Dear Mr. Berko: I read an article in the New York Times about a company called Sirtis that has developed a proprietary drug that is supposed to be an anti-aging drug. I can't find the stock listed anywhere so it's probably a private company or owned by another drug company. If its private than I'll forget about it but if its public or part of a public company I'd like to know about it and maybe buy some shares. So what can you tell me about Sirtis and its drug? And do you think it's worth a gamble of a few thousand dollars? — N.M., Galesburg, Ill.
Dear N.M.: The ideal time to have purchased Sirtis (SIRT-$22.50) was after its initial public offering at $10 a share in May 2007. Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School founded SIRT. It is a biomedical company focusing on small molecule drugs to treat metabolic diseases and diseases associated with aging. But you're too late because last May a company called Fountain Acquisition Corp. (FAC) paid $22.50 for all the outstanding shares of SIRT. So SIRT became a wholly owned subsidiary of FAC, which is 100 percent owned by Glaxo SmithKline Beecham (GSK-$45), one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. GSK is located across the pond in the United Kingdom.
According to my U.S. source at GSK, SIRT's research focuses on SRT501, "a proprietary formulation of resveratrol in Phase 1b clinical studies of patients with Type 2 diabetes, MELAS plus hematologic and solid tumor types." SIRT is also developing unique chemical compounds that are "new SRT activators" for metabolic, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Big deal, Neal; there are hundreds of small biomedical outfits competing to develop new activators for these displeasing diseases.
What makes SIRT's research worth more than a peekaboo is its confirmation that resveratrol, an ingredient found in some — (notice I said "some" — red wines enhance longevity in rats by 30 percent.
(Who in their right mind would want to extend the longevity of a rat?)?
Medicinists, herbalists and alchemists and have been seeking the Fountain of Youth for thousands of years and science has long derided the concept of a life-extending elixir — till now. SIRT discovered that resveratrol activates a small molecule compound called sirtuin. Apparently sirtuin is a protein agent that activates our body's biological survival system by switching its resources from fertility to tissue/organ maintenance. The evolution of second preservation layer to tissue/organ maintenance extends life by diluting the degenerative diseases of aging and antagonizing cellular senescence, which reminds me of a ditty from Ogden Nash: "Senescence begins and middle age ends / The day your descendants outnumber your friends."
While it might be wonderful to have extended life and health, SIRT believes resveratrol/sirtuin is also a natural antagonist to Alzheimer's disease; so now you can enjoy your long life and remember it too. You can learn a lot more about this stuff in a recent inclusive peer-reviewed open resource from the PloS One or Public Library of Science.
While you can't own SIRT, you can own Glaxo SmithKline, inarguably one of the most prolific and highly respected pharmaceutical companies in the universe. The revenues, cash flow, earnings and dividend of which have more than tripled in the past two decades. This impressive pharmaceutical company issue sports a $2.07 dividend, which may be raised to $2.20 this year, that yields a smart 4.9 percent. Wall Street's 12-month target price for GSK is $52. If SIRT's research continues to demonstrate positive results this small molecule drug could become the blockbuster of all blockbusters. GSK is trading close to its four-year low and is the only way I know to participate in this exciting science. I believe there's little downside risk at this price and I, without a single compunction, recommend its purchase.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
You can be among the young at heart
Cardio Crusaders, a group of healthcare professionals dedicated to early detection and prevention of cardiovascular disease, have developed the "For the Young at Heart" program using the new technology of Pulsewave Analysis combined with a wellness program. Based on supplements, diet, exercise and coaching, the program helps to improve and maintain cardiovascular health.
The cornerstone of the Cardio Crusaders' program is the supplement L-arginine, which may provide health and anti-aging benefits. In 1998, three American scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering that nitric oxide in the body relaxes and widens blood vessels. L-arginine, when combined with oxygen in the body, becomes nitric oxide. It produces an increase in blood flow, carrying more oxygen throughout the body. We can live a month without food, a week without water, but only three minutes without oxygen. It is our most important nutrient!
Pulsewave Analysis is an FDA-cleared, cutting-edge technology that can help detect cardiovascular disease by assessing a person's arterial health. After a simple, noninvasive three-minute test, a printout of important information on the subject's cardiovascular system is provided. The analysis observes the elasticity of arteries, changes in blood flow, velocity, pulse rate and profile of the pulse wave, all important factors to measure when determining cardiovascular risk.
The Cardio Crusaders "For the Young at Heart" program has been hailed as state-of-the-art by leading cardiologists.
Check out the Cardio Crusaders' interactive questionnaire at www.cardio crusaders.com. To find a doctor, health food store or health club that participates in the "For The Young At Heart" program, send an email to: info@cardio crusaders.com.
Jackie Silver is the founder and president of Aging Backwards, LLC and author of "Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young." Send your questions or comments to: jackie@aging backwards.com or follow her on Twitter, @AgingBackwards.
The cornerstone of the Cardio Crusaders' program is the supplement L-arginine, which may provide health and anti-aging benefits. In 1998, three American scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering that nitric oxide in the body relaxes and widens blood vessels. L-arginine, when combined with oxygen in the body, becomes nitric oxide. It produces an increase in blood flow, carrying more oxygen throughout the body. We can live a month without food, a week without water, but only three minutes without oxygen. It is our most important nutrient!
Pulsewave Analysis is an FDA-cleared, cutting-edge technology that can help detect cardiovascular disease by assessing a person's arterial health. After a simple, noninvasive three-minute test, a printout of important information on the subject's cardiovascular system is provided. The analysis observes the elasticity of arteries, changes in blood flow, velocity, pulse rate and profile of the pulse wave, all important factors to measure when determining cardiovascular risk.
The Cardio Crusaders "For the Young at Heart" program has been hailed as state-of-the-art by leading cardiologists.
Check out the Cardio Crusaders' interactive questionnaire at www.cardio crusaders.com. To find a doctor, health food store or health club that participates in the "For The Young At Heart" program, send an email to: info@cardio crusaders.com.
Jackie Silver is the founder and president of Aging Backwards, LLC and author of "Aging Backwards: Secrets to Staying Young." Send your questions or comments to: jackie@aging backwards.com or follow her on Twitter, @AgingBackwards.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Scientists closer to anti-aging drug
Harvard researcher has pinned down 'longevity genes'
By Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service June 3, 2009
Scientists know caloric restriction can delay aging and prolong life, but a Harvard researcher is working to develop a drug that could have the same effect without the extreme deprivation for which most people lack the desire and willpower.
"We are closer, it seems, than we've ever been -- but it's a big promise and I don't want to over-promise," says David Sinclair, a professor of pathology at the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging at the Harvard Medical School. "There have been way too many promises about anti-aging for millennia."
The scientific view of aging has changed drastically since the 1990s, he says. Before then, researchers believed the body simply wore down over time like an old car, and no serious thought was given to developing a medication that could slow that process.
Sinclair says researchers have now pinned down certain "longevity genes" that can be activated to deploy the body's repair mechanisms and potentially prolong people's lifespans.
Sinclair presented his work Wednesday at the 10th annual Age Boom Academy workshop run by the International Longevity Center, a non-profit think-tank.
Caloric restriction -- eating 20 to 40% fewer calories than normal -- has been found to slow the aging process, he says, and that, in turn, reduces age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and neurodegeneration.
Sinclair's team has found that proteins called Sirtuins are responsible for this delay, and they're working to develop a drug that could have the same effect without the stringent diet requirements of caloric restriction.
Work like this was "the backwater of biology" at the beginning of his career in the early 1990s, he says, but it's now a popular field of research.
"Aging in general is now the forefront of molecular biology and pharmaceutical development," he says.
And while some bemoan the potential perils of dramatically longer lifespans, Sinclair believes if research like this is successful, upcoming generations will look back on this time as people now do on the days before antibiotics.
"Clearly, society won't be the same if people are living longer, healthier lives," he says.
In another session Wednesday, a geriatrician said the Canadian health-care system should be held up as an admirable example for the U.S. in grappling with the health needs of an aging population.
Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai Medical Center, urged journalists at the workshop to "expose the realities" of cracks in the U.S. system in an effort to balance out a recent advertising campaign taking aim at Canadian-style universal health care. A series of commercials funded by Conservatives for Patients' Rights has recently appeared on U.S. airwaves, decrying any move toward a "government-controlled" health-care system. The ads feature Dr. Brian Day, former president of the Canadian Medical Association, describing patients "languishing and suffering on wait lists," along with tales of woe from the British medical system.
Meier said a big challenge to changing any health-care system to better serve the needs of older adults is that their caregivers are already so overwhelmed with their duties, they have no time or energy left over to make their views heard.
"When you think about older people, it's far from a homogeneous group, and most older people's needs don't differ that much from the middle-aged population," Meier said.
By Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service June 3, 2009
Scientists know caloric restriction can delay aging and prolong life, but a Harvard researcher is working to develop a drug that could have the same effect without the extreme deprivation for which most people lack the desire and willpower.
"We are closer, it seems, than we've ever been -- but it's a big promise and I don't want to over-promise," says David Sinclair, a professor of pathology at the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging at the Harvard Medical School. "There have been way too many promises about anti-aging for millennia."
The scientific view of aging has changed drastically since the 1990s, he says. Before then, researchers believed the body simply wore down over time like an old car, and no serious thought was given to developing a medication that could slow that process.
Sinclair says researchers have now pinned down certain "longevity genes" that can be activated to deploy the body's repair mechanisms and potentially prolong people's lifespans.
Sinclair presented his work Wednesday at the 10th annual Age Boom Academy workshop run by the International Longevity Center, a non-profit think-tank.
Caloric restriction -- eating 20 to 40% fewer calories than normal -- has been found to slow the aging process, he says, and that, in turn, reduces age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and neurodegeneration.
Sinclair's team has found that proteins called Sirtuins are responsible for this delay, and they're working to develop a drug that could have the same effect without the stringent diet requirements of caloric restriction.
Work like this was "the backwater of biology" at the beginning of his career in the early 1990s, he says, but it's now a popular field of research.
"Aging in general is now the forefront of molecular biology and pharmaceutical development," he says.
And while some bemoan the potential perils of dramatically longer lifespans, Sinclair believes if research like this is successful, upcoming generations will look back on this time as people now do on the days before antibiotics.
"Clearly, society won't be the same if people are living longer, healthier lives," he says.
In another session Wednesday, a geriatrician said the Canadian health-care system should be held up as an admirable example for the U.S. in grappling with the health needs of an aging population.
Diane Meier, director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai Medical Center, urged journalists at the workshop to "expose the realities" of cracks in the U.S. system in an effort to balance out a recent advertising campaign taking aim at Canadian-style universal health care. A series of commercials funded by Conservatives for Patients' Rights has recently appeared on U.S. airwaves, decrying any move toward a "government-controlled" health-care system. The ads feature Dr. Brian Day, former president of the Canadian Medical Association, describing patients "languishing and suffering on wait lists," along with tales of woe from the British medical system.
Meier said a big challenge to changing any health-care system to better serve the needs of older adults is that their caregivers are already so overwhelmed with their duties, they have no time or energy left over to make their views heard.
"When you think about older people, it's far from a homogeneous group, and most older people's needs don't differ that much from the middle-aged population," Meier said.
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