Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sirtris gains exclusive Harvard IP license

By Mass High Tech Staff

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Cambridge-based Sirtris, a GSK Company,  has announced completing an exclusive licensing agreement for Harvard University’s two patent applications of treatments based on SIRT3 enzymes.

According to Sirtris (Nasdaq: SIRT), sirtuins can regulate aging. SIRT3 itself has been found to protect against cell damage, a study from Sirtris Scientific Advisory Board members and Harvard scientists found. Harvard’s two licensed patents include assays that indicate the SIRT3 activators for aging diseases.

Christoph Westphal, CEO of Sirtris,  points to the potential of developing the company’s drug discovery platform for metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases.

In June, British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC bought Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $720 million in cash. Glaxo said it would keep Sirtris as an autonomous unit of its drug discovery business has retained Westphal and the rest of the company’s employees. The British pharmaceutical firm (NYSE: GSK) paid $22.50 per share of Sirtris common stock through a tender offer that began in May.

With 57 employees, the biotech firm reported a 2007 net loss of $31.1 million and no revenue.