Irvine, CA— ChromaDex announced its financial results for the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 ending on April 1, 2017. Net sales for Q1 2017 were $4.4 million, compared to the Q1 2016 which were $7.3 million, a 39% decrease. The firm attributes this decrease to dropping its largest customer of 2016 in its ingredient business segment. Indeed, the net sales of the ingredients segment did decrease 55% to $2.1 million for Q1 2017, compared to $4.6 million for Q1 2016. Following the operational changes at the year ending December 31, 2016 in which the company merged its scientific and regulatory consulting segment into the core standards and services segment, that segment saw a 13% decline in sales to $2.4 million in Q1 2017 compared to $2.7 million in Q1 2016.

Despite weaker performance in Q1 2017 compared to Q1 2016, the firm sees great promise in the firm’s recent activities. For example, in March of 2017, ChromaDex purchased the outstanding equity interests of Healthspan Research, LLC and its only product TRUNIAGEN, a standalone nicotinamide riboside NIAGEN supplement which has recently seen positive results in clinical trials. “I am very excited about the changes we have made the past few months,” commented Frank Jaksch, Jr., CEO and co-founder of ChromaDex in a press release. “As the science and research continues to validate the effectiveness of NIAGEN, we are setting the foundation to take full advantage of this extraordinary ingredient opportunity.”

The firm attributes the acquisition of NIAGEN to the recent strategic investment by Horizon Ventures, led by Mr. Li Ka-shing, based in Hong Kong. ChromaDex entered into a securities purchase agreement for the sale of up to $25 million of its common stock in a private placement. Currently, the firm sold $3.5 million of its common stock with the possibility of selling $21.5 million in the future.

“NIAGEN has reached an inflection point where top scientists at leading universities and research institutions are fascinated with the compound resulting in over 100 collaborative agreements currently in place,” said Jaksch in separate press release announcing the strategic investment. “We are now ready to show the world the anti-aging capabilities of NIAGEN and are truly honored to have Horizons Ventures as a strategic investor and be associated with their family of prestigious global investments.”