Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Co-Founder Presents First In-Vivo, Preclinical Data Showing SIRT1 Activation Can Suppress Tumor Formation and Growth

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2008 - Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRT), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small molecule drugs to treat diseases of aging, announced that Sirtris co-founder David Sinclair, PhD, Harvard Medical School Associate Professor of Pathology, will present data showing that SIRT1 activation can suppress tumor formation and growth in the intestine and colon in a preclinical model of colon cancer. These are the first in-vivo data showing that SIRT1 overexpression can suppress tumor formation and growth. These data are the work of Sirtris Scientific Advisory Board co-chairs Sinclair and Leonard Guarente, PhD, the Novartis Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The presentation will be held on Thursday, February 28 at the J. David Gladstone Institutes, an independent, non-profit biomedical research organization affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco.

About Sirtris Pharmaceuticals

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing proprietary, orally available, small molecule drugs with the potential to treat diseases associated with aging, including metabolic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes. Our drug candidates are designed to mimic certain beneficial health effects of calorie restriction, without requiring a change in eating habits, by activation of sirtuins, a recently discovered class of enzymes that the Company believes control the aging process. The company's headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, the potential therapeutic effects of SIRT1 activators for diseases of aging, such as Type 2 Diabetes and cancer; the progress and results of pre-clinical studies of SIRT1 activators; and the potential of sirtuin modulators to receive regulatory approval. These forward-looking statements about future expectations, plans and prospects of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals involve significant risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including risks related to the lack of results that would provide a basis for predicting whether any of the Company's product candidates will be safe or effective, or receive regulatory approval, the possibility that results of pre-clinical studies are not necessarily predictive of clinical trial results, the Company's potential inability to initiate and complete pre-clinical studies and clinical trials for its product candidates, the fact that none of the Company's product candidates has received regulatory approvals, the potential inability of the Company to gain market acceptance of the Company's product candidates, and those other risks factors that can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ materially from those Sirtris Pharmaceuticals contemplated by these forward-looking statements. Sirtris Pharmaceuticals does not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views or events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release.

Contact

Investor and Media Contact:
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
John Lacey, 617-252-6920
Associate Director of Corporate Communications
jlacey@sirtrispharma.com
or
For Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Pure Communications
Sheryl Seapy, 949-608-0841

Posted: February 2008

Comments