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Interview: Christoph Westphal, MD, PhD
CEO & Vice Chair
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals

It would be tempting to get carried away when talking about our first story this week: Headlines refer to it as the "Lance Armstrong Drug" and the "anti-aging" drug. Is it all a bit over the top?

We're talking about a new drug that acts like the ingredient in red wine that's been linked to longevity. It's called resveratrol.

A November 2006 issue of the journal Nature published a study of the new molecule, which is made by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

To get the scoop on resveratrol, Sound Medicine's Dr. Steve Bogdewic spoke with Christoph Westphal, MD, PhD, the CEO of Sirtris. Indeed, the drug is amazing. Unfortunately it can't give us "Lance Armstrong" endurance -- not today anyway. But resveratrol can help treat diseases of aging, like diabetes.

Additional Resources:

• The Sirtris web site.
• Read an abstract of the November 16, 2006 article in the journal Nature, entitled Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet.
• Wikipedia's entry on resveratrol.

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