Radicle Science Launches 'Proof-as-a-Service' Category to Close Proof Gap for Non-Pharmaceutical Products

AI-driven healthtech B-corp delivers history's first affordable and rapid clinical evidence generation platform to prove the effectiveness of natural health products and dietary supplements beyond placebo

SAN DIEGO, Calif., Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Radicle Science, an AI-driven healthtech B-corp, today announced the launch of its Radicle Proof Engine™, history's first Proof-as-a-Service solution that enables non-pharmaceutical health and wellness products to clinically prove their true effects beyond placebo. Until now, non-pharmaceuticals have been unable to generate scientifically validated proof of their effectiveness due to a lack of easy or affordable access to clinical trials.  Traditional trials, primarily serving patented pharmaceutical drugs, have simply been too expensive and slow for these unpatentable natural health products and dietary supplements products.  The Radicle Proof Engine™ allows non-pharmaceuticals to generate first-of-its kind clinical evidence across diverse conditions and populations at unprecedented affordability, speed and scale, a transformative approach that can finally close the proof gap between non-prescription wellness products and pharmaceutical drugs.  For the first time in history, any supplement company can now develop innovative and effective products, market strong defensible claims and gain the confidence of all stakeholders—from consumers to healthcare providers to retailers—based on clinical proof.  

Most natural health products and dietary supplements do not have clinical proof of their effectiveness—a proof gap that leads to significant opportunity loss for the industry and consumers, alike. Unlike patented pharmaceutical drugs, unpatentable supplements cannot afford the multi-million-dollar, multi-year process of traditional clinical trials. This has led to the paradoxical situation where Americans spend 10x more on pharmaceuticals (~$500B/year) than supplements (~$50B/year), even though more Americans take supplements than pharmaceuticals. Fully 80% of Americans use dietary supplements, while 66% of Americans take prescriptions.

Additionally, traditional clinical trials are fundamentally flawed because their trial populations often do not represent the diversity of the broader population. Traditional trials have historically studied mostly Caucasian males living in urban cities, which means the findings do not apply to much of the population at large.  

"Without easy access to proof, most natural health products are forced to rely on testimonials and fancy advertising to sway consumers, drive sales and differentiate in a crowded market," said Jaclyn Bowen, the Executive Director of the Clean Label Project. "Thus, the best-selling products often are the ones that spend the most on marketing, regardless of evidence of their effectiveness. All of this has created a glaring 'proof gap' between the benefits supplement companies promise and the scientific evidence to back it up."

The proof gap has persisted ever since the creation of patented pharmaceutical drugs and the subsequent rise of traditional clinical trials a century ago. Alas, this proof gap has needlessly limited the adoption of natural health treatments that are affordable and accessible for all humans—until now. The Radicle Proof Engine™ delivers on the vision of the Proof-as-a-Service category and establishes a new paradigm at the perfect time and intersection of science, technology and the wisdom of the "crowd."

Today, the Radicle Proof Engine™ generates first-of-its-kind clinical evidence that is helping transform the role of non-pharmaceutical products in society.

"We've pioneered an AI-driven, crowdsourced, virtual, direct-to-consumer clinical trial approach that delivers rigorous health outcome data," said Dr. Jeff Chen, Radicle Science CEO and Co-Founder. "For the first time ever, we've made trials fast and affordable.  Essentially, we've transformed clinical trials with automation and standardization the same way Ford Motors transformed auto manufacturing a century ago. We believe every non-pharmaceutical product has the right to compete on real merit and win in the marketplace and, to that end, should have easy access to a clinical trial."

For the first time in history, the Radicle Proof Engine™ makes it affordable for non-prescription health and wellness products to generate proof that drives their entire business lifecycle, from developing truly effective products and marketing strong defensible claims to increasing customer retention. Given the fierce competition for limited shelf-space, capital and consumers, the Radicle Proof Engine™ generates data for retailers to rethink seasonal resets, investors to re-assess how they evaluate a company and consumers to reprioritize the main reason they decide to purchase a specific product.  Stakeholders will finally have the proof needed to make evidence-based business and health decisions.  

"Proof creates trust with all stakeholders; Proof also drives transformation, and we're transforming natural health products and dietary supplements into proven personalized medicines that are accessible to all," notes Pelin Thorogood, Radicle Science Co-Founder and Executive Chair.  "Our study results have benefitted our clients in so many ways: Everything from tens of millions of dollars of increased public company valuation to triple digit increases in sales. And, just as importantly, the large scale and diversity of the populations we study make our findings more equitable, relevant and personalized for society at large."

After launching last year, Radicle Science completed some of history's first and largest clinical trials on a variety of natural ingredients, studying more than 20,000 diverse Americans across numerous health conditions.  The company's Radicle Proof Engine enables clients ranging from startups to billion-dollar public companies to 1) conduct evidence-based product development to release the most effective products and 2) market strong defensible structure/function claims when selling products. In Q3 2022, the company officially opened access to its transformative clinical trial approach to the entire dietary supplement industry.

"Radicle Science offers a game changing solution for generating gold-standard proof of effectiveness at an affordable price," said Matt Gallant, CEO and Co-Founder of BiOptimizers.  "We couldn't be happier to finally have access to such a disruptive clinical trial approach that will build our body of evidence to further validate the effectiveness of our products."

In recognition of Radicle Science's pioneering Proof-as-a-Service approach, KPMG named Radicle Science as one of the Top 10 U.S. "Tech Innovators" of 2022, and UC San Francisco named Radicle Science a 2022 Digital Health Awards "Rising Star" finalist.   These recent awards add to the numerous other honors the company and its founders have received. 

Radicle Science currently offers standardized clinical trials on an array of health areas, including sleep, stress, anxiety, pain, energy, appetite, cognition, quality of life, and overall health and wellness. Standardized clinical trials for digestive health, immunity and women's health are forthcoming in 2023.

Radicle Science is history's first and only proof-as-a-service company, offering an easy path for non-pharmaceutical products to clinically prove their true effects beyond placebo.  Radicle Science leverages an AI-driven, crowdsourced, virtual and direct-to-consumer approach to power clinical research at unprecedented affordability, speed and scale across diverse populations and conditions. The Radicle vision for the B-corp is an abundant future where democratized access to clinical trials closes the proof gap and transforms non-pharmaceutical products into proven personalized medicines accessible by all. To learn more about Radicle Science, visit www.RadicleScience.com.

SOURCE Radicle Science