This Bioscience Company Is Trying To Defy The Aging Process

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

Founded in 1999, ChromaDex Corp CDXC is a bioscience company that is focused on healthy aging. The company is pioneering research and discoveries centered around nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) levels, which decline with age. The main way the company has attempted to make this mission a reality is through its flagship product, Tru Niagen®. 

The Story Behind ChromaDex’s Healthy Aging Ingredient 

When ChromaDex was first founded 22 years ago, the company’s focus was on discovering and licensing early-stage, IP-backed ingredient technologies. One such ingredient that had garnered the company’s attention — and which later became the backbone of its flagship product — was a nutrient called nicotinamide riboside (NR). 

In 2004, Dr. Charles Brenner, a former faculty member of Dartmouth College, discovered that NR was a precursor to NAD+. NAD+ is an essential molecule and a key regulator of cellular metabolism. Best known for its role in cellular adenosine triphosphate (“ATP”) production, NAD+ is now thought to play an important role in healthy aging. 

In 2012, ChromaDex licensed a set of Dartmouth patents for the nutritional and therapeutic uses of NR and brought the nutrient to market as the ingredient Niagen®.

In 2017, the company launched Tru Niagen® as its flagship consumer product, featuring Niagen® as the sole active ingredient. Based on pre-clinical and clinical data, ChromaDex claims that Tru Niagen® is clinically proven to safely increase the levels of NAD+ in humans, which decline with age and from metabolic stress to the body. 

Over the past several years, Tru Niagen® has achieved regulatory acceptance in the following markets: United States, Canada, the European Union, and Australia. 

ChromaDex told Benzinga that they believe NAD+ and cellular health will be an important trend with consumers who are dedicated to nutritional solutions for healthy aging. 

Continued Research

Since its beginnings, ChromaDex said that it has put science and research at the core of its business. In accordance with this mission, the company continues to invest in science through the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP™), which now has over 230 research agreements studying NR.  

"For more than 20 years, and through a transition from an ingredients business to a direct-to-consumer bioscience company, we have remained true to our commitment to innovation, science, and safety," said Rob Fried, CEO of ChromaDex. 

In regards to continued research on the company’s focal ingredient, there are currently 20+ registered human clinical studies on Niagen®, the commercialized form of NR, being conducted in conjunction with the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP™). 

And as the company looks towards the year ahead, ChromaDex told Benzinga that they plan to continue to grow the research program and build Tru Niagen® as a global brand. 

Photo by Michael Longmire on Unsplash

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.