and obesity among the French, despite their relatively high-fat diet and levels of wine consumption.
Interest in the compound exploded in 2003 when research from David Sinclair and his team from Harvard reported that resveratrol was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells. The research, published in Nature, was greeted with international media fanfare and ignited flames of hope for an anti-ageing pill.
According to Sinclair’s findings, resveratrol could activate a gene called sirtuin1 (Sirt1 – the yeast equivalent was Sir2), which is also activated during calorie restriction in various species, including monkeys.
Since then studies in nematode worms, fruit flies, fish, and mice have linked resveratrol to longer lives. Other studies with only resveratrol have reported anti-cancer effects, anti-inflammatory effects, cardiovascular benefits, anti-diabetes potential, energy endurance enhancement, and protection against Alzheimer’s.
Dr Sinclair is currently following a drug route for resveratrol. Working with Westphal, a scientific entrepreneur, he founded Sirtris Pharmaceuticals. Sirtris was snapped up by GSK for a tasty $720 million.
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more on Sirtris/GSK resveratrol
Thought you guys might also be interested in this BioWorld Insight article, which digs into the relationship between rx drugs and nutritional supplements:
http://www.bioworld.com/servlet/com.accumedia.web.Dispatcher?next=bioWorldHeadlines_article&forceid=55552
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Posted by Trista Morrison
23 August 2010 | 21h40
davidcrls40
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Posted by david
13 August 2010 | 21h46