Glaxo finds execs selling resveratrol supplements

“The Tan Sheet” Aug. 16, 2010, Vol. 18, No. 033
News in Brief / Word Count: 144 / Article # 05180330017_b

Executive Summary

A pair of GlaxoSmithKline executives involved with the pharma giant's development of resveratrol-based drugs were disciplined after GSK found them moonlighting on the board of a nonprofit selling resveratrol supplements, according to Aug. 13 media reports. Christoph Westphal and Michelle Dipp joined Glaxo when it acquired Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, where they were principal executives, in 2008. Though Westphal and Dipp say they had informed the parent company of their involvement with the Healthy Lifespan Institute, apparently GSK was unaware the nonprofit sold resveratrol supplements at $540 for a year supply. GSK has asked Westphal and Dipp to leave the Healthy Lifespan Institute's board. Though resveratrol currently is found mainly in supplements touting anti-aging benefits, Glaxo acquired Sirtris for $720 million in hopes that its red wine extract technology will eventually bear fruit and yield multi-billion-dollar pharmaceuticals (1"The Tan Sheet" April 28, 2008, In Brief)