NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Elysium Health, Inc., ™ a provider of scientifically-sound dietary supplements, today announced it has raised $20 million in Series B financing led by General Catalyst and joined by Breyer Capital, Morningside Ventures and Sound Ventures. Existing investors include Jim Manzi, chairman, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and former chairman, president and CEO of Lotus Development Corp.; biotech venture capitalist Robert Nelsen; and entrepreneur Matthew Mullenweg.
The funding will enable Elysium to expand its operations to support the rapid growth of its customer base, as well as initiate additional human clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new products it plans to add to its offerings. In addition, the funds will support Elysium's mission to be a leader in the study of NAD+ and sirtuins within the context of human aging.
"Since launching Elysium two years ago, we have worked tirelessly to create entirely new ways to make scientific breakthroughs accessible and actionable for people who want to take a proactive role in supporting their health," said Eric Marcotulli, CEO and co-founder of Elysium. "Our first product BASIS™ is designed to optimize cellular health and is based on expansive research. We look forward to working with our financial partners and scientific advisory board to further develop our product pipeline to continue to bring meaningful health products to market."
"Elysium is an innovative company, with an amazing executive team and scientific advisory board, committed to reframing the way we think about our health," said David Fialkow, managing director, General Catalyst. "We are thrilled to invest in Eric and his team to help expand and enhance the scientifically-sound products they intend to bring to the market in the future."
Elysium Announces Topline Clinical Trial Results
Elysium also announced today that its first human clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of its first product, BASIS™, met its primary and secondary endpoints. The study, which was placebo-controlled, randomized, and double-blinded, evaluated the safety and efficacy of BASIS™ [nicotinamide riboside (NR) and pterostilbene] in 120 healthy participants ages 60-80 over an eight-week period. Participants received either the recommended dose (250 mg NR and 50 mg pterostilbene), double the recommended dose or a placebo daily for the eight-week trial.
The study found that participants experienced no serious adverse events and confirmed that BASIS™ is safe for daily use as determined by standard safety measures. The study also showed that in participants taking the recommended dose of BASIS, ™ NAD+ levels increased from baseline in whole blood by an average of 40% at four weeks and maintained that increase for the duration of the trial. Participants taking double the recommended daily dose saw their NAD+ levels increase approximately 90% at four weeks, and a significantly higher level of NAD+ (compared to the recommended dose of BASIS™) was maintained for the duration of the trial. This first-in-humans study demonstrates clearly that BASIS™ can increase NAD+ levels in the blood safely and sustainably. Confirming that BASIS™ is an effective NAD+ precursor in humans is a vital first step to elucidating how BASISTM supports human health.
"As we age, NAD+ levels in our cells decline. The trial results, which are the first of their kind, indicate that BASIS™ increases NAD+ levels in a sustained way. And since NAD+ is involved in hundreds of critical cellular processes, it is a vitally important component to optimizing our cellular health as we get older," said Dr. Lenny Guarente, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Elysium who also serves as the director of the Glenn Laboratory for the Science of Aging at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We plan to submit the full results of the trial to a peer-reviewed scientific journal."
Elysium Adds Three World-Renowned Scientists and Physicians to Its Scientific Advisory Board
To support Elysium's mission of researching, validating and distributing scientifically-sound health products, it established an unprecedented Scientific Advisory Board composed of more than two dozen of the world's leading scientists and clinicians. This scientific board works with the Elysium team to accelerate the exchange of ideas and research findings, evaluate data and help ensure a high level of scientific rigor and transparency in the development of Elysium's products.
Elysium is honored to welcome to its Scientific Advisory Board:
George M. Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT.
Richard Granstein, M.D., Chairman of Dermatology Weill Cornell Medical College.
Paul L. Modrich, James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015.
About BASIS™
BASIS™ is a daily product that supports metabolic health. The proprietary formulation of nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene is designed to increase levels of the coenzyme NAD+ and to support a class of proteins called sirtuins. NAD+ and sirtuins work together in vital cellular processes including energy production. BASIS™ is available to consumers exclusively through the Elysium Health™ website (www.elysiumhealth.com). The cost for BASIS™ is $60 for a 30-day supply or $50 per month on a subscription plan.
About Elysium Health™
Elysium Health's™ mission is to solve the biggest challenges in health with science, to help people live healthier, longer lives. Working directly with the world's leading scientists and clinicians, Elysium Health™ translates advances in science and technology into effective, scientifically-sound products that help people manage their health in an actionable way.
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SOURCE Elysium Health
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