Benzinga | Feb 24, 2021 06:34AM EST

ChromaDex Announces New Phase 3 Clinical Study Finds Nutritional Protocol Including Nicotinamide Riboside Accelerates Recovery in Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19 Patients

New Phase 3 study results show added nutritional protocol reduces recovery time in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ChromaDex Corp. (NASDAQ:CDXC) today announced results from the study "Combined Metabolic Activators Accelerates Recovery in Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19" were published Feb. 20 on medRxiv, a preprint publication website. The Phase 3 study demonstrated that patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 receiving standard of care experienced a 3.5 day reduction in recovery time when receiving an added nutritional protocol. Aimed at improving mitochondrial function, the protocol included nicotinamide riboside (NR), L-serine, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), and L-carnitine tartrate.

The results of the study, which took place in conjunction with the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP) and ScandiBio Therapeutics, build on findings from Phase 2 clinical data published in October 2020. The addition of the nutritional protocol, or combined metabolic activators (CMA), to the Turkish standard of care not only reduced recovery time but improved liver health and decreased levels of inflammatory markers.

The randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind Phase 3 clinical trial studied 309 outpatients at Umraniye Teaching and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey. Patients were randomly assigned on a 3:1 basis to receive the nutritional protocol or placebo in combination with the Turkish standard of care hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) or favipiravir (FP). Patients received standard of care for 5 days and the nutritional protocol or placebo for 14 days. Clinical status was evaluated through daily telephone visits, and each dose of the nutritional protocol contained 1g NR, 3.73g L-carnitine tartrate, 2.55g NAC, and 12.35g serine, taken twice a day.

"Our Phase 3 data shows that the nutritional protocol significantly improves the recovery, liver health, and markers of inflammation of patients with COVID-19," says lead investigator Dr. Adil Mardinoglu, professor at KTH--Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden & King's College London. "Dysfunctional mitochondria have been implicated in worsened progression for COVID-19, and this nutritional intervention helps to remedy the stress put on the body of an infected patient."