Dosing Completed in Phase 1 Trial of SRT501 to Treat Metabolic Disease
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, the leading sirtuin therapeutics company, today announced that it has completed dosing eighty-five human subjects in a Phase 1 safety and pharmacokinetic trial of SRT501. SRT501 is the first small molecule, designed to target SIRT1, to enter the clinic. SIRT1 is the founding member of the human sirtuin family of enzymes. Specifically, SRT501 acts by increasing mitochondrial activity and is thus therapeutically targeted to address metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity.
“The completion of human dosing of SRT501 represents significant progress in Sirtris’ pioneering clinical development of sirtuin therapeutics, as this is the first clinical trial of a compound that targets sirtuins,” said Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Sirtris. “This trial marks Sirtris’ transition to a clinical-stage company and is an important milestone in our plan to develop a rich pipeline of therapeutics to treat diseases of aging.”
“There is a significant need for novel therapeutics to effectively treat patients with diseases of aging like Type 2 Diabetes and neurological diseases,” said Peter Elliott, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Development at Sirtris. “SRT501 represents the first in a robust portfolio of proprietary Sirtris compounds that we plan to progress into the clinic.”
Sirtris is conducting the Phase 1 safety trial of SRT501 in eighty-five healthy adult male volunteers. SRT501 or placebo has been administered orally, once daily in single ascending doses for seven consecutive days across several cohorts. SRT501 will be evaluated for safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics.
About Sirtuins
Sirtuins are a recently-discovered family of enzymes that promote the body’s natural defense against disease. There are seven human sirtuins (SIRT1-7), each having a different sub-cellular localization. Critical to the survival of organisms in adverse conditions, sirtuins are fundamental in the biological processes of most life forms. Sirtuins are attractive drug targets since some have a specialized function in mitochondrial activity which may be therapeutically beneficial for metabolic and neurological diseases. By harnessing a natural process, sirtuin therapeutics offer the potential for a novel class of drugs that can treat significant diseases of aging in a new way.
About Sirtris Pharmaceuticals
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing novel therapeutics that modulate sirtuins. Sirtris has the dominant sirtuin intellectual property estate and know-how with a comprehensive suite of reagents, proprietary assays, transgenic animal models, and biomarkers. Sirtris is building a robust pipeline of therapeutics for diseases of aging like metabolic and neurological diseases.
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals was founded by Rich Aldrich, Richard Pops, Paul Schimmel, David Sinclair and Christoph Westphal, and has raised a total of $82 million since inception. Its investors include Polaris Venture Partners, TVM Capital, Cardinal Partners, Skyline Ventures, Three Arch Partners, The Wellcome Trust, Bessemer Venture Partners, Novartis Bioventures Fund, Cargill Ventures, Genzyme Ventures, QVT Fund LP, Cycad Group, Hunt Ventures, Red Abbey, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. The company’s headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For additional information, please visit http://www.sirtrispharma.com.
Media Contact: Kathryn Morris 845-635-9828
Source: Sirtris Pharmaceuticals
