Harvard researcher quits panel, says name misused to sell tonic

David Sinclair a prominent longevity researcher at Harvard Medical School, has quit the scientific advisory board of a company that sells an antiaging tonic, saying the company misused his name to promote the grape-flavored drink.

Sinclair joined the advisory board of California-based Shaklee in August. Since then, the company has used its connection with the Harvard scientist to help promote the dietary supplement Vivix Cellular Anti-Aging Tonic, which the company hints can help people live 25 years longer.

The Wall Street Journal first reported yesterday that Sinclair resigned from his position with Shaklee Corp. after the newspaper asked questions about his appearing to endorse the product. Sinclair said he was misinterpreted.

"I have submitted my resignation to Shaklee and exercised my right to terminate my agreement," he told the Journal in an e-mail, the newspaper reported. "This decision was prompted in significant part by my recent realization as to how my association with Shaklee and my research have been used contrary to the intents and purposes of my agreement."

"To my dismay I have found numerous uses of my name and reputation on the Web and in other media that implies endorsement by me of Shaklee's Vivix product," wrote Sinclair, who added that he has hired a lawyer.

Sinclair, a geneticist who has researched the antioxidant resveratrol, the key ingredient of Vivix, did not return an e-mail from the Globe asking for comment. Large quantities of resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine, have been shown to extend the lives of mice, but not humans. Sinclair is cochairman of the scientific advisory board of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge company developing resveratrol and similar compounds as drugs to treat diseases of aging.

In a statement to the Journal, Shaklee said it disagreed with Sinclair's assertions, contending that "every implied product endorsement was in Dr. Sinclair's own words, and every Shaklee use of his name - whether in print or video - was preapproved by him in keeping with our agreement."

The company was closed yesterday and did not respond to requests for comment from the Globe.

Harvard spokesman David Cameron said the agreement signed by Sinclair and Shaklee was reviewed by Harvard in advance to make sure it complied with the medical school's conflict-of-interest rules. Harvard is reviewing the situation to try to determine whether Shaklee used Sinclair's and Harvard's names inappropriately to sell Vivix.

"The Harvard name is not allowed to be used to endorse products, and faculty and researchers are not allowed to use their affiliation as a means to endorse a product," Cameron said.