April 23 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Europe's biggest drugmaker, agreed to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $720 million, adding an experimental treatment derived from red wine that's thought to slow the effects of aging.

SRT501 mimics resveratrol, which has been linked to longevity, Sirtris scientists said. The Sirtris molecule is 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol, and could lead to solutions for diseases of aging including cancer and diabetes, according to an article published in the journal Nature.

``Virtually any disease of aging may well be a way to apply this technology,'' Westphal said. ``This is a very hot field. We're a little company several years ahead of anyone else in the field and so that's a wonderful thing for a large pharmaceutical company to want to access.'' Read More