Elysium Health™ Announces Jury Verdict in Case Against ChromaDex in California
NEW YORK, Sept. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Elysium Health, Inc.™, a leading life sciences company focused on translational aging research, is thrilled to announce the jury verdict issued on Monday in the company's nearly five-year litigation against ChromaDex, Inc., before the United States District Court for the Central District of California. After a four-day trial, a jury awarded Elysium nearly $2 million in damages for ChromaDex's breach of contract and fraudulent inducement, including punitive damages of over $1 million arising out of statements made by ChromaDex concerning its intellectual property licensing practices.
The dispute arose in 2016, when Elysium Health learned that ChromaDex was in violation of a "most-favored-nation" pricing provision in the nicotinamide riboside supply agreement between the parties. After Elysium Health's attempts to learn the full extent of ChromaDex's violations were rebuffed, Elysium Health withheld payment on its final order until ChromaDex agreed to disclose the amount of the pricing discrepancy, and ChromaDex sued for non-payment of the final order. ChromaDex also asserted other claims against Elysium Health and Mark Morris, a current Elysium Health employee and former employee of ChromaDex, including for trade secret misappropriation and breach of fiduciary duty, seeking approximately $20 million in damages in total.
On Tuesday evening, the jury rejected ChromaDex's trade secret and fiduciary duty claims, awarding it $0 in damages on those claims, and offset the amounts owed by Elysium Health to ChromaDex for its final order by over half a million dollars because of ChromaDex's breaches of the "most-favored-nation" pricing provision. At the trial, Elysium Health presented evidence that it had been cheated on pricing by ChromaDex, including through a "sweetheart" deal with Healthspan Research, LLC, an entity founded by current ChromaDex CEO Rob Fried days before his ascension to ChromaDex's board. The evidence showed that Mr. Fried later sold Healthspan to ChromaDex for approximately $1.1 million in a transaction that was highly scrutinized at the trial.
In addition to awarding Elysium Health for the pricing breaches, the jury also found in favor of Elysium Health on its claim that ChromaDex had fraudulently induced Elysium Health to enter into a Trademark License and Royalty Agreement at the outset of the parties' relationship. Along with awarding Elysium Health hundreds of thousands of dollars it was fraudulently induced to pay ChromaDex, the jury imposed punitive damages on ChromaDex for this misconduct, compelling it to pay over $1 million.
"We are thrilled with the result of the California litigation," said Elysium Health CEO Eric Marcotulli. "We have always had faith that the truth would prevail in our dispute with ChromaDex, and we are grateful to the members of the jury for their service and willingness to focus on the facts. Now that this case is over, and a Delaware court found against ChromaDex on its patent claims by invalidating its patents, we look forward to focusing our attention on much more valuable pursuits: our continued work to develop accessible health solutions based on cutting-edge research in the field of aging."
About Elysium Health™
Elysium Health's™ mission is to solve the biggest challenges in health with science, to help people lead healthier lives. Working directly with the world's leading scientists and clinicians, Elysium Health™ is committed to translating critical advancements in aging research into health solutions people can access today. Learn more at elysiumhealth.com.
SOURCE Elysium Health
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