British drug maker to buy Sirtris for $720 million

GlaxoSmithKline PLC today agreed to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, for $720 million to bolster the British pharmaceutical maker’s pipeline with Sirtris’ experimental treatments targeting aging-related diseases.

Glaxo said after the markets closed that it would pay cash to acquire all the shares of Sirtris, a 3-year-old firm that relied on venture capital funding before making its initial public offering last May.
The $720 million, $22.50 per-share price represents an 84 percent premium over Tuesday’s $12.23 closing price for Sirtris stock.

Sirtris’ research focuses on a recently discovered class of enzymes known as sirtuins that are believed to be linked to aging and appear to restrict calorie intake without a change in eating habits. For example, Sirtris is testing a modified version of a red wine extract called resveratrol in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Sirtris emerged from research on sirtuins by a Harvard Medical School scientist, Dr. David Sinclair, a company cofounder.

Sinclair led a 2006 study by Harvard and the National Institute of Aging that found heavy doses of resveratrol enabled obese mice to enjoy the benefits of being thin and live healthier, longer lives.

Although the implications for humans were unclear, the resveratrol doses appeared to lower the rate of diabetes, liver problems, and other fat-related ill effects in mice fed a high-fat diet.

This month, the Food and Drug Administration granted orphan-drug status to resveratrol, for the treatment of a fatal and progressive disorder called MELAS syndrome. The orphan-drug designation provides Sirtris with seven years of marketing exclusivity upon FDA approval of the drug.
(AP)