UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

[ X ]

     QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2017

March 31, 2021

Commission File Number: 001-37752

CHROMADEX CORPORATION
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware26-2940963

CHROMADEX CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware

26-2940963

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

10005 Muirlands

10900 Wilshire Blvd. Suite G, Irvine,600, Los Angeles, California

90024

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

92618

(Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (949) 419-0288

(310) 388-6706

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol

Name of Each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share

CDXC

The Nasdaq Capital Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes   X  ☒    No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes  X ☒    No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company and emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer ____

Accelerated filer   X  

Non-accelerated filer ____

Smaller reporting company ____

(Do not check if smaller reporting company)

Emerging growth company ____

If an emerging growth company, indicate by checkmark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ___    No   X  

As of November 8, 2017May 5, 2021 there were 48,187,29867,932,548 shares of the registrant’s common stock issued and outstanding.


CHROMADEX CORPORATION


QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)

ITEM 1.     FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:

1


ITEM 1

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED):

5

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and December 31, 20162020

1

5

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and October 1, 2016March 31, 2020

2

6

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 20163

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders Equity for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020

4

7

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and October 1, 2016March 31, 2020

5

8

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

6

9

��

ITEM 2.     2

MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

20

24

ITEM 3

ITEM 3.    

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

28

32

ITEM 4

ITEM 4.    

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

28

33

29

ITEM 1.      LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

29

ITEM 1

ITEM 1A.   RISK FACTORS

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

31

34

ITEM 1A

RISK FACTORS

34

ITEM 2.      2

UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

47

54

ITEM 3

ITEM 3.     

DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

47

54

ITEM 4

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

54

ITEM 5

OTHER INFORMATION

54

ITEM 6

EXHIBITS

55

SIGNATURES

57

2

 

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Quarterly Report”) contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. We make such forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these words or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our business, business strategy, products and services we may offer in the future, the outcome and impact of litigation, the timing and results of future regulatory filings, the timing and results of future clinical trials, our ability to collect from major customers, sales and marketing strategy and capital outlook.

Any forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report reflect our current views with respect to future events or to our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those listed under Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of this Quarterly Report. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Unless the context otherwise indicates, references in this Quarterly Report to the terms “ChromaDex”, “the Company”, “we,” “our, and “us” refer to ChromaDex Corporation.

ITEM 4.      MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES47
ITEM 5.      OTHER INFORMATION47
3
ITEM 6.      EXHIBITS48

Table of Contents

SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS

An investment in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Below is a list of the more significant risks associated with our business. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks listed in this summary, as well as other risks that we face, are set forth under Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report.Some of the material risks associated with our business include the following:

SIGNATURES

·

49

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected, and is expected to continue to pose risks to our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, and other epidemics or outbreaks of infectious diseases may have a similar impact.

·

We have a history of operating losses, may need additional financing to meet our future long-term capital requirements and may be unable to raise sufficient capital on favorable terms or at all.

·

Our ability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology through patents and other means is uncertain and may be inadequate, which would pose risks to our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

·

We are currently engaged in substantial and complex litigation with Elysium Health, Inc. and Elysium Health LLC (collectively, “Elysium”), the outcome of which could materially harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. 

·

Our TRU NIAGEN® products are not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration or any foreign regulatory authority to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19 or any other disease or condition.

·

The future growth and profitability of our consumer product business will depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing efforts and our ability to select effective markets and media in which to market and advertise.

·

Unfavorable publicity or consumer perception of our products and any similar products distributed by other companies could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

·

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control.

·

We rely on single or a limited number of third-party suppliers for the raw materials required to produce our products. 

·

Any inability to maintain sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or maintain arrangements with third parties to sell, market and distribute our products, would pose risks to our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

·

Our failure to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, our failure to meet our reporting obligations and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which in turn could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.

·

Government regulations of our customer’s business are extensive and are constantly changing. Changes in these regulations can significantly affect customer demand for our products and services.

·

The market price of our common stock may be volatile and adversely affected by several factors.

·

We have not paid cash dividends in the past and do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any return on investment may be limited to the value of our common stock.

·

We have a significant number of outstanding options. Future sales of these shares could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

·

We may become involved in securities class action litigation that could divert management’s attention and harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

- i -

4

Table of Contents

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)

ITEM

Item 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries
 
 
 
 
 
 
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
 
 
 
 
 
September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Dec. 31, 2016
 
Assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Current Assets
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash
 $23,999,633 
 $1,642,429 
Trade receivables, net of allowances of $0.5 million and $1.1 million, respectively;
    
   Receivables from Related Party: $1.5 million and $0, respectively
  4,919,768 
  5,852,030 
Inventories
  6,615,245 
  7,912,630 
Prepaid expenses and other assets
  724,388 
  311,539 
Current assets held for sale
  - 
  18,315 
Total current assets
  36,259,034 
  15,736,943 
 
    
    
Leasehold Improvements and Equipment, net
  2,690,527 
  1,778,171 
Deposits
  392,342 
  377,532 
Receivable held at escrow
  750,000 
  - 
Intangible assets, net
  1,709,609 
  486,226 
Longterm investment
  - 
  20,318 
Noncurrent assets held for sale
  - 
  1,352,878 
 
    
    
Total assets
 $41,801,512 
 $19,752,068 
 
    
    
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
    
    
 
    
    
Current Liabilities
    
    
Accounts payable
 $4,346,700 
 $5,978,288 
Accrued expenses
  2,129,583 
  2,170,172 
Current maturities of capital lease obligations
  190,892 
  255,461 
Customer deposits and other
  321,119 
  389,010 
Deferred rent, current
  120,894 
  76,219 
Due to officer
  100,000 
  - 
Total current liabilities
  7,209,188 
  8,869,150 
 
    
    
Capital lease obligations, less current maturities
  360,748 
  343,589 
Deferred rent, less current
  493,735 
  380,205 
Noncurrent liabilities held for sale
  - 
  184,766 
 
    
    
Total liabilities
  8,063,671 
  9,777,710 
 
    
    
Commitments and contingencies
    
    
 
    
    
Stockholders' Equity
    
    
Common stock, $.001 par value; authorized 150,000,000 shares;
    
    
   issued and outstanding September 30, 2017 47,650,252 shares and
    
    
   December 31, 2016 37,544,531 shares
  47,650 
  37,545 
Additional paid-in capital
  81,469,567 
  55,160,387 
Accumulated deficit
  (47,779,376)
  (45,223,574)
Total stockholders' equity
  33,737,841 
  9,974,358 
 
    
    
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity
 $41,801,512 
 $19,752,068 
 
    
    
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
    
- 1 -
ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the Three Month Periods Ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sales, net
 $6,084,690 
 $3,937,286 
Cost of sales
  3,169,321 
  2,074,325 
 
    
    
Gross profit
  2,915,369 
  1,862,961 
 
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
Sales and marketing
  1,103,157 
  286,941 
Research and development
  1,040,561 
  772,799 
General and administrative
  3,948,435 
  1,727,383 
Operating expenses
  6,092,153 
  2,787,123 
 
    
    
Operating loss
  (3,176,784)
  (924,162)
 
    
    
Nonoperating expense:
    
    
Interest expense, net
  (44,508)
  (2,260)
Nonoperating expenses
  (44,508)
  (2,260)
 
    
    
Loss from continuing operations
  (3,221,292)
  (926,422)
 
    
    
Loss before taxes from discontinued operations
  (108,899)
  (31,121)
Gain on sale of discontinued operations
  5,467,268 
  - 
Provision for taxes
  - 
  3,153 
 
    
    
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net
  5,358,369 
  (27,968)
 
    
    
Net income (loss)
 $2,137,077 
 $(954,390)
 
    
    
Basic earnings (loss) per common share:
    
    
    Loss from continuing operations
 $(0.07)
 $(0.02)
    Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations
 $0.12 
 $(0.01)
 
    
    
Basic earnings (loss) per common share
 $0.05 
 $(0.03)
 
    
    
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
    
    
    Loss from continuing operations
 $(0.07)
 $(0.02)
    Earnings (loss) from discontinued operations
 $0.11 
 $(0.01)
 
    
    
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share
 $0.04 
 $(0.03)
 
    
    
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding
  47,065,009 
  37,868,672 
 
    
    
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding
  47,556,697 
  37,868,672 
 
    
    
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
    
- 2 -
ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the Nine Month Periods Ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sales, net
 $13,670,646 
 $17,211,865 
Cost of sales
  7,028,340 
  8,831,400 
 
    
    
Gross profit
  6,642,306 
  8,380,465 
 
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
Sales and marketing
  2,058,178 
  1,190,013 
Research and development
  2,554,713 
  1,988,597 
General and administrative
  8,882,821 
  5,935,139 
Other
  745,773 
  - 
Operating expenses
  14,241,485 
  9,113,749 
 
    
    
Operating loss
  (7,599,179)
  (733,284)
 
    
    
Nonoperating expense:
    
    
Interest expense, net
  (108,751)
  (314,926)
Loss on debt extinguishment
  - 
  (313,099)
Nonoperating expenses
  (108,751)
  (628,025)
 
    
    
Loss before income taxes
  (7,707,930)
  (1,361,309)
Provision for taxes
  - 
  (3,500)
 
    
    
Loss from continuing operations
  (7,707,930)
  (1,364,809)
 
    
    
Income (loss) from discontinued operations
  (315,140)
  583,377 
Gain on sale of discontinued operations
  5,467,268 
  - 
 
    
    
Income from discontinued operations, net
  5,152,128 
  583,377 
 
    
    
Net loss
 $(2,555,802)
 $(781,432)
 
    
    
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share:
    
    
    Loss from continuing operations
 $(0.18)
 $(0.04)
    Earnings from discontinued operations
 $0.12 
 $0.02 
 
    
    
Basic and diluted loss per common share
 $(0.06)
 $(0.02)
 
    
    
Basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding
  42,405,616 
  37,090,916 
 
    
    
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
    
- 3 -
Financial Statements (UNAUDITED)

ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020

(In thousands, except per share data)

Mar. 31, 2021

Dec. 31, 2020

Assets

Current Assets

Cash, including restricted cash of $0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively

$44,691

$16,697

Trade receivables, net of allowances of $0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively;

Receivables from Related Party: $1.3 million and $0.9 million, respectively

4,647

2,694

Inventories

12,762

11,683

Prepaid expenses and other assets

1,119

1,145

Total current assets

63,219

32,219

Leasehold Improvements and Equipment, net

3,058

3,206

Intangible Assets, net

1,022

1,082

Right of Use Assets

1,100

1,226

Other Long-term Assets

594

625

Total assets

$68,993

$38,358

Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity

Current Liabilities

Accounts payable

$11,693

$9,445

Accrued expenses

7,328

6,133

Current maturities of operating lease obligations

485

589

Current maturities of finance lease obligations

19

31

Customer deposits

231

278

Total current liabilities

19,756

16,476

Deferred Revenue

4,441

4,441

Operating Lease Obligations, Less Current Maturities

947

997

Finance Lease Obligations, Less Current Maturities

17

20

Total liabilities

25,161

21,934

Commitments and Contingencies

Stockholders' Equity

Common stock, $.001 par value; authorized 150,000 shares; issued and outstanding March 31, 2021 67,702 shares and December 31, 2020 61,881 shares

68

62

Additional paid-in capital

192,972

158,190

Accumulated deficit

(149,206)

(141,825)

Cumulative translation adjustments

(2)

(3)

Total stockholders' equity

43,832

16,424

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity

$68,993

$38,358

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.                 

 
5

Table of Contents

ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Three Month Periods Ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020

(In thousands, except per share data)

 

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales, net

 

$14,683

 

 

$14,345

 

Cost of sales

 

 

5,449

 

 

 

6,034

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross profit

 

 

9,234

 

 

 

8,311

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

6,258

 

 

 

4,447

 

Research and development

 

 

824

 

 

 

919

 

General and administrative

 

 

9,514

 

 

 

8,835

 

Operating expenses

 

 

16,596

 

 

 

14,201

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating loss

 

 

(7,362)

 

 

(5,890)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nonoperating expense:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense, net

 

 

(19)

 

 

(12)

Nonoperating expense

 

 

(19)

 

 

(12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$(7,381)

 

$(5,902)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted loss per common share

 

$(0.12)

 

$(0.10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding

 

 

64,164

 

 

 

59,782

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

6

Table of Contents

ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Stockholders' Equity

For the Three Month Periods Ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020

(In thousands)

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional

 

 

 

 

Cumulative

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

 Amount

 

 

 Paid-in Capital

 

 

Accumulated

 Deficit

 

 

Translation

 Adjustments

 

 

Stockholders'

 Equity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, January 1, 2021

 

 

61,881

 

 

$62

 

 

$158,190

 

 

$(141,825)

 

$(3)

 

$16,424

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issuance of common stock, net of offering costs of $0.1 million

 

 

3,846

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

24,867

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

24,871

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise of stock options

 

 

1,975

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

8,631

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

8,633

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,284

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,284

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

(7,381)

 

 

1

 

 

 

(7,380)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, March 31, 2021

 

 

67,702

 

 

$68

 

 

$192,972

 

 

$(149,206)

 

$(2)

 

$43,832

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional

 

 

 

 

 

Cumulative

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

 Amount

 

 

 Paid-in Capital

 

 

Accumulated

 Deficit

 

 

 Translation

Adjustments

 

 

Stockholders'

 Equity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, January 1, 2020

 

 

59,562

 

 

$60

 

 

$142,285

 

 

$(121,900)

 

$0

 

 

$20,445

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise of stock options

 

 

43

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

132

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

132

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share-based compensation

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,873

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,873

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

(5,902)

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5,902)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, March 31, 2020

 

 

59,605

 

 

$60

 

 

$144,290

 

 

$(127,802)

 

$0

 

 

$16,548

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.      

 
7

Table of Contents

ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the NineThree Month PeriodPeriods Ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020

(In thousands)

 

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows From Operating Activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$(7,381)

 

$(5,902)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation of leasehold improvements and equipment

 

 

221

 

 

 

214

 

Amortization of intangibles

 

 

60

 

 

 

62

 

Amortization of right of use assets

 

 

126

 

 

 

92

 

Share-based compensation expense

 

 

1,284

 

 

 

1,873

 

Allowance for doubtful trade receivables

 

 

14

 

 

 

(2,708)

Non-cash financing costs

 

 

28

 

 

 

23

 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trade receivables

 

 

(1,967)

 

 

1,326

 

Inventories

 

 

(1,079)

 

 

255

 

Implementation costs for cloud computing arrangement

 

 

(28)

 

 

0

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

 

74

 

 

 

252

 

Accounts payable

 

 

2,248

 

 

 

(1,467)

Accrued expenses

 

 

1,196

 

 

 

833

 

Customer deposits and other

 

 

(47)

 

 

69

 

Principal payments on operating leases

 

 

(154)

 

 

(143)

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

(5,405)

 

 

(5,221)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows From Investing Activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchases of leasehold improvements and equipment

 

 

(46)

 

 

(15)

Investment in other long-term assets

 

 

0

 

 

 

(5)

Net cash used in investing activities

 

 

(46)

 

 

(20)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Flows From Financing Activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net

 

 

24,871

 

 

 

0

 

Proceeds from exercise of stock options

 

 

8,633

 

 

 

132

 

Payment of debt issuance costs

 

 

(44)

 

 

(15)

Principal payments on finance leases

 

 

(15)

 

 

(80)

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

 

33,445

 

 

 

37

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) in cash

 

 

27,994

 

 

 

(5,204)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Beginning of Period, including restricted cash of $0.2 million for both 2021 and 2020

 

 

16,697

 

 

 

18,812

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash Ending of Period, including restricted cash $0.2 million for both 2021 and 2020

 

$44,691

 

 

$13,608

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash payments for interest on finance leases

 

$1

 

 

$6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplemental Schedule of Noncash Investing Activity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Financing lease obligation incurred for purchase of computer equipment and software

 

$0

 

 

$47

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 
8

Table of Contents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total
 
 
 
Common Stock
 
 
Additional
 
 
Accumulated
 
 
Stockholders'
 
 
 
Shares
 
 
 Amount
 
 
 Paid-in Capital
 
 
 Deficit
 
 
 Equity
 
Balance, January 1, 2017
  37,544,531 
 $37,545 
 $55,160,387 
 $(45,223,574)
  9,974,358 
 
    
    
    
    
    
    Issuance of common stock associated with
    
    
    
    
    
       the acquisition of Healthspan Research LLC
  367,648 
  367 
  999,635 
  - 
  1,000,002 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Exercise of stock options
  3,202 
  3 
  6,620 
  - 
  6,623 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Vested restricted stock
  2,667 
  3 
  (3)
  - 
  - 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Share-based compensation
  - 
  - 
  319,830 
  - 
  319,830 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Net loss
  - 
  - 
  - 
  (1,928,755)
  (1,928,755)
 
    
    
    
    
    
Balance, April 1, 2017
  37,918,048 
 $37,918 
 $56,486,469 
 $(47,152,329)
 $9,372,058 
 
    
    
    
    
    
    Issuance of common stock,
    
    
    
    
    
       net of offering costs of $1,184,000
  7,649,968 
  7,650 
  18,698,634 
  - 
  18,706,284 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Exercise of stock options
  1,875 
  2 
  5,342 
  - 
  5,344 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Vested restricted stock
  2,000 
  2 
  (2)
  - 
  - 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Share-based compensation
  - 
  - 
  399,861 
  - 
  399,861 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Net loss
  - 
  - 
  - 
  (2,764,124)
  (2,764,124)
 
    
    
    
    
    
Balance, July 1, 2017
  45,571,891 
 $45,572 
 $75,590,304 
 $(49,916,453)
 $25,719,423 
 
    
    
    
    
    
    Issuance of common stock,
    
    
    
    
    
       net of offering costs of $103,000
  1,965,417 
  1,965 
  5,005,512 
  - 
  5,007,477 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Exercise of stock options
  111,611 
  112 
  382,935 
  - 
  383,047 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Vested restricted stock
  1,333 
  1 
  (1)
  - 
  - 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Share-based compensation
  - 
  - 
  490,817 
  - 
  490,817 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Net income
  - 
  - 
  - 
  2,137,077 
  2,137,077 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Balance, September 30, 2017
  47,650,252 
 $47,650 
 $81,469,567 
 $(47,779,376)
 $33,737,841 
 
    
    
    
    
    
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
    
    
    
    
- 4 -
ChromaDex Corporation and Subsidiaries
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
 
 
 
 
 
 
For the Nine Month Periods Ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash Flows From Operating Activities
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Net loss
 $(2,555,802)
 $(781,432)
  Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
    
    
    Depreciation of leasehold improvements and equipment
  396,000 
  234,408 
    Amortization of intangibles
  148,005 
  63,116 
    Share-based compensation expense
  1,210,508 
  930,026 
    Allowance for doubtful trade receivables
  (547,811)
  235,591 
    Gain from disposal of assets
  (5,467,268)
  - 
    Loss from disposal of equipment
  4,649 
  - 
    Loss on debt extinguishment
  - 
  313,099 
    Non-cash financing costs
  89,481 
  94,080 
  Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    
    
    Trade receivables
  1,491,529 
  (4,296,439)
    Inventories
  1,358,299 
  1,840,572 
    Prepaid expenses and other assets
  (480,353)
  (230,667)
    Accounts payable
  (1,735,361)
  (2,125,180)
    Accrued expenses
  (43,796)
  406,797 
    Customer deposits and other
  (61,071)
  5,613 
    Deferred rent
  188,290 
  182,634 
    Due to officer
  (32,500)
  - 
Net cash used in operating activities
  (6,037,201)
  (3,127,782)
 
    
    
Cash Flows From Investing Activities
    
    
  Proceeds from disposal of assets, net of transaction costs
  5,953,390 
  - 
  Purchases of leasehold improvements and equipment
  (872,215)
  (940,978)
  Purchases of intangible assets
  (183,958)
  (205,000)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
  4,897,217 
  (1,145,978)
 
    
    
Cash Flows From Financing Activities
    
    
  Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net of issuance costs
  23,713,762 
  5,717,474 
  Proceeds from exercise of stock options
  395,014 
  716,612 
  Payment of debt issuance costs
  (49,279)
  - 
  Principal payment on loan payable
  - 
  (5,000,000)
  Cash paid for debt extinguisment costs
  - 
  (281,092)
  Principal payments on capital leases
  (562,309)
  (164,150)
Net cash provided by financing activities
  23,497,188 
  988,844 
 
    
    
Net increase (decrease) in cash
  22,357,204 
  (3,284,916)
 
    
    
Cash Beginning of Period
  1,642,429 
  5,549,672 
 
    
    
Cash Ending of Period
 $23,999,633 
 $2,264,756 
 
    
    
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information
    
    
  Cash payments for interest
 $43,912 
 $251,231 
 
    
    
Supplemental Schedule of Noncash Investing Activity
    
    
  Noncash consideration transferred for the acquisition of Healthspan Research LLC
 $1,187,430 
 $- 
  Capital lease obligation incurred for the purchase of equipment
 $514,899 
 $- 
  Receivable from disposal of assets held at escrow
 $750,000 
 $- 
  Inventory supplied to Healthspan Research LLC for equity interest, at cost
 $- 
 $20,318 
  Retirement of fully depreciated equipment - cost
 $55,947 
 $28,083 
  Retirement of fully depreciated equipment - accumulated depreciation
 $(55,947)
 $(28,083)
 
    
    
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
    
- 5 -

Note 1. Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying financial statements of ChromaDex Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries, ChromaDex, Inc., Healthspan Research, LLC, ChromaDex Analytics, Inc., ChromaDex Asia Limited and ChromaPharma, Inc.ChromaDex Europa B.V. (collectively referred to herein as “ChromaDex” or the “Company” or, in the first person as “we”, “us” and “our”) include all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments and accruals, that, in the opinion of the management of the Company, are necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s financial position as of September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and results of operations and cash flows for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and October 1, 2016.March 31, 2020. These unaudited interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements and the notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 20162020 appearing in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on March 16, 2017.12, 2021. Operating results for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be achieved for the full year ending on December 30, 2017.31, 2021. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

The balance sheet at December 31, 20162020 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements.

Note 2. Nature of Business and Liquidity

Nature of business: The Company

ChromaDex is a natural productsglobal bioscience company that discovers, acquires, develops and commercializes patented and proprietary ingredient technologies that addressdedicated to healthy aging. The ChromaDex team, which includes world-renowned scientists, is pioneering research on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (“NAD+”), levels of which decline with age. ChromaDex is the dietary supplement, food, beverage, skin care and pharmaceutical markets. Through the Company's ingredients segment, the Company offers its branded ingredients such as NIAGEN®,innovator behind NAD+ precursor nicotinamide riboside (“NR”), commercialized as the flagship ingredient NIAGEN®. Nicotinamide riboside and pTeroPure®, pterostilbene.

Withother NAD+ precursors are protected by ChromaDex’s patent portfolio. ChromaDex delivers NIAGEN® as the acquisition of Healthspan Research, LLCsole active ingredient in March 2017, the Company established aits consumer product segment, which offers finished bottled dietary supplement products that containTRU NIAGEN®. The Company also has a coreanalytical reference standards and contract services segment, which focuses on natural product fine chemicals (known as “phytochemicals”) and regulatory consultingrelated chemistry services. As a result of the Company’s relationships with leading universities and research institutions, the Company discovers and licenses early stage, intellectual property-backed ingredient technologies.

Note 3. Liquidity

The Company then utilizes its business to develop commercially viable proprietary ingredients. The Company’s proprietary ingredient portfolio is backed with clinical and scientific research, as well as extensive intellectual property protection.

On September 5, 2017, the Company completed the sale of itsCompany's net cash outflow from operating assets (the "Lab Business Disposition") that were used with the Company's quality verification program testing and analytical chemistry business for food and food related products (the "Lab Business") to Covance Laboratories Inc. ("Covance"). With the Lab Business Disposition, the Company will focus on accelerating the expansion of nicotinamide riboside and its other proprietary ingredient technologies.
Liquidity: The Company has incurred loss from continuing operations ofactivities was approximately $7.7 million and net loss of approximately $2.6$5.4 million for the nine-monththree-month period ended September 30, 2017.March 31, 2021. As of September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $24.0 million.
In consideration for the sale of the Lab Business, the Company received net proceeds$44.7 million, which includes restricted cash of approximately $6.0 million, net of transaction costs from Covance. Additional cash consideration of $0.8 million is held in escrow to satisfy any indemnification claims by Covance.
Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement under which it agreed to sell approximately $23.0 million of its common stock in a private placement, in return for which the purchaser will receive. $0.2 million.

The Company agreed to sell approximately 5.6 million shares at a per share price of $4.10. The private placement is expected to close on or about November 17, 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

- 6 -
While we anticipateanticipates that ourits current cash, cash equivalents, cashand available line of credit up to be generated$7.0 million from operations and cash to be received from the private placement described aboveWestern Alliance Bank will be sufficient to meet ourits projected operating plans into 2019,through at least the next twelve months from the issuance date of these financial statements. The Company may, however, seek additional capital within the next twelve months, both to meet its projected operating plans within the next twelve months and/or to fund its longer-term strategic objectives. In June 2020, we filed a $125.0 million registration statement on Form S-3 with the Commission, utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may require additional funds, either through additional equity or debt financings or collaborative agreements orsell securities from other sources. Wetime to time, including up to $50.0 million pursuant to the At Market Issuance Sales Agreement, dated as of June 12, 2020, with B. Riley FBR, Inc. and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (the “ATM Facility”). As of March 31, 2021, we have no commitmentsnot sold any securities pursuant to obtain such additional financing, and we may not be able to obtain any such additional financing on terms favorable to us, or at all. If adequate financing is not available, the Company will further delay, postpone or terminate product and service expansion and curtail certain selling, general and administrative operations. The inability to raise additional financing may have a material adverse effect on the future performance of the Company.
ATM Facility.

9

Table of Contents

Note 3.4. Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of presentation: The financial statements and accompanying notes have been prepared on a consolidated basis and reflect the consolidated financial position of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated from these financial statements. The Company’s fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to December 31, and the Company's normal fiscal quarters end on the Saturday 13 weeks after the last fiscal year end or fiscal quarter end. Every fifth or sixth fiscal year, the inclusion of an extra week occurs due to the Company’s floating year-end date. The fiscal year 2016 ended on December 31, 2016 consisted of normal 52 weeks. The fiscal year 2017 ending on December 30, 2017 will also include the normal 52 weeks.

Adopted Accounting Pronouncements Fiscal 201731.

Recent accounting standards: In January 2017,June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2017-01, Business CombinationsASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 805)326): ClarifyingMeasurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. The standard’s main goal is to improve financial reporting by requiring earlier recognition of credit losses on financing receivables and other financial assets in scope. The new guidance represents significant changes to accounting for credit losses: (i) full lifetime expected credit losses will be recognized upon initial recognition of an asset in scope; (ii) the Definition ofcurrent incurred loss impairment model that recognizes losses when a Business. The ASU 2017-01 clarifies the definition of a businessprobable threshold is met will be replaced with the objective of adding guidanceexpected credit loss impairment method without recognition threshold; and (iii) the expected credit losses estimate will be based upon historical information, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. ASU 2016-13 introduces two distinctive credit loss impairment models: (i) current expected credit loss impairment model (Subtopic 326-20) applicable to assist companies and other reporting organizations with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions offinancial assets or businesses. The Company early adopted the amendments in this ASU effective as of January 1, 2017. On March 12, 2017, the Company acquired all of the outstanding equity interests of Healthspan Research, LLC ("Healthspan") pursuant to a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement by and among (i) Robert Fried, Jeffrey Allen and Dr. Charles Brenner (the “Sellers”)measured at amortized cost; and (ii) ChromaDex Corporation. Underavailable-for-sale debt securities impairment model (Subtopic 326-30). ASU 2017-01, this transaction was treated as an acquisition of assets, rather than a business. For details on the acquisition of Healthspan, please refer to Note 5. Related Party Transactions appearing later on this report.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting to simplify the accounting for stock compensation. It focuses on income tax accounting, award classification, estimating forfeitures, and cash flow presentation. The Company adopted the amendments in this ASU effective as of January 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2016-09 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Inventory (Topic 330) - Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which requires that inventories, other than those accounted for under Last-In-First-Out, will be reported at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling price less costs of completion, disposal and transportation. The Company adopted the amendments in this ASU effective as of January 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2015-11 did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
- 7 -
Recent accounting standards: In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Topic 606 (ASU 2014-09), to supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is to recognize revenues when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that is expected to be received for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 defines a five step process to achieve this core principle and, in doing so, it is possible more judgment and estimates may be required within the revenue recognition process than required under existing U.S. GAAP including identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. ASU 2014-092016-13 is effective for us in our first quarter ofpublic entities for fiscal 2018 using either of two methods: (i) retrospectiveyears beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Public entities that qualify as a smaller reporting company can elect to each prior reporting period presented with the option to elect certain practical expedients as defined within ASU 2014-09; or (ii) retrospective with the cumulative effect of initially applying ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of initial application and providing certain additional disclosures as defined per ASU 2014-09.defer compliance effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. We are currently evaluating the impact of our pending adoption of ASU 2014-092016-13 on our consolidated financial statements.

Note 4.5. Earnings Per Share Applicable to Common Stockholders

The following table sets forth the computations of earnings per share amounts applicable to common stockholders for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and October 1, 2016:

 
 
Three Months Ended
 
 
Nine Months Ended
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss)
 $2,137,077 
 $(954,390)
 $(2,555,802)
 $(781,432)
 
    
    
    
    
Basic weighted average common shares outstanding (1):
  47,065,009 
  37,868,672 
  42,405,616 
  37,090,916 
 
    
    
    
    
Basic earnings (loss) per common share
 $0.05 
 $(0.03)
 $(0.06)
 $(0.02)
 
    
    
    
    
Dilutive effect of stock options, net
  473,736 
  - 
  - 
  - 
Dilutive effect of warrants, net
  17,952 
  - 
  - 
  - 
 
    
    
    
    
Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding :
  47,556,697 
  37,868,672 
  42,405,616 
  37,090,916 
 
    
    
    
    
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share
 $0.04 
 $(0.03)
 $(0.06)
 $(0.02)
 
    
    
    
    
Potentially dilutive securities, total (2):
    
    
    
    
  Stock options
  5,448,552 
  5,217,508 
  5,922,288 
  5,217,508 
  Warrants
  452,492 
  487,111 
  470,444 
  487,111 
 
    
    
    
    
March 31, 2020:

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

(In thousands, except per share data)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$(7,381)

 

$(5,902)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted loss per common share

 

$(0.12)

 

$(0.10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted weighted average common shares outstanding (1):

 

 

64,164

 

 

 

59,782

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Potentially dilutive securities (2):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stock options

 

 

10,157

 

 

 

12,194

 

Restricted stock units

 

 

92

 

 

 

-

 

______________

(1)

Includes approximately 0.50.2 million weighted averageand 0.2 million nonvested shares of restricted stock for the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2017,Mar. 31, 2021 and Mar. 31, 2020, respectively, and approximately 0.4 million weighted average nonvested shares or restricted stock forthe three and nine month periods ending October 1, 2016, respectively. These shareswhich are participating securities that featurevoting and dividend rights.

(2)

Excluded from the computation of diluted earnings (loss)loss per share as their impact is antidilutive.
- 8 -

10

Table of Contents

Note 5.6. Related Party Transactions

Asset acquisition
On March 12, 2017, the Company acquired all of the outstanding equity interests of Healthspan from Robert Fried, Jeffrey Allen and Dr. Charles Brenner (the "Sellers"). Robert Fried is a member of the Board of Directors ("Board") of the Company, a position he has held since July 2015.
Upon the closing of, and as consideration for, the acquisition, the Company issued an aggregate of 367,648 shares of the Company’s common stock to the Sellers. The fair value of these shares was approximately $1.0 million based on the closing price of $2.72 per share on March 12, 2017. Also on March 12, 2017, the Company appointed Robert Fried as President and Chief Strategy Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Fried continues to serve as a member of the Board, but resigned as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board.
Healthspan was formed in August 2015 to offer and sell finished bottle products that contain NIAGEN® directly to consumers through internet-based selling platforms. NIAGEN® is the leading ingredient the Company currently sells. Prior to the acquisition, the Company has supplied certain amount of NIAGEN® to Healthspan as a raw material inventory in exchange for a 4% equity interest in Healthspan. An additional 5% equity interest was received for granting certain exclusive rights to resell NIAGEN®.
The Company acquired the consumer product business model that Healthspan has established. Included in the business model acquired is the know-how marketing to date, and the designs and procedures needed to operate a consumer product business. This transaction was accounted for as an acquisition of assets. An intangible asset of approximately $1.35 million was recorded as a result of this acquisition, which is the difference of consideration transferred and the net amount of assets acquired and liabilities assumed.
(A) Consideration transferred
 
 
 
 
 
(B) Net amount of assets and liabilities
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fair value
 
 
Assets acquired
 
 Fair value
 
Common Stock
 $1,000,000 
 
 Cash and cash equivalents
 $19,000 
Transaction costs
  178,000 
 
 Trade receivables
  11,000 
Previously held equity interest
  20,000 
 
 Inventory
  61,000 
 
    
 
 
    
 
 $1,198,000 
 
Liabilities assumed
    
 
    
 
 Due to officer
  (132,000)
 
    
 
 Accounts payable
  (74,000)
 
    
 
 Credit card payable
  (30,000)
 
    
 
 Other accrued expenses
  (3,000)
 
    
 
 
    
Consumer product business model, intangible asset (A) -(B)
 $1,346,000 
 
 Net assets
 $(148,000)
 
    
 
 
    
The acquired intangible asset is considered to have a useful life of 10 years as we believe the economic benefits from the acquisition will last at least 10 years. The expense is amortized using the straight-line method over the useful life and the Company recognized an amortization expense of approximately $75,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.
In cancellation of a loan owed by Healthspan to Mr. Fried prior to the acquisition, the Company repaid $32,500 to Mr. Fried on March 13, 2017 and will also repay $100,000 on March 12, 2018. No interest is to be paid for the outstanding $100,000 due to Mr. Fried.
- 9 -

Sale of consumerproducts

During July 2017, the Company entered into an exclusivity agreement (the "Customer G Agreement") with Customer G, whereby the Company agreed to exclusively sell its TRU NIAGEN® dietary supplement product to Customer G in certain territories in Asia. During the three months ended September 30, 2017, the Company sold approximately $2.3 million of TRU NIAGEN® dietary supplement product pursuant to the Customer G Agreement. As of September 30, 2017, the trade receivable from Customer G was approximately $1.5 million.
Li Ka Shing, who beneficially owns more than 10% of the Company's common stock, beneficially owns approximately 30% of Entity A and Entity A beneficially owns approximately 75% of Customer G. In accordance with the Company's Related-Person Transactions Policy, the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors ratified the partnership with Customer G.
Note 6.                       Discontinued Operations
On September 5, 2017, the Company completed the sale of the Lab Business to Covance. In consideration of the Lab Business sale, the Company received $6.75 million from Covance and additional cash consideration of $0.8 million is currently held in escrow to satisfy any potential indemnification claims by Covance. Further, the Company is eligible to receive an additional earnout payment from Covance in an amount equal to up to $1.0 million, subject to certain escrow provisions.
The Company recorded a gain of approximately $5.5 million from the disposal. The contingent earnout consideration up to $1.0 million is tied to 2017 revenue of the Lab Business and the Company made an election to record the contingent consideration portion when the consideration is determined to be realizable and has not recorded any contingent consideration to date.
(A) Consideration received
 
 
 
(C) Carrying value of the Lab Business
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amount
 
 Assets disposed
 
 Carrying value
 
Cash payment
 $6,750,000 
 Leasehold improvements and equipment, net
 $1,427,000 
Cash payment held in escrow (1)
  750,000 
 Prepaid expenses
  11,000 
Additional earnout payment
  - 
 Deposits
  20,000 
 
 $7,500,000 
 
    
 
    
 Liabilities disposed
    
(B) Selling costs
    
 Deferred revenue
  (7,000)
 
    
 Deferred rent
  (215,000)
 
  Amount
 
 
    
Legal
 $428,000 
 
    
Financial consulting
  250,000 
 
    
Other
  118,000 
 
    
 
 $796,000 
 Net assets
 $1,236,000 
 
    
 
    
Gain from disposal (A) - (B) - (C)
 $5,468,000 
 
    
(1) $750,000 is expected to be held in escrow until March 2019 to satisfy any indemnification claims.
The sale of the Lab Business qualifies as a discontinued operation as the sale represents a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on operations and financial results.
- 10 -
The results of operations from the discontinued operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016 are as follows:
 
 
Three Months Ended
 
 
Nine Months Ended
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sales
 $650,610 
 $1,070,164 
 $2,820,631 
 $3,957,109 
Cost of sales
  597,291 
  890,655 
  2,478,827 
  2,716,238 
 
    
    
    
    
Gross profit
  53,319 
  179,509 
  341,804 
  1,240,871 
 
    
    
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
    
    
Sales and marketing
  112,694 
  161,044 
  482,134 
  500,725 
General and administrative
  43,838 
  41,019 
  150,171 
  128,381 
Operating expenses
  156,532 
  202,063 
  632,305 
  629,106 
 
    
    
    
    
Operating income (loss)
  (103,213)
  (22,554)
  (290,501)
  611,765 
 
    
    
    
    
Nonoperating income (expense):
    
    
    
    
Interest expense, net
  (5,686)
  (8,567)
  (24,639)
  (28,388)
Nonoperating expenses
  (5,686)
  (8,567)
  (24,639)
  (28,388)
 
    
    
    
    
Loss before taxes from discontinued operations
  (108,899)
  (31,121)
  (315,140)
  583,377 
Provision for taxes
  - 
  3,153 
  - 
  - 
 
    
    
    
    
Income (loss) from discontinued operations
 $(108,899)
 $(27,968)
 $(315,140)
 $583,377 
The assets and liabilities that are classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2016 are as follows:

 

Net sales
Three months ended
Mar. 31, 2021

Net sales
Three months ended
Mar. 31, 2020

Trade receivable at
Mar. 31,

2021

Trade receivable at
Dec. 31, 2016

2020

Current assets held for sale

A.S. Watson Group

$1.6 million

$1.8 million

$1.3 million

$0.9 million

Prepaid expenses
$18,135
*A.S. Watson Group is a related party through common ownership of an enterprise that beneficially owns more than 10% of the common stock of the Company.
Leasehold Improvements and Equipment, net
1,333,203
Deposits
19,675
Total assets held for sale
1,371,013
Deferred rent
184,766
Total liabilities held for sale
$184,766
Depreciation, capital expenditures and significant noncash investing activities of the discontinued operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016 are as follows:
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Depreciation
 $169,250 
 $192,381 
Purchase of leasehod improvements and equipment
 $111,232 
 $250,420 
 
    
    
Noncash investing activity
    
    
  Retirement of fully depreciated equipment - cost
 $55,947 
 $13,330 
  Retirement of fully depreciated equipment - accumulated depreciation
 $(55,947)
 $(13,330)
- 11 -

Note 7. Trade Receivables Allowances

 The allowance amounts for the periods ended September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 are as follows:
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Dec. 31, 2016
 
Allowances related to
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Customer C
 $500,000 
 $800,000 
     Customer E
  - 
  198,000 
Other allowances
  33,000 
  83,000 
 
 $533,000 
 $1,081,000 
Note 8.                       Inventories

The amounts of major classes of inventory as of September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and December 31, 20162020 are as follows:

 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Dec. 31, 2016
 
Bulk ingredients
 $4,830,000 
 $7,044,000 
Reference standards
  1,067,000 
  1,033,000 
Dietary supplement - finished bottles
  9,000 
  - 
Dietary supplement - work-in-process
  875,000 
  - 
 
  6,781,000 
  8,077,000 
Less valuation allowance
  (166,000)
  (164,000)
 
 $6,615,000 
 $7,913,000 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Dec. 31, 2020

 

Consumer Products - Finished Goods

 

$3,839

 

 

$2,358

 

Consumer Products - Work in Process

 

 

4,620

 

 

 

5,718

 

Bulk ingredients

 

 

3,758

 

 

 

3,065

 

Reference standards

 

 

545

 

 

 

542

 

 

 

$12,762

 

 

$11,683

 

Note 8. Stock Issuance

On February 20, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with EverFund (the "Financing”) pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and issue approximately 3.8 million of common stock at a price of $6.50 per share. On February 23, 2021, the Company closed the Financing and received proceeds of $24.9 million, net of offering costs.

Note 9. EmployeeLeases

Operating Leases

As of March 31, 2021, the Company had right of use assets stemming from operating leases of approximately $1.1 million, and corresponding operating lease liabilities of approximately $1.4 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, the following were expenses incurred in connection with our operating leases:

11

Table of Contents

(In thousands)

 

For the

Three Months

Ended Mar. 31,

2021

 

 

For the

Three Months

Ended Mar. 31,

2020

 

Operating leases

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating lease expense

 

$154

 

 

$120

 

Variable lease expense

 

 

40

 

 

 

69

 

Operating lease expense

 

 

194

 

 

 

189

 

Short-term lease rent expense

 

 

62

 

 

 

64

 

Total expense

 

$256

 

 

$253

 

At Mar. 31,

2021

Weighted-average remaining lease term (years) operating leases

2.5

Weighted-average discount rate operating leases

7.0%

Minimum future lease payments under operating leases as of March 31, 2021 are as follows:

(In thousands)

 

 

 

Nine Months Ending December 31, 2021

 

$474

 

Year Ending December 31, 2022

 

 

299

 

Year Ending December 31, 2023

 

 

308

 

Year Ending December 31, 2024

 

 

310

 

Year Ending December 31, 2025

 

 

263

 

Total

 

 

1,654

 

Less present value discount

 

 

222

 

Operating lease liabilities

 

 

1,432

 

Less current portion

 

 

485

 

Long-term obligations under operating leases

 

$947

 

Note 10. Share-Based Compensation

Stock Option

Equity Plans

On June 20, 2017,

At the stockholdersdiscretion of the compensation committee of the Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”), the Company approvedmay grant options to purchase the ChromaDex CorporationCompany’s common stock, restricted stock units and other equity awards to certain individuals from time to time. Management and the Compensation Committee determine the terms of awards which include the exercise price, vesting conditions and expiration dates at the time of grant. Expiration dates for stock options are not to exceed 10 years from their date of issuance.

The Company grants awards to recipients through the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the "2017 Plan"“2017 Plan”). The 2017 Plan is intended to be, which was approved by stockholders and the successor to the ChromaDex Corporation Second Amended and Restated 2007 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2007 Plan"). UnderBoard of Directors. As of March 31, 2021, under the 2017 Plan, the Company is authorized to issue stock optionsshares subject to awards that total no more than the sum of (i) 3,000,00014,500,000 new shares, (ii) approximately 384,000 unallocated shares remaining available for the grant of new awards under the Second Amended and Restated 2007 Equity Incentive Plan, and (iii) any returning shares from the 2007 Plan or the 2017 Plan, such as forfeited, cancelled, or expired shares.

- 12 -
Service Period Based Stock Options
shares and (iv) 500,000 shares pursuant to an inducement award. The following table summarizes activityremaining number of serviceshares available for issuance under the 2017 Plan totaled approximately 5.6 million shares at March 31, 2021.

12

Table of Contents

General Vesting Conditions

The stock option and restricted stock unit awards are generally subject to a one-year cliff vesting period after which 1/3 of the shares vest with the remaining shares vesting ratably over a two-year period subject to the passage of time. However, some stock option awards are market or performance based stock options granted to employees at September 30, 2017 and changes during the nine months then ended:

 
 
 
 
 
Weighted Average
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Remaining
 
 
 
 
 
Aggregate
 
 
 
Number of
 
 
Exercise
 
 
Contractual
 
 
Fair
 
 
Intrinsic
 
 
 
Shares
 
 
Price
 
 
Term
 
 
Value
 
 
Value
 
Outstanding at Dec. 31, 2016
  4,281,151 
 $3.52 
  6.36 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
    
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
Options Granted
  773,334 
  2.93 
  10.00 
 $1.88 
 
 
 
Options Exercised
  (114,813)
  3.40 
    
    
 $104,000 
Options Expired
  (3,334)
  4.50 
    
    
    
Options Forfeited
  (41,358)
  3.54 
    
    
    
Outstanding at Sep. 30, 2017
  4,894,980 
 $3.43 
  6.19 
    
 $4,786,803 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Exercisable at Sep. 30, 2017
  3,496,750 
 $3.45 
  5.06 
    
 $3,433,000 
 
    
    
    
    
    
The aggregate intrinsic values in the table above arevest based on certain triggering events established by the Company’s stock price of $4.30, which is the closing price of the Company’s stock on the last day of business for the period ended September 30, 2017.
Compensation Committee.

The fair value of the Company’s stock options wasthat are not market based is estimated at the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The table below outlines the weighted average assumptions for options granted to employees during the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017.

March 31, 2021.

Nine Months

Three months Ended Sep. 30, 2017March 31, 2021

Expected term

 5.8

6 years

Expected volatility

73%
Expected dividends

Risk-free rate

0.00

1%
Risk-free rate

Expected dividends

2.11

0%

Service Period Based Stock Options

The following table summarizes activity of service period-based stock options at March 31, 2021 and changes during the three months then ended (in thousands except per-share data and remaining contractual term):

 

 

 

 

Weighted Average

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remaining

 

 

 

 

Aggregate

 

 

 

Number of

 

 

Exercise

 

 

Contractual

 

 

Fair

 

 

Intrinsic

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Price

 

 

Term (Years)

 

 

Value

 

 

Value

 

Outstanding at Dec. 31, 2020

 

 

10,833

 

 

$3.96

 

 

 

6.8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options Granted

 

 

593

 

 

 

10.29

 

 

 

10.0

 

 

$6.56

 

 

 

 

Options Exercised

 

 

(1,935)

 

 

4.37

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$12,393

 

Options Forfeited

 

 

(375)

 

 

4.34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding at Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

9,116

 

 

$4.27

 

 

 

7.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

$47,278*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercisable at Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

5,666

 

 

$3.63

 

 

 

5.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

$32,326*

*The aggregate intrinsic values in the table above are based on the Company’s stock price of $9.34, which is the closing price of the Company’s stock on the last day of business for the period ended March 31, 2021.

13

Table of Contents

Performance BasedStock Options

The Company also grants stock option awards that are performance based and vest based on the achievement of certain criteria established from time to time by the Compensation Committee. If these performance criteria are not met, the compensation expenses are not recognized and the expenses that have been recognized will be reversed.

The following table summarizes performance based stock options activity at March 31, 2021 and changes during the three months then ended (in thousands except per share data and remaining contractual term):

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted Average

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remaining

 

 

 

 

Aggregate

 

 

 

Number of

 

 

Exercise

 

 

Contractual

 

 

Fair

 

Intrinsic

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Price

 

 

Term (Years)

 

 

Value

 

Value

 

Outstanding at Dec. 31, 2020

 

 

81

 

 

$4.34

 

 

 

3.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options Granted

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options Exercised

 

 

(40)

 

 

4.34

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$401

 

Options Forfeited

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding at Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

41

 

 

$4.34

 

 

 

2.8

 

 

 

 

$205*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercisable at Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

41

 

 

$4.34

 

 

 

2.8

 

 

 

 

$205*

*The aggregate intrinsic values in the table above are based on the Company’s stock price of $9.34, which is the closing price of the Company’s stock on the last day of business for the period ended March 31, 2021.

Total Remaining Unamortized Compensation for Stock Options

As of September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, there was approximately $2.7$10.0 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested stock options granted under the plans. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.32 years.

Employee Share-Based Compensation
The Company recognized compensation expense

Restricted Stock Units

Restricted stock unit awards are generally subject to a one-year cliff vesting period after which 1/3 of approximately $0.4 million and $1.1 million in general and administrative expenses in the statement of operations forshares vest with the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively, and approximately $0.3 million and $0.9 million for the three and nine months ended October 1, 2016, respectively.

- 13 -
Note 10.                       Stock Issuance
On April 26, 2017, the Company entered intoremaining shares vesting ratably over a Securities Purchase Agreement (the "SPA") with certain purchasers named therein, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and issue up to $25.0 million of its common stock at a purchase price of $2.60 per share in three tranches of approximately $3.5 million, $16.4 million and $5.1 million, respectively. All three tranches closed during the nine months ended September 30, 2017, whereby approximately 9.6 million shares were issued for proceeds of $23.7 million, net of offering costs.
Subsequent to thetwo-year period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement for the sale of approximately $23.0 million of its common stock in a private placement, in return for which the purchaser will receive approximately 5.6 million shares at a per share price of $4.10. The private placement is expected to close on or about November 17, 2017, subject to the satisfactionpassage of customary closing conditions.
time. The following table summarizes activity of restricted stock unit awards granted at March 31, 2021 and changes during the three months then ended (in thousands except per share fair value):

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted

Average

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Fair Value

 

Unvested shares at Dec. 31, 2020

 

 

-

 

 

$0

 

Granted

 

 

92

 

 

 

11.83

 

Vested

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

Forfeited

 

 

-

 

 

 

0

 

Unvested shares at Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

92

 

 

$11.83

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expected to Vest as of Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

92

 

 

$11.83

 

14

Table of Contents

Total Share-Based Compensation

Total share-based compensation expenses were as follows:

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

Share-based compensation expense

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of sales

 

$40

 

 

$33

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

388

 

 

 

232

 

Research and development

 

 

138

 

 

 

138

 

General and administrative

 

 

718

 

 

 

1,470

 

Total

 

$1,284

 

 

$1,873

 

Note 11. Business Segments

Since the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company has made operational changes to merge its scientific and regulatory consulting segment into core standards and contract services segment. Additionally, with the acquisition of Healthspan in March 2017, the Company began selling consumer products that contain the Company's branded NIAGEN® ingredient.

The Company made operational changes and began segregating its financial results for consumer products operations.

As a result, the Company has the following three reportable segments:
● 
Ingredients segment develops and commercializes proprietary-based ingredient technologies and supplies these ingredients to consumers in finished products or as raw materials tosegments for the manufacturers of consumer products in various industries including the nutritional supplement, food and beverage and animal health industries.
● 
Consumer products segment provides directly to consumers as well as to distributors finished dietary supplement products that contain the Company's proprietary ingredients.
● 
Core standards and contract services segment includes (i) supply of phytochemical reference standards, (ii) scientific and regulatory consulting and (iii) other R&D services.
On September 5, 2017, the Company completed the sale of the Lab Business which was a part of the core standards and contract services segment. The discontinued operations related to the Lab Business are not included in following statement of operations for business segments.
three-month period ended March 31, 2021:

·

Consumer products segment: provides finished dietary supplement products that contain the Company's proprietary ingredients directly to consumers as well as to distributors.

·

Ingredients segment: develops and commercializes proprietary-based ingredient technologies and supplies these ingredients as raw materials to the manufacturers of consumer products.

·

Analytical reference standards and services segment: includes supply of phytochemical reference standards and other research and development services.

The “Corporate and other” classification includes corporate items not allocated by the Company to each reportable segment. Further, there are no intersegment sales that require elimination. The Company evaluates performance and allocates resources based on reviewing gross margin by reportable segment.

Three months ended
September 30, 2017
 
Ingredients
 
 
Consumer Products
 
 
Core Standards and Contract
Services
 
 
Corporate
 
 
 
 
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
and other
 
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales
 $2,459,905 
 $2,647,300 
 $977,485 
 
 
 
 $6,084,690 
Cost of sales
  1,384,221 
  1,095,128 
  689,972 
  - 
  3,169,321 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Gross profit
  1,075,684 
  1,552,172 
  287,513 
  - 
  2,915,369 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
    
    
    
Sales and marketing
  390,568 
  548,827 
  163,762 
  - 
  1,103,157 
Research and development
  558,677 
  481,884 
  - 
  - 
  1,040,561 
General and administrative
  - 
  - 
  - 
  3,948,435 
  3,948,435 
Operating expenses
  949,245 
  1,030,711 
  163,762 
  3,948,435 
  6,092,153 
 
  - 
  - 
    
    
    
Operating income (loss)
 $126,439 
 $521,461 
 $123,751 
 $(3,948,435)
 $(3,176,784)
- 14 -
Three months ended
October 1, 2016
 
Ingredients
 
 
Consumer Products
 
 
Core Standards and Contract Services
 
 
Corporate
 
 
 
 
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
and other
 
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales
 $2,663,095 
 $- 
 $1,274,191 
 $- 
 $3,937,286 
Cost of sales
  1,287,421 
  - 
  786,904 
  - 
  2,074,325 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Gross profit
  1,375,674 
  - 
  487,287 
  - 
  1,862,961 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
    
    
    
Sales and marketing
  199,130 
  - 
  87,811 
  - 
  286,941 
Research and development
  760,299 
  - 
  12,500 
  - 
  772,799 
General and administrative
  - 
  - 
  - 
  1,727,383 
  1,727,383 
Operating expenses
  959,429 
  - 
  100,311 
  1,727,383 
  2,787,123 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating income (loss)
 $416,245 
 $- 
 $386,976 
 $(1,727,383)
 $(924,162)
Nine months ended
September 30, 2017
 
Ingredients
 
 
Consumer Products
 
 
Core Standards and Contract
Services
 
 
Corporate
 
 
 
 
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
and other
 
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales
 $7,393,389 
 $2,802,875 
 $3,474,382 
 $- 
 $13,670,646 
Cost of sales
  3,615,097 
  1,135,864 
  2,277,379 
  - 
  7,028,340 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Gross profit
  3,778,292 
  1,667,011 
  1,197,003 
  - 
  6,642,306 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
    
    
    
Sales and marketing
  959,761 
  738,647 
  359,770 
  - 
  2,058,178 
Research and development
  2,022,151 
  532,562 
  - 
  - 
  2,554,713 
General and administrative
  - 
  - 
  - 
  8,882,821 
  8,882,821 
Other
  745,773 
  - 
  - 
  - 
  745,773 
Operating expenses
  3,727,685 
  1,271,209 
  359,770 
  8,882,821 
  14,241,485 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating income (loss)
 $50,607 
 $395,802 
 $837,233 
 $(8,882,821)
 $(7,599,179)
 
    
    
    
    
    
Nine months ended
October 1, 2016
 
Ingredients
 
 
Consumer Products
 
 
Core standards and Contract
Services
 
 
Corporate
 
 
 
 
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
and other
 
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales
 $13,505,470 
 $- 
 $3,706,395 
 $- 
 $17,211,865 
Cost of sales
  6,420,972 
  - 
  2,410,428 
  - 
  8,831,400 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Gross profit
  7,084,498 
  - 
  1,295,967 
  - 
  8,380,465 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating expenses:
    
    
    
    
    
Sales and marketing
  930,573 
  - 
  259,440 
  - 
  1,190,013 
Research and development
  1,961,097 
  - 
  27,500 
  - 
  1,988,597 
General and administrative
  - 
  - 
  - 
  5,935,139 
  5,935,139 
Operating expenses
  2,891,670 
  - 
  286,940 
  5,935,139 
  9,113,749 
 
    
    
    
    
    
Operating income (loss)
 $4,192,828 
 $- 
 $1,009,027 
 $(5,935,139)
 $(733,284)
- 15 -
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Core Standards
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At September 30, 2017
 
Ingredients
 
 
Consumer Products
 
 
and Contract Services
 
 
Corporate
 
 
 
 
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
and other
 
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total assets
 $9,761,568 
 $4,012,200 
 $2,589,857 
 $25,437,887 
 $41,801,512 
 
    
    
    
    
    
At December 31, 2016
 
Ingredients
 
 
Consumer Products
 
 
Core Standards and Contract Services
 
 
Corporate
 
 
 
 
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
segment
 
 
and other
 
 
Total
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total assets
 $13,257,289 
 $- 
 $2,547,427 
 $3,947,352 
 $19,752,068 

Three months ended

 

Consumer

 

 

 

 

 

Analytical Reference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 31, 2021

 

Products

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

Standards and

 

 

Corporate

 

 

 

 

(In thousands)

 

segment

 

 

segment

 

 

Services segment

 

 

and other

 

 

Total

 

Net sales

 

$12,437

 

 

$1,315

 

 

$931

 

 

$0

 

 

$14,683

 

Cost of sales

 

 

4,203

 

 

 

563

 

 

 

683

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

5,449

 

Gross profit

 

 

8,234

 

 

 

752

 

 

 

248

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

9,234

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

6,111

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

6,258

 

Research and development

 

 

751

 

 

 

73

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

824

 

General and administrative

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

9,514

 

 

 

9,514

 

Operating expenses

 

 

6,862

 

 

 

83

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

9,514

 

 

 

16,596

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating income (loss)

 

$1,372

 

 

$669

 

 

$111

 

 

$(9,514)

 

$(7,362)

15

Table of Contents

Three months ended

 

Consumer

 

 

 

 

Analytical Reference

 

 

 

 

 

March 31, 2020

 

Products

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

Standards and

 

 

Corporate

 

 

 

(In thousands)

 

segment

 

 

segment

 

 

Services segment

 

 

and other

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net sales

 

$11,144

 

 

$2,475

 

 

$726

 

 

$0

 

 

$14,345

 

Cost of sales

 

 

4,302

 

 

 

1,056

 

 

 

676

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

6,034

 

Gross profit

 

 

6,842

 

 

 

1,419

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

8,311

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

4,409

 

 

 

(84)

 

 

122

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

4,447

 

Research and development

 

 

782

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

919

 

General and administrative

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

8,835

 

 

 

8,835

 

Operating expenses

 

 

5,191

 

 

 

53

 

 

 

122

 

 

 

8,835

 

 

 

14,201

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating income (loss)

 

$1,651

 

 

$1,366

 

 

$(72)

 

$(8,835)

 

$(5,890)

 

 

Consumer

 

 

 

 

 

Analytical Reference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At March 31, 2021

 

Products

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

Standards and

 

 

Corporate

 

 

 

 

(In thousands)

 

segment

 

 

segment

 

 

Services segment

 

 

and other

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assets

 

$13,353

 

 

$4,692

 

 

$822

 

 

$50,126

 

 

$68,993

 

 

 

Consumer

 

 

 

 

 

Analytical Reference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At December 31, 2020

 

Products

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

Standards and

 

 

Corporate

 

 

 

 

(In thousands)

 

segment

 

 

segment

 

 

Services segment

 

 

and other

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total assets

 

$11,567

 

 

$3,701

 

 

$802

 

 

$22,288

 

 

$38,358

 

Disaggregation of Revenue

We disaggregate our revenue from contracts with customers by type of goods or services for each of our segments, as we believe it best depicts how the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of our revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors. See details in the tables below.

16

Table of Contents

Three Months Ended March 31, 2021
(In thousands)

 

Consumer
Products
Segment

 

 

Ingredients
Segment

 

 

Analytical Reference Standards
and Services
Segment

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRU NIAGEN , Consumer Product

 

$12,437

 

 

$0

 

 

$0

 

 

$12,437

 

NIAGEN Ingredient

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,203

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,203

 

Subtotal NIAGEN Related

 

$12,437

 

 

$1,203

 

 

$0

 

 

$13,640

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Ingredients

 

 

0

 

 

 

112

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

112

 

Reference Standards

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

800

 

 

 

800

 

Consulting and Other

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

131

 

 

 

131

 

Subtotal Other Goods and Services

 

$0

 

 

$112

 

 

$931

 

 

$1,043

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Net Sales

 

$12,437

 

 

$1,315

 

 

$931

 

 

$14,683

 

Three Months Ended March 31, 2020
(In thousands)

 

Consumer
Products
Segment

 

 

Ingredients
Segment

 

 

Analytical Reference Standards
and Services
Segment

 

 

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRU NIAGEN , Consumer Product

 

$11,144

 

 

$0

 

 

$0

 

 

$11,144

 

NIAGEN Ingredient

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,961

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

1,961

 

Subtotal NIAGEN Related

 

$11,144

 

 

$1,961

 

 

$0

 

 

$13,105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Ingredients

 

 

0

 

 

 

514

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

514

 

Reference Standards

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

673

 

 

 

673

 

Consulting and Other

 

 

0

 

 

 

0

 

 

 

53

 

 

 

53

 

Subtotal Other Goods and Services

 

$0

 

 

$514

 

 

$726

 

 

$1,240

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Net Sales

 

$11,144

 

 

$2,475

 

 

$726

 

 

$14,345

 

Disclosure of major customers

Major Customers

Major customers who accounted for more than 10% of the Company’s total sales were as follows:

 
 
Three months ended
 
 
Nine months ended
 
Major Customers
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Customer G - Related Party  37.8%  *   16.8%  * 
Customer D  12.1%  12.3%  *   * 
Customer C  *   *   *   24.5%
 
    
    
    
    
* Represents less than 10%.
    
    
    
    

 

 

Three months ended

 

Major Customers

 

Mar. 31,

2021

 

 

Mar. 31,

2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.S. Watson Group - Related Party

 

 

10.6%

 

 

12.7%
Life Extension

 

*

 

 

 

10.4%

* Represents less than 10%.

17

Table of Contents

Major customers who accounted foraccounts which had more than 10% of the Company’s total trade receivables were as follows:

 
 
Percentage of the Company's Total Trade Receivables
 
Major Customers
 
At September 30, 2017
 
 
At December 31, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Customer C  45.4%  45.8%
Customer G - Related Party  30.3%  * 
Customer D  *   10.2%
 
    
    
* Represents less than 10%.
    
    
- 16 -

 

 

Percentage of the Company's Total Trade Receivables

 

Major Customers

 

At March 31,

2021

 

 

At December 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A.S. Watson Group - Related Party

 

 

29.0%

 

 

31.9%
Matakana Health

 

 

17.3%

 

 

11.1%
Life Extension

 

 

16.0%

 

 

17.7%
Amazon Marketplaces

 

 

15.7%

 

 

12.0%

* Represents less than 10%.    

Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies

Legalproceedings

1. Elysium Health, LLC

(A) California Action

On December 29, 2016, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a complaint (the “Complaint”) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, naming Elysium Health, Inc.(together (together with Elysium Health, LLC, “Elysium”) as defendant (the “Complaint”). On January 25, 2017, Elysium filed an answer and counterclaims in response to the Complaint (together with the Complaint, the “California Action”). Over the course of the California Action, the parties have each filed amended pleadings several times and have each engaged in several rounds of motions to dismiss and one round of motion for judgment on the pleadings with respect to various claims. Most recently, on November 27, 2018, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a fifth amended complaint that added an individual, Mark Morris, as a defendant. AmongElysium and Morris (“the Defendants”) moved to dismiss on December 21, 2018. The court denied Defendants’ motion on February 4, 2019. Defendants filed their answer to ChromaDex, Inc.’s fifth amended complaint on February 19, 2019. ChromaDex, Inc. filed an answer to Elysium’s restated counterclaims on March 5, 2019. Discovery closed on August 9, 2019.

On August 16, 2019, the parties filed motions for partial summary judgment as to certain claims and counterclaims. The parties filed opposition briefs on August 28, 2019, and reply briefs on September 4, 2019. On October 9, 2019, among other things, the court vacated the previously scheduled trial date, ordered supplemental briefing with respect to certain issues related to summary judgment. Elysium filed its opening supplemental brief on October 30, 2019, ChromaDex filed its opening supplemental brief on November 18, 2019, and Elysium filed a reply brief on November 27, 2019, and the court heard argument on January 13, 2020. On January 16, 2020, the court granted both parties’ motions for summary judgment in part and denied both in part. On ChromaDex’s motion, the court granted summary judgment in favor of ChromaDex on Elysium’s counterclaims for (i) breach of contract related to manufacturing NIAGEN® according to the defined standard, selling NIAGEN and ingredients that are substantially similar to pterostilbene to other customers, distributing the NIAGEN® product specifications, and failing to provide information concerning the quality and identity of NIAGEN®, and (ii) breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The court denied summary judgment on Elysium’s counterclaims for (i) fraudulent inducement of the Trademark License and Royalty Agreement, dated February 3, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium (the “License Agreement”), (ii) patent misuse, and (iii) unjust enrichment. On Elysium’s motion, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Elysium on ChromaDex’s claim for damages related to $110,000 in avoided costs arising from documents that Elysium used in violation of the Supply Agreement, dated February 3, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium, as amended (the “NIAGEN® Supply Agreement”). The court denied summary judgment on Elysium’s counterclaim for breach of contract related to certain refunds or credits to Elysium. The court also denied summary judgment on ChromaDex’s breach of contract claim against Morris and claims for disgorgement of $8.3 million in Elysium’s resale profits, $600,000 for a price discount received by Elysium, and $684,781 in Morris’s compensation.

18

Table of Contents

Following the court’s January 16, 2020 order, the claims that ChromaDex, Inc. presently asserts in the California Action, among other allegations, ChromaDex, Inc. alleged in the Complaintare that (i) Elysium breached the Supply Agreement, dated June 26, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium (the “pTeroPure® Supply Agreement”), by failing to make payments to ChromaDex, Inc. for purchases of pTeroPure® and by improper disclosure of confidential ChromaDex, Inc. information pursuant to the pTeroPure® Supply Agreement, (ii) Elysium breached the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement, dated February 3, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium, as amended (the “NIAGEN® Supply Agreement”), by failing to make payments to ChromaDex, Inc. for purchases of NIAGEN® pursuant, (iii) Defendants willfully and maliciously misappropriated ChromaDex, Inc. trade secrets concerning its ingredient sales business under both the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, (iv) Morris breached two confidentiality agreements he signed by improperly stealing confidential ChromaDex, Inc. documents and information, (v) Morris breached his fiduciary duty to ChromaDex, Inc. by lying to and competing with ChromaDex, Inc. while still employed there, and (vi) Elysium aided and abetted Morris’s breach of fiduciary duty. ChromaDex, Inc. is seeking damages and interest for Elysium’s alleged breaches of the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement (iii) Elysium breached the Trademark License and Royalty Agreement, dated February 3, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium (the “License Agreement”), by failing to make payments to ChromaDex, Inc. for royalties due pursuant to the License Agreement and (iv) certain officers of Elysium made false promises and representations to induce ChromaDex, Inc. into providing large supplies of pTeroPure® and NIAGEN® to Elysium pursuant to the pTeroPure® Supply Agreement and NIAGEN® Supply Agreement.Morris’s alleged breaches of his confidentiality agreements, compensatory damages and interest, punitive damages, injunctive relief, and attorney’s fees for Defendants’ alleged willful and malicious misappropriation of ChromaDex, Inc. is seeking’s trade secrets, and compensatory damages and interest, disgorgement of all benefits received, and punitive damages money damagesfor Morris’s alleged breach of his fiduciary duty and interest.

On January 25, 2017,Elysium’s aiding and abetting of that alleged breach.

The claims that Elysium filed an answer and counterclaims (the “Counterclaim”) in response to the Complaint. Among other allegations, Elysiumpresently alleges in the CounterclaimCalifornia Action are that (i) ChromaDex, Inc. breached the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement by not issuing certain refunds or credits to Elysium, and for violating certain confidential information provisions, (ii) ChromaDex, Inc. breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing pursuant to the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement, (iii) ChromaDex, Inc. breached certain confidential provisions of the pTeroPure® Supply Agreement, (iv) ChromaDex, Inc. fraudulently induced Elysium into entering into the License Agreement, (the “Fraud Claim”), (v)(iv) ChromaDex, Inc.’s conduct constitutes misuse of its patent rights, (the “Patent Claim”) and (vi)(v) ChromaDex, Inc. has engaged in unlawful or unfair competition under California state law (the “Unfair Competition Claim”).was unjustly enriched by the royalties Elysium paid pursuant to the License Agreement. Elysium is seeking damages for ChromaDex, Inc.’s alleged breaches of the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement and pTeroPure® Supply Agreement, and compensatory damages, punitive damages, and/or rescission of the License Agreement and restitution of any royalty payments conveyed by Elysium pursuant to the License Agreement, and a declaratory judgementjudgment that ChromaDex, Inc. has engaged in patent misuse.

On February 15, 2017,January 17, 2020, Elysium moved to substitute its counsel. The same day, the court ordered hearing on that motion for January 21, 2020, and granted Elysium’s motion at the hearing. On January 23, 2020, the court issued a scheduling order that, among other things, set trial on the remaining claims to begin on May 12, 2020. On March 19, 2020, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing private mediation efforts, the parties jointly stipulated to adjourn the trial date. The court vacated the trial date on March 20, 2020. The court held a telephonic status conference on June 9, 2020, during which the court indicated that it will reschedule the jury trial as soon as conditions permit. On November 4, 2020, the parties submitted a joint status report indicating that they will propose a new trial date as soon as the court announces that it will resume jury trials. On November 18, 2020, the court set trial to begin on September 21, 2021.

On December 11, 2020, Elysium filed a “Notice of Correction of Depositions” related to the depositions of its chief executive officer, Eric Marcotulli, and chief operating officer, Daniel Alminana, both taken in March 2019. On March 8, 2021, based in part on information that Elysium submitted under seal with that notice, ChromaDex, Inc. filed an amended complaint. In the amended complaint, ChromaDex, Inc. re-alleges the claimsa motion for sanctions or, in the Complaint, and also alleges that Elysium willfully and maliciously misappropriated ChromaDex, Inc.’s trade secrets. On February 15, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. also filed a motion to dismissalternative, reconsideration of the Fraud Claim, the Patent Claim and the Unfair Competition Claim. On March 1, 2017, Elysium filed a motion to dismiss ChromaDex, Inc.'s fraud and trade secret misappropriation causes of action. On March 6, 2017, Elysium filed a first amended counterclaim. On March 20, 2017,court’s January 16, 2020 order regarding summary judgment, in which ChromaDex, Inc. moved to dismiss Elysium's amended fraud, patent misuseElysium’s third, fourth, and the Unfair Competition Claim. On May 10, 2017, the court ruledfifth counterclaims. Elysium’s opposition brief was filed on the motions to dismiss, denying ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion as to Elysium’s fraud and patent misuse claims and granting ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion with prejudice as to Elysium’s Unfair Competition Claim. With respect to Elysium’s motion, the court granted the motion with prejudice as to ChromaDex, Inc.’s fraud claim and granted with leave to amend the motion as to ChromaDex, Inc.’s trade secret misappropriation claims. On May 24, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. answered the first amended counterclaim and asserted several affirmative defenses. Also on May 24, 2017,March 22, 2021. ChromaDex, Inc. filed a second amended complaint, amending the trade secret misappropriation claims and addressing Elysium’s patent misuse counterclaim.its reply brief on March 29, 2021. On June 7, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a third amended complaint dismissing the trade secret misappropriation claims and asserting two breach of contract claims for Elysium’s failure to pay for the product delivered. On June 16, 2017, Elysium answered the third amended complaint. On August 14, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. moved for judgment on the pleadings as to Elysium’s declaratory judgment of patent misuse counterclaim. On September 26, 2017,April 27, 2021, the court denied ChromaDex’sChromaDex, Inc’s motion without prejudice and directed Elysium to file an amended counterclaim if it intended to maintain its declaratory judgment counterclaim. On October 11, 2017, Elysium filed a second amended counterclaim, re-allegingfor terminating sanctions, but concluded that the claimsevidence at issue in the first amended counterclaim and adding a claim for unjust enrichment and restitutionmotion will be admissible at trial.

19

Table of Contents

(B) Southern District of the royalties Elysium paid to ChromaDex, Inc. pursuant to the License Agreement. On October 25, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the declaratory judgment of patent misuse and unjust enrichment claims and/or strike allegations in the unjust enrichment claim contained in the second amended counterclaim. The court has not yet ruled on the motion.


- 17 -
On July 17, 2017, Elysium filed petitions with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inter partes review of U.S. Patent No. 8,197,807 and 8,383,086, patents to which ChromaDex, Inc. is the exclusive licensee.
New York Action

On September 27, 2017, Elysium Health Inc. (“Elysium Health”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, namingagainst ChromaDex, Inc. as defendant (the “SDNY“Elysium SDNY Complaint”). Elysium allegesHealth alleged in the Elysium SDNY Complaint that ChromaDex, Inc. made false and misleading statements in a citizen petition to the Food and Drug Administration it filed on or about August 18, 2017. Among other allegations, Elysium aversHealth averred that the citizen petition was filed with intent to injure Elysium’s position in the marketplace, that it falsely described Elysium’s product as dangerous, and that it misleadingly omitted material facts which made Elysium’sElysium Health’s product appear dangerous, while casting ChromaDex, Inc.’s own productsproduct as safe. The Elysium SDNY Complaint assertsasserted four claims for relief: (i) false advertising under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1); (ii) trade libel; (iii) deceptive business practices under New York General Business Law § 349; and (iv) tortious interference with businessprospective economic relations. ChromaDex, Inc. disputes the claims in the SDNY Complaint and intends to defend against them vigorously. On October 19,26, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motionmoved to dismiss the SDNY Complaint. In its motion, ChromaDex, Inc. argued that theElysium SDNY Complaint should be dismissed becauseon the grounds that, inter alia, its statements in the citizen petition are immunizedimmune from all of Elysium’s claimsliability under the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine, the litigation privilege, and New York’s Anti-SLAPP statute, and becausethat the Elysium SDNY Complaint failed to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).claim. Elysium filed its opposition papersHealth opposed the motion on November 2, 2017. ChromaDex, Inc.’s filed its reply if any, is due on November 9, 2017.

On October 26, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York namingagainst Elysium as defendantHealth (the “ChromaDex SDNY Complaint”). ChromaDex, Inc. alleges in the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint that Elysium Health made material false and misleading statements to consumers in the promotion, marketing, and sale of its health supplement product, Basis, by deceiving consumers into erroneously believing: (1) the product is “safe” and “pure” when its current Basis product has not been sufficiently tested to support those claims; (2) the product has been approved or otherwise endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration; and (3) the product has been approved or endorsed by prominent scientists and prestigious academic institutions, among other allegations. The ChromaDex SDNY Complaint asserts five claims for relief: (i) false advertising under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1125(a); (ii) unfair competition under 15 U.S.C. § 1225(a)1125(a); (iii) deceptive business practices under New York General Business Law § 349; (iv) deceptive business practices under New York General Business Law § 350; and (v) tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. On November 16, 2017, Elysium has indicated that it intends on movingHealth moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim. ChromaDex, Inc. opposed the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint. motion on November 30, 2017 and Elysium Health filed a reply on December 7, 2017.

On November 3, 2017, the Court consolidated the Elysium SDNY Complaint and the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint actions under the caption In re Elysium Health-ChromaDex Litigation, 17-cv-7394, and stayed discovery in both actionsthe consolidated action pending a Court-ordered mediation. The mediation was unsuccessful. On September 27, 2018, the Court ordered mediation. Briefingissued a combined ruling on theboth parties’ motions to dismiss. For ChromaDex’s motion to dismiss, the Court converted the part of the motion on the issue of whether the citizen petition is immune under the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine into a motion for summary judgment, and requested supplemental evidence from both parties, which were submitted on October 29, 2018. The Court otherwise denied the motion to dismiss. On January 3, 2019, the Court granted ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment under the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine and dismissed all claims in the Elysium SDNY ComplaintComplaint. Elysium moved for reconsideration on January 17, 2019. The Court denied Elysium’s motion for reconsideration on February 6, 2019, and the expectedissued an amended final order granting ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on February 7, 2019.

The Court granted in part and denied in part Elysium’s motion to dismiss, sustaining three grounds for ChromaDex’s Lanham Act claims while dismissing two others, sustaining the claim under New York General Business Law § 349, and dismissing the claims under New York General Business Law § 350 and for tortious interference. Elysium filed an answer and counterclaims on October 10, 2018, alleging claims for (i) false advertising under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1125(a); (ii) unfair competition under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); and (iii) deceptive practices under New York General Business Law § 349. ChromaDex answered Elysium’s counterclaims on November 2, 2018.

ChromaDex, Inc. filed an amended complaint on March 27, 2019, adding new claims against Elysium Health for false advertising and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). On April 10, 2019, Elysium Health answered the amended complaint and filed amended counterclaims, also adding new claims against ChromaDex, Inc. for false advertising and unfair competition under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). On July 1, 2019, Elysium Health filed further amended counterclaims, adding new claims under the Copyright Act §§ 106 & 501. On February 9, 2020, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion for leave to amend its complaint to add additional claims against Elysium Health for false advertising and unfair competition. On February 10, 2020, Elysium Health filed a motion for leave to amend its counterclaims to identify allegedly false and misleading statements in ChromaDex’s advertising. Those motions were both granted after respective stipulations. On March 12, 2020, Elysium Health answered the second amended complaint. On March 13, 2020, ChromaDex, Inc. filed an answer and objection to Elysium Health’s third amended counterclaims.

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On December 14, 2020, Elysium Health filed a motion to supplement and amend its counterclaims to add claims regarding alleged advertising related to COVID, to add an allegation about a change to the ChromaDex SDNY Complaintwebsite, and to remove its copyright infringement claim under the Copyright Act. On January 19, 2021, the Court denied Elysium Health’s motion to add claims regarding alleged advertising related to COVID. The Court granted the unopposed requests to add an allegation about a change to ChromaDex’s website and to remove Elysium’s Copyright Act claim. Pursuant to the Court’s order, Elysium filed fourth amended counterclaims on April 21, 2021.

All discovery closed on April 23, 2021 and the deadline to submit the Joint Pretrial Report is June 22, 2021. The Court vacated a previously scheduled trial date because of COVID-19, and the Court has informed the Parties that trial will continue inbe rescheduled for November or December 2021.

The Company is unable to predict the interim.

outcome of these matters and, at this time, cannot reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss with respect to the legal proceedings discussed herein. As of September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, ChromaDex, Inc. did not accrue a potential loss for the CounterclaimCalifornia Action or the Elysium SDNY Complaint because ChromaDex, Inc. believes that the allegations are without merit and thus it is not probable that a liability hadhas been incurred,incurred.

(C) Delaware - Patent Infringement Action

On September 17, 2018, ChromaDex, Inc. and Trustees of Dartmouth College filed a patent infringement complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against Elysium Health, Inc. The complaint alleges that Elysium’s BASIS® dietary supplement violates U.S. Patents 8,197,807 (the “‘807 Patent”) and 8,383,086 (the “‘086 Patent”) that comprise compositions containing isolated nicotinamide riboside held by Dartmouth and licensed exclusively to ChromaDex, Inc. On October 23, 2018, Elysium filed an answer to the complaint. The answer asserts various affirmative defenses and denies that Plaintiffs are entitled to any relief.

On November 7, 2018, Elysium filed a motion to stay the patent infringement proceedings pending resolution of (1) the inter partes review of the ‘807 Patent and the amount‘086 Patent before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) and (2) the outcome of loss cannotthe litigation in the California Action. ChromaDex, Inc. filed an opposition brief on November 21, 2018 detailing the issues with Elysium’s motion to stay. In particular, ChromaDex, Inc. argued that given claim 2 of the ‘086 Patent was only included in the PTAB’s inter partes review for procedural reasons the PTAB was unlikely to invalidate claim 2 and therefore litigation in Delaware would continue regardless. In addition, ChromaDex, Inc. argued that the litigation in the California Action is unlikely to have a significant effect on the ongoing patent litigation. After the PTAB released its written decision upholding claim 2 of the ‘086 Patent, proving right ChromaDex, Inc.’s prediction, ChromaDex, Inc. informed the Delaware court of the PTAB’s decision on January 17, 2019. On June 19, 2019, the Delaware court granted in part and denied in part Elysium’s motion, ordering that the case was stayed pending the resolution of Elysium’s patent misuse counterclaim in the California Action.

On November 1, 2019, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion to lift the stay due to changed circumstances in the California Action, among other reasons. Briefing on the motion was completed on November 22, 2019. On January 6, 2020, the Delaware court issued an oral order instructing the parties to submit a joint status report after the January 13, 2020 motions hearing in the California Action. The joint status report was submitted on January 30, 2020. On February 4, 2020, the Delaware court issued an order granting ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion to lift the stay and setting a scheduling conference for March 10, 2020. On March 19, 2020, the Delaware court entered a scheduling order, which, among other things, set the claim-construction hearing for December 17, 2020 and trial for the week of September 27, 2021. On April 17, 2020, ChromaDex, Inc. served infringement contentions. Elysium filed a Second Amended Answer on July 10, 2020.

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On April 24, 2020, ChromaDex, Inc. moved for leave to amend the complaint to add Healthspan Research, LLC as a plaintiff. On May 5, 2020, Elysium filed its opposition to ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion for leave to amend and moved to dismiss ChromaDex, Inc. for alleged lack of standing. ChromaDex, Inc. filed its opposition to Elysium’s motion to dismiss and reply in support of its motion to amend on May 19, 2020. Elysium filed its reply in support of its motion to dismiss on May 26, 2020. The Court held a hearing on the motion for leave to amend the complaint and Elysium’s motion to dismiss on September 16, 2020. On December 15, 2020, the Court entered orders (i) granting in part and denying in part Elysium’s motion to dismiss ChromaDex, Inc. for alleged lack of standing; and (ii) denying ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion for leave to amend. ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion for reargument on December 29, 2020. Elysium filed a response to the motion for reargument on January 28, 2021. ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion for leave to file a reply on February 8, 2021. Elysium filed a response to the motion for leave to file a reply on February 12, 2021. ChromaDex, Inc. filed a reply to the motion for leave to file a reply on February 19, 2021. The Court granted the motion for leave to file the reply on April 26, 2021, and denied the motion for reargument on April 27, 2021.

On July 22, 2020 the parties filed a Joint Claim Construction Chart and respective motions for claim construction. The parties filed a Joint Claim Construction Brief on November 5, 2020. The Court held a Markman hearing on claim-construction issues on December 17, 2020. The Court entered a claim-construction ruling on January 5, 2021.

Fact discovery closed on January 26, 2021. Opening expert reports were served on February 9, 2021. Responsive expert reports were served on March 9, 2021. Reply expert reports were served on March 30, 2021. Both parties filed dispositive and Daubert motions on April 27, 2021.

Trial is scheduled for September 27-30, 2021.

2. Other

(A) Employee Dispute

On September 25, 2020, the Company received a demand letter from a former employee, alleging a series of employment-related claims against the Company after the employee was laid off as part of a company restructuring. The employee alleges she was harassed and, ultimately, terminated in retaliation for taking intermittent leave, under the Family and Medical Leave Act. No lawsuit has been filed to date. The Company believes these claims are without merit and is seeking to amicably resolve the matter pre-lawsuit. The Company does not anticipate that the ultimate resolution of this matter will be reasonably estimated.

material to the Company’s operations, financial condition or cash flows.

(B) Rejuvenation Therapeutics

On September 15, 2020, the Company received a letter from a customer, Rejuvenation Therapeutics Corp. (“Rejuvenation”), and has received subsequent correspondence, requesting a full refund of approximately $1.6 million of NIAGEN® it purchased, alleging breaches of the supply agreement between the parties. The Company believes these claims are without merit and is seeking to amicably resolve the matter pre-lawsuit. As of March 31, 2021, the Company has recorded a return liability of approximately $0.5 million, which the Company has offered to settle in good faith. The Company does not anticipate that the ultimate resolution of this matter will be material to the Company’s operations, financial condition or cash flows.

(C) Thorne Research, Inc.

On or around September 28, 2020, Thorne Research, Inc. (“Thorne”) provided notice to ChromaDex, Inc. that it intended to terminate its March 25, 2019 Supply Agreement and subsequent amendments with ChromaDex, Inc., effective as of December 31, 2020. A discussion between ChromaDex, Inc. and Thorne followed, and Thorne asserted that it could challenge the ‘086 Patent in an inter partes review (“IPR”) proceeding on the basis of prior art, but would be willing to enter into a mutual existence agreement that would permit Thorne to source NR from a third party. Thorne did not offer substantive information supporting a prior art claim or about the nature of the threatened IPR.

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On December 1, 2020, Thorne filed a petition for IPR of the ‘086 Patent. Dartmouth’s preliminary response to the petition was filed on on March 15, 2021. On February 1, 2021, Thorne filed a petition for IPR of the ‘807 Patent. Dartmouth’s preliminary response to the petition is due on May 18, 2021.

From time to time we are involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We believe that there is no other litigation pending that is likely to have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

Lease
On July 6, 2017,

Contingencies

(A) In September 2019, the Company enteredreceived a letter from a licensor stating that the Company owed the licensor $1.6 million plus interest of sublicense fees as a result of the Company entering into the supply agreement with a lease for an office space located in Los Angeles, California through September 2021. Pursuantcustomer. After reviewing the relevant facts and circumstances, the Company believes that the Company does not owe any sublicense fees to the lease,licensor and has corresponded with the licensor to resolve the matter. The Company does not believe that the ultimate resolution of this matter will be material to the Company’s results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

(B) On November 17, 2020, the Company will make monthly lease payments rangingreceived a warning letter (“the Letter”) from approximately $11,000 to $21,000, as the payments escalate during the term of the lease.

Employment agreement with Robert Fried
On March 12, 2017, the Company entered into an Employment Agreement (the "Fried Agreement"United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) with Robert Fried. Mr. Fried is entitled to receive certain severance payments per the terms of the Fried Agreement.and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). The key terms of the Fried Agreement, including the severance terms are as follows:
Mr. Fried is entitled to: (i) an annual base salary of $300,000; (ii) an annual cash bonus equal to (a) 1% of net direct-to-consumer sales of products with nicotinamide riboside as a lead ingredientLetter references statements issued by the Company plus (b) 2% of directrelating to consumer net sales of products withpreclinical and clinical research results involving nicotinamide riboside asand COVID-19. The statements were included in press releases and referenced in social media posts.

On November 18, 2020, the Company provided a lead ingredient forresponse to the portionLetter stating that the Company disagrees with the assertion in the Letter that the Company’s products are intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19 in violation of such sales that exceeded prior year sales plus (c) 1%certain sections of the gross profit derived from nicotinamide riboside ingredient sales to dietary supplement producers; (iii) an option to purchase up to 500,000 shares of Common StockFD&C Act or that they were unsubstantiated under the 2007 plan, subject to monthly vesting over a three-year period; and (iv) 166,667 shares of restricted Common Stock, subject to annual vesting over a three-year period.

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Subject to Mr. Fried’s continuous service through such date, Mr. Fried is also eligible to receive (i) on March 12, 2018, 166,667 shares of restricted Common Stock, subject to annual vesting over a two-year period, (ii) on March 12, 2019, 166,666 shares of restricted Common Stock that vest in full onFTC Act, but rather accurately reflected the  one year anniversarystate of the grant datescience and (iii) upthe results of scientific research. Nonetheless, the Company also responded that it had deleted social media references to 500,000 shares of fully-vested restricted Common Stock that will be granted upon the achievement ofstudies and removed related press releases from its website.

On April 30, 2021, the Company received an additional warning letter (the “Second Letter”) from only the FTC.  The Second Letter references the original Letter, and cites additional statements issued by the Company and certain performance goals. Any unvested options or shares of restricted stock will vest in full upon (a) a change in controlofficers and advisors of the Company (b) Mr. Fried’s death, (c) Mr. Fried’s disability, (d) termination byrelating to nicotinamide riboside and scientific studies related to COVID-19.  The Second Letter asserts that such statements contain coronavirus-related prevention or treatment claims and are deceptive in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

On May 4, 2021, the Company of Mr. Fried’s employment without causeprovided a response to the Second Letter stating that it had removed the social posts from its accounts identified in the Second Letter and requested that third parties remove the post from their accounts that were identified in the Second Letter. The Company stated that the press release identified in the Second Letter is appropriate and not a deceptive act or (e) Mr. Fried’s resignation for good reason, subjectpractice under applicable law. The Company affirmed its belief in each casethe need to Mr. Fried’s continuous service as an employee or consultant ofaccurately report on the Company or anyscientific results of its subsidiaries though such event.

studies to its investors, and welcomed the opportunity to discuss its R&D program with the FTC, and receive guidance on future releases.

The severance termsCompany does not believe that the ultimate resolution of the Fried Agreement provide that if (i) Mr. Fried’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause, for death or disability, or Mr. Fried resigns for good reason, or (ii) (a) a change in control of the Company occurs and (b) within one month priorthis matter will be material to the dateCompany’s results of such change in controloperations, financial condition or twelve months after the date of such change in control R. Fried’s employment is terminated by the Company other than for cause, then, subject to executing a release, Mr. Fried will receive (w) continuation of his base salary for 12 months, (x) health care continuation coverage payments premiums for 12 months, (y) a prorated annual cash bonus earned for the fiscal year in which such termination or resignation occurs, and (z) an extended exercise period for his options.

Employment agreement with Kevin Farr
Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into an agreement with Thomas C. Varvaro whereby Mr. Varvaro will no longer serve as the Company's Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. The Company expects that Mr. Varvaro will transition from the Company over the coming months to pursue other opportunities. During this transition Mr. Varvaro will serve as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Finance. Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into an Employee Agreement (the Farr Agreement) with Kevin M. Farr who was appointed by the Board to serve as Chief Financial Officer, Secretary, principal accounting officer and principal financial officer, to replace the vacancies created by Mr. Varvaro's transition. Mr. Farr is entitled to receive certain severance payments per the terms of the Farr Agreement. The key terms of the Farr Agreement, including the severance terms are as follows:
Mr. Farr is entitled to: (i) an annual base salary of $300,000 and (ii) a discretionary annual bonus based on the achievement of certain performance goals to be determined by the Board. Pursuant to the Farr Agreement, Mr. Farr also received an option to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares of ChromaDex common stock under the ChromaDex 2017 Equity Incentive Plan, subject to monthly vesting over a three-year period, with an exercise price equal to $4.24 per share. The options will fully vest if the Company's stock price equals or exceeds $10 per share for over the previous 20 trading days.
If Mr. Farr’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or Mr. Farr resigns for good reason, then, subject to executing a release, Mr. Farr will receive (i) continuation of his base salary for 12 months, (ii) COBRA premiums for 12 months, (iii) a prorated annual cash bonus, based on the good faith determination of the Board of the actual results and period of employment during the year of such termination, (iv) accelerated vesting of time-based equity that would have otherwise become vested by the one year anniversary of such termination date and (v) an extended exercise period for his options.
Note 13.                       Other Expense
Loss from an ongoing litigation, Elysium
During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company, in relation to the ongoing litigation, incurred a write-off of approximately $746,000 in gross trade receivable from Elysium related to royalties. As a result of this write-off and after further analysis, the Company made an adjustment to the total allowance amount from ($800,000) to ($500,000).
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flows.

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ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Certain statements in this Management's Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”), other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “would,” “expect,” “intend,” “could,” “estimate,” “should,” “anticipate,” or “believe,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and related notesset forth below in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and included under Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 20162020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 201712, 2021 (our “Annual Report”).

The following MD&A is intended to help readers understand the results of our operation and financial condition, and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our Interim Unaudited Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes to Interim Unaudited Financial Statements under Part 1, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Growth and percentage comparisons made herein generally refer to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 compared with the three and nine months ended October 1, 2016March 31, 2020 unless otherwise noted. Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this document to “we,we, “us,us, “our,our, the “Company,Company, “ChromaDex” and similar expressions refer to ChromaDex Corporation, and depending on the context, its subsidiaries.

Company Overview

The business of

ChromaDex Corporation is conducted by our principal subsidiaries, ChromaDex, Inc., Healthspan Research, LLC, ChromaDex Analytics, Inc. and ChromaPharma, Inc. The Company is a natural productsglobal bioscience company dedicated to healthy aging. The ChromaDex team, which includes world-renowned scientists, is pioneering research on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (“NAD+”), levels of which decline with age.

NAD+ is an essential coenzyme and a key regulator of cellular metabolism. Best known for its role in cellular energy production, NAD+ is now thought to play an important role in healthy aging. Many cellular functions related to health and healthy aging are sensitive to levels of locally available NAD+ and this represents an active area of research in the field of NAD+.

NAD+ levels are not constant, and in humans, NAD+ levels have been shown to decline by more than 50% from young adulthood to middle age. NAD+ continues to decline as humans grow older. There are other causes of NAD+ depletion, such as poor diet, alcohol consumption and a number of disease states. NAD+ levels may also be increased, including through calorie restriction and moderate exercise. Healthy aging, mitochondrial health and NAD+ continue to be areas of focus in the research community. As of 2021, there were over 350 published human clinical studies related to NAD+. The areas of study include understanding NAD+’s role in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, neuropathy and heart failure.

In 2013, ChromaDex commercialized NIAGEN® nicotinamide riboside (“NR”), a novel form of vitamin B3. Data from numerous preclinical studies, and confirmed in human clinical trials, show that leverages its complementary business unitsNR is a highly efficient NAD+ precursor that significantly raises NAD+ levels. NIAGEN® is safe for human consumption. NIAGEN® has twice been successfully reviewed under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new dietary ingredient (“NDI”) notification program, has been successfully notified to discover, acquire, developthe U.S. Food and commercialize patentedDrug Administration (the “FDA”) as generally recognized as safe (“GRAS”), and has been approved by Health Canada, the European Commission and the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia. Clinical studies of NIAGEN® have demonstrated a variety of outcomes including increased NAD+ levels, increased cellular metabolism and increased energy production. NIAGEN® is the trade name for our proprietary ingredient technologies that addressNR, and is protected by patents to which we are the dietary supplement, food, beverage, skin care and pharmaceutical markets. Throughexclusive licensee.

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ChromaDex is among the Company's ingredients segment,world leaders in the Company offers its branded ingredients such as NIAGEN®, nicotinamide riboside, and pTeroPure®, pterostilbene. With the acquisition of Healthspan Research, LLC in March 2017, the Company established a consumer product segment, which offers finished bottled dietary supplement products that contain NIAGEN®. The Company alsoemerging NAD+ space. ChromaDex has a core standards and contract services segment, which focuses on natural product fine chemicals (known as “phytochemicals”) and regulatory consulting services. As a result of the Company’s relationshipsamassed more than 225 research partnerships with leading universities and research institutions around the Companyworld including the National Institutes of Health, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge and the Mayo Clinic. Additional relationships are currently being developed.

Our scientific advisory board is led by Chairman Dr. Roger Kornberg, Nobel Laureate Stanford Professor, Dr. Charles Brenner, one of the world’s recognized experts in NAD+ and inventor of nicotinamide riboside, Dr. Rudy Tanzi, the co-chair of the department of neurology at Harvard Medical School and one of the world’s leading experts in food and nutrition, Sir John Walker, Nobel Laureate and Emeritus Director, MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit in the University of Cambridge, England, Dr. Bruce German, Chairman of food, nutrition and health at the University of California, Davis, Dr. Brunie Felding, Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine at Scripps Research Institute, California Campus, and Dr. David Katz, the founder and former director of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center.

Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive global uncertainty and disruption, which has created headwinds for our business. Our ecommerce business continues to perform relatively well in this challenging environment.

Our retail business, including sales to A.S. Watson group and other partners in international markets, has been more impacted by the effects of COVID-19, due to store closures and reduced operating hours. To date, we have successfully navigated the business during the COVID-19 pandemic, managing our working capital effectively.

Global supply chains continue to be impacted by COVID-19, including challenges with transportation, logistics and production lead-times.  In the first quarter of 2021, we experienced delays due to global packaging shortages for our consumer products across our supply chain.  These have been addressed in the second quarter and we have otherwise not encountered any major disruptions in our supply chain. It is our intention to maintain adequate safety stocks to support our growth and we currently have adequate inventory on hand to meet our current demands. Overall, we believe the supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic will not have a material impact to our business operations.

In response to the outbreak, we prioritized the health and safety of our employees by closing our offices or enhancing safety protocols in place to ensure the well-being of our employees. We have been able to discoversuccessfully conduct business virtually.

Financial Condition and license early stage, intellectual property-backed ingredient technologies. The Company then utilizes its business to develop commercially viable proprietary ingredients. The Company’s proprietary ingredient portfolio is backed with clinical and scientific research, as well as extensive intellectual property protection.

Results of Operations

The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires our management to makemaking estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported revenues, if any, and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate such estimates and judgments, including those described in greater detail below. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

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As of September 30, 2017, the Company had approximately $24.0 million cash and cash equivalents on hand. On April 26, 2017,2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with certain purchasers named therein,EverFund pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and issue up to $25.0approximately 3.8 million shares of its Common Stock in three tranches. All three tranches closed andcommon stock at a purchase price of $6.50 per share (the “financing”). On February 23, 2021, the Company closed the Financing and received approximately $23.7proceeds of $24.9 million, net of offering costs. On September 5, 2017, the Company completed the sale of is operating assets that were used with the Company's quality verification program testing and analytical chemistry business for food and food related products (the "Lab Business") to Covance Laboratories Inc. ("Covance"), and received net proceeds of approximately $6.0 million, net of transaction costs. Additional cash consideration of $0.8 million is currently held in escrow to satisfy any potential indemnification claims by Covance.
Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2017,

In June 2020, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement foran At Market Issuance Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with B. Riley FBR, Inc. (“B. Riley FBR”) and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (“Raymond James” and together with B. Riley FBR, the sale of approximately $23.0 million“Sales Agents”) under which the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock in a private placement, in return for which the purchaser will receive approximately 5.6 million shares at a per sharehaving an aggregate offering price of $4.10. The private placement is expectedup to close on or about November 17, 2017, subject$50.0 million from time to time through the Sales Agents (the “ATM Facility”). As of March 31, 2021, the Company had not sold any shares of its common stock pursuant to the satisfactionATM Facility.

As of customary closing conditions.

March 31, 2021, the Company had approximately $44.7 million of cash and cash equivalents on hand. We anticipate that our current cash, cash equivalents, cashand available line of credit up to be generated$7.0 million from operations and cash to be received from the private placement described aboveWestern Alliance Bank will be sufficient to meet our projected operating plans into 2019.for at least the next twelve months. We may, however, seek additional capital prior to 2019,in the next twelve months, both to meet our projected operating plans after 2018the next twelve months and/or to fund our longer term strategic objectives.
In June 2020, we filed a $125.0 million registration statement on Form S-3 with the Commission, utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell securities from time to time, including up to $50.0 million pursuant to the ATM Facility.

Additional capital may come from other public and/or private stock or debt offerings, borrowings under lines of credit or other sources. These additional funds may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. Further, if we issue equity or debt securities to raise additional funds, our existing stockholders may experience dilution and the new equity or debt securities we issue may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our existing stockholders. In addition, if we raise additional funds through collaboration, licensing or other similar arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our products or proprietary technologies, or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable terms, we may not be able to develop or enhance our products, obtain the required regulatory clearances or approvals, achieve long term strategic objectives, take advantage of future opportunities, or respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated customer requirements. Any of these events could adversely affect our ability to achieve our development and commercialization goals, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If we are unable to establish small to medium scale production capabilities through our own plant or though collaboration, we may be unable to fulfill our customers’ requirements. This may causeFurther, as a loss of future revenue streams as well as require us to look for third-party vendors to provide these services. These vendors may not be available, or charge fees that prevent us from pricing competitively within our markets.

Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). The preparation of these financial statements requires our management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dateresult of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken to slow its spread, the global credit and financial statements, as well as the reported revenues, ifmarkets have experienced extreme volatility, including diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates and uncertainty about economic stability. There can be no assurance that further deterioration in credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. If equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate such estimates and judgments, including those described in greater detail below. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptionsnecessary debt or conditions.
- 21 -
Some of our operations are subjectequity financing more difficult to regulation by various state and federal agencies. In addition, we expect a significant increase in the regulation of our target markets. Dietary supplements are subject to Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA"), Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations relating to composition, labeling and advertising claims. These regulations may in some cases, particularly with respect to those applicable to new ingredients, require a notification that must be submitted to the FDA along with evidence of safety. There are similar regulations related to food additives.
obtain, more costly and/or more dilutive.

Our net sales from continuing operations and net income (loss)loss for the three- and nine-monththree-month periods ending on September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 and October 1, 2016March 31, 2020 were as follows:

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net sales
 $6,085,000 
 $3,937,000 
 $13,671,000 
   17,212,000  
Net income (loss)
  2,137,000 
  (954,000)
  (2,556,000)
  (781,000)
 
    
    
    
    
Basic earnings (loss) per common share
 $0.05 
 $(0.03)
 $(0.06)
 $(0.02)
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share
 $0.04 
 $(0.03)
 $(0.06)
 $(0.02)
 
    
    
    
    
Over the next twelve months, we plan to continue to increase (i) research and development efforts for our line of proprietary ingredients and (ii) marketing efforts for our consumer products that contain our proprietary ingredients, subject to available financial resources.

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31,

2021

 

 

Mar. 31,

2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net sales

 

$14,683

 

 

$14,345

 

Net loss

 

 

(7,381)

 

 

(5,902)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted loss per common share

 

$(0.12)

 

$(0.10)

26

Table of Contents

Net Sales

Net salesconsist of gross sales less discounts and returns.

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
Net sales:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients
 $2,460,000 
 $2,663,000 
  -8%
 $7,393,000 
 $13,506,000 
  -45%
Consumer products
  2,647,000 
  - 
  - 
  2,803,000 
  - 
  - 
Core standards and contract services
  978,000 
  1,274,000 
  -23%
  3,475,000 
  3,706,000 
  -6%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
Total net sales
 $6,085,000 
 $3,937,000 
  55%
 $13,671,000 
 $17,212,000 
  -21%
● 
The decrease in

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

Change

 

Net sales:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumer Products

 

$12,437

 

 

$11,144

 

 

 

12%

Ingredients

 

 

1,315

 

 

 

2,475

 

 

 

-47%

Analytical reference standards and services

 

 

931

 

 

 

726

 

 

 

28%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total net sales

 

$14,683

 

 

$14,345

 

 

 

2%

Total net sales increased by 2% for the ingredients segment forthree-month period ended March 31, 2021, compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 is mainly due to decreased sales of “NIAGEN®.” In an effort to promote and better market the Company's TRU NIAGENTM branded consumer product, the Company made a strategic decision to not ship NIAGEN® to certain customerscomparable period in 2017.

● 
With the acquisition of Healthspan Research LLC in March 2017, the Company began selling consumer products that contain the Company's branded NIAGEN® ingredient. Segregation of the financial results for the consumer products segment coincides with the Company's strategic shift towards the consumer products segment which has driven increased sales. The Company expects the sales for consumer products segment to grow over the next twelve months.
● 
The decrease in sales for the core standards and contract services segment is primarily due to decreased sales of regulatory consulting services as fewer consulting projects were completed.
- 22 -
2020.

·

The Company's TRU NIAGEN® sales for the consumer products segment continue to increase after the Company's strategic shift towards consumer products in 2017.

·

The decrease in sales for the ingredients segment is largely due to decreased sales to our NIAGEN® ingredient customers. In 2021, the Company did not ship NIAGEN® to Thorne Research Inc., a former customer who filed a petition on December 1, 2020 for IPR of the ‘086 Patent which ChromaDex Inc. exclusively licenses from Dartmouth College. For more information, see Note 12, Commitments and Contingencies, Legal Proceedings of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

·

The increase in sales for the analytical reference standards and services is largely due to increased demand from the customers. In 2020, the Company experienced lower sales of analytical reference standards due to the effects of COVID-19.

27

Table of Contents

Cost of Sales

Cost of sales include rawmaterials, labor, overhead, and delivery costs.

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
 
Amount
 
 
% of
net sales
 
 
Amount
 
 
% of
net sales
 
 
Amount
 
 
% of
net sales
 
 
Amount
 
 
% of
net sales
 
Cost of sales:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ingredients
 $1,384,000 
    56%
 $1,287,000 
  48%
 $3,615,000 
  49%
 $6,421,000 
  48%
Consumer products
  1,095,000 
  41%
  - 
  - 
  1,136,000 
  41%
  - 
  - 
Core standards and contract services
  690,000 
  71%
  787,000 
  62%
  2,277,000 
  66%
  2,410,000 
  65%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
Total cost of sales
 $3,169,000 
 52%
 $2,074,000 
  53%
 $7,028,000 
  51%
 $8,831,000 
  51%
The cost

 

 

Three months ending

 

 

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

(In thousands)

 

Amount

 

 

% of
net sales

 

 

Amount

 

 

% of
net sales

 

Cost of sales:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumer Products

 

$4,203

 

 

 

34%

 

$4,302

 

 

 

39%

Ingredients

 

 

563

 

 

 

43%

 

 

1,056

 

 

 

43%

Analytical reference standards and services

 

 

683

 

 

 

73%

 

 

676

 

 

 

93%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total cost of sales

 

$5,449

 

 

 

37%

 

$6,034

 

 

 

42%

Cost of sales, as a percentage of net sales, decreased 1% and stayed flat for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017, respectively, compared to the comparable periods in 2016.

● 
The cost of sales, as a percentage of net sales, for the ingredients segment increased 8% and 1% for the three- and nine-month periods, respectively. During the three-month period ended September 30, 2017, we had one-time write-off of our NIAGEN® related inventory of approximately $183,000 which resulted in higher cost of sales.  ..
● 
The cost of sales, as a percentage of net sales for the core standards and contract services segment, increased 9% and 1% for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017, compared to the comparable periods in 2016. The decrease in regulatory consulting salesby 5% for the three-month period ended September 30, 2017 ledMarch 31, 2021, compared to a lower labor utilization rate, which resultedthe comparable period in increasing our cost of sales as a percentage of net sales.
2020.

·

Cost of sales, as a percentage of net sales, for the consumer products segment decreased by 5% for the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, compared to the comparable period in 2020. Product mix, cost savings initiatives and overall scale on our supply chain drove the decrease in cost of sales.

·

Cost of sales, as a percentage of net sales, for the ingredients segment was flat at 43% for the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, compared to the comparable period in 2020.

·

Cost of sales, as a percentage of net sales for the analytical reference standards and services segment, decreased 20% for the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, compared to the comparable period in 2020. The increase in sales of analytical reference standards led to a higher labor and overhead utilization rate, which resulted in our cost of sales decreasing as a percentage of net sales.

Gross Profit

Gross profit is net sales less the cost of sales and is affected by a number of factors including business and product mix, competitive pricing and costs of products, and services.

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
Gross profit:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Ingredients
 $1,076,000 
 $1,376,000 
  -22%
 $3,778,000 
 $7,084,000 
  -47%
  Consumer products
  1,552,000 
  - 
  - 
  1,667,000 
  - 
  - 
  Core standards and contract services
  287,000 
  487,000 
  -41%
  1,197,000 
  1,296,000 
  -8%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
     Total gross profit
 $2,915,000 
 $1,863,000 
  56%
 $6,642,000 
 $8,380,000 
  -21%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
● 
The decreased gross profit for the ingredients segment for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 is due to the decreased sales of “NIAGEN®” in connection with the strategic decision to not ship NIAGEN® to certain customers in 2017 to better promote the Company's consumer products.
● 
The consumer products segment posted gross profit of $1.6 million and $1.7 million, respectively for the three- and nine-month periods ending in September 30, 2017. The Company expects the sales and gross profit for consumer products segment to grow over the next twelve months.
● 
The decreased gross profit for the core standards and contract services segment is largely due to the decreased sale of regulatory consulting services. Fixed labor, costs make up the majority of costs of regulatory consultingoverhead, services and these fixed labor costs did not decrease in proportion to sales, hence yielding lower profit margin
- 23 -

delivery.

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

Change

 

Gross profit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumer Products

 

$8,234

 

 

$6,842

 

 

 

20%

Ingredients

 

 

752

 

 

 

1,419

 

 

 

-47%

Analytical reference standards and services

 

 

248

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

396%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total gross profit

 

$9,234

 

 

$8,311

 

 

 

11%

28

Table of Contents

·

The consumer products segment posted gross profit of $8.2 million for the three-month period ending March 31, 2021, an increase of 20% compared to the comparable period in 2020. The increased gross profit was due to higher sales, product mix, cost savings initiatives and scale on our supply chain operations.

·

The ingredients segment posted gross profit of $0.8 million for the three-month period ending March 31, 2021, a decrease of 47% compared to the comparable period in 2020. The decreased gross profit for the ingredients segment was largely due to lower sales.

·

The increased gross profit for the analytical reference standards and services segment was largely due to the increased sales. Fixed supply chain labor and overhead costs make up a substantial portion of the costs and these fixed labor and overhead costs did not increase in proportion to sales, yielding higher profit margin.

Operating Expenses-Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expensesconsist of salaries, advertising, public relations and marketing expenses.

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
Sales and marketing expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Ingredients
 $390,000 
 $199,000 
  96%
 $960,000 
 $931,000 
  3%
  Consumer products
  549,000 
  - 
  - 
  738,000 
  - 
  - 
  Core standards and contract services
  164,000 
  88,000 
  86%
  360,000 
  259,000 
  39%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
     Total sales and marketing expenses
 $1,103,000 
 $287,000 
  284%
 $2,058,000 
 $1,190,000 
  73%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
● 
For the consumer products segment, we have increased staffing as well as direct marketing expenses associated with social media and other customer awareness and acquisition programs. We will continue to expand both staffing as well as increase other marketing expense as we invest in building out our own global branded consumer product business.
● 
For the ingredients segment, the increase for the three months ended September 30, 2017 is largely due to the hiring of additional staff.
● 
For the core standards and contract services segment, the increase for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 is mainly due to our increased marketing efforts.

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

Change

 

Sales and marketing expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumer Products

 

$6,111

 

 

$4,409

 

 

 

39%

Ingredients

 

 

10

 

 

 

(84)

 

 

-112%

Analytical reference standards and services

 

 

137

 

 

 

122

 

 

 

12%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total sales and marketing expenses

 

$6,258

 

 

$4,447

 

 

 

41%

·

For the consumer products segment, the increase during the three-month period ended March 31, 2021 is largely due to direct marketing expenses associated with social media, public relations and other customer awareness and acquisition programs, as well as increased staffing.

·

For the ingredients segment, selling and marketing expenses were approximately $10,000 during the three-month period ended March 31, 2021. During the first quarter of 2020, we reversed approximately $114,000 of certain accrued commission expense, as we were no longer obligated to pay the commission.

·

For the analytical reference standards and services segment, the selling and marketing expenses increased by 12% during the three-month period ended March 31, 2021. During the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, we increased our sales and marketing efforts to increase the sales of our analytical reference standards business.

29

Table of Contents

Operating Expenses-Research and Development

Research and development expenses mainly consist primarily of clinical trials, regulatory approvals, product development and process development expenses.

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
Research and development expenses:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Ingredients
 $559,000 
 $760,000 
  -26%
 $2,022,000 
 $1,961,000 
  3%
  Consumer products
  482,000 
  - 
  - 
 $533,000 
  - 
  - 
  Core standards and contract services
  - 
  13,000 
  -100%
  - 
  28,000 
  -100%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
     Total sales and marketing expenses
 $1,041,000 
 $773,000 
  35%
 $2,555,000 
 $1,989,000 
  28%
 
    
    
    
    
    
    
● 
In 2017, we began allocating the research and development expenses related to our "NIAGEN®" branded ingredient to the ingredients and consumer products segment, based on revenues recorded. Previously, these expenses were recorded all in the ingredients segment. Overall, we increased our research and development efforts compared to 2016. Subject to available financial resources, we plan to continue to increase research and development efforts for our line of proprietary ingredients.
● 
For the core standards and contract services segment, we explored processes to develop certain compounds at a larger scale during the three and nine months ended October 1, 2016.
- 24 -

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

Change

 

Research and development expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumer Products

 

$751

 

 

$782

 

 

 

-4%

Ingredients

 

 

73

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

-47%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total research and development expenses

 

$824

 

 

$919

 

 

 

-10%

·

We allocate the research and development expenses related to our NIAGEN® branded ingredient to the consumer products and ingredients segment, based on revenues recorded. Overall, we decreased our research and development efforts during the three-month period ended March 31, 2021 largely due to the timing of projects as we evaluate and realign the priorities of our ongoing research and development efforts of our flagship ingredient, NIAGEN® nicotinamide riboside.

Operating Expenses-General and Administrative

General and administrativeexpenses consist of general company administration, legal, royalties, IT, accounting and executive management expenses.

 
 
Three months ending
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
General and administrative
 $3,948,000 
 $1,727,000 
  129%
 $8,883,000 
 $5,935,000 
  50%
● 
The increase was primarily related

 

 

Three months ending

 

(In thousands)

 

Mar. 31, 2021

 

 

Mar. 31, 2020

 

 

Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General and administrative

 

$9,514

 

 

$8,835

 

 

 

8%

·

The increase in general and administrative expenses for the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, compared to the comparable period in 2020 was largely due to an increase in legal expenses. Our legal expenses increased to approximately $5.0 million in the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, compared to approximately $2.4 million in the comparable period in 2020 due to higher ligation-related expenses.

·

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, we did not incur significant severance and restructuring expenses while we incurred approximately $1.0 million in the comparable period in 2020.

·

For the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, our share-based compensation expense recorded as general and administrative expense was $0.7 million compared to $1.5 million in the comparable period in 2020.

Income Taxes

Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017, our legal expenses increased to approximately $1,415,000 and $2,686,000, respectively, compared to approximately $312,000 and $735,000, respectively, for the comparable periods in 2016. The ongoing litigation with Elysium Health, Inc. and our increased efforts to file and maintain patents related to the proprietary ingredient technologies were the main reasons for the increase in legal expenses. We also incurred significant legal expenses related to the saleopinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the Lab Business as well as the private placement of equity, however, these expenses were recorded as transaction costs.

● 
In addition our share-based compensation expense increased. For the three-deferred tax assets will not be realized. At March 31, 2021 and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2017, our share-based compensation expense increased to approximately $491,000 and $1,211,000 compared to approximately $272,000 and $930,000 for the comparable periods in 2016.
Operating Expense-Other
Other expense consists of loss from an ongoing litigation. 
Three months ending
 Nine months ending   
Sep. 30, 2017
Oct. 1, 2016
Change
Sep. 30, 2017
Oct. 1, 2016
Change
Other
$-
$-

$746,000
$-
● 
During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company, in relation to the ongoing litigation, incurred a write-off of approximately $746,000 in gross trade receivable from Elysium Health, Inc. related to royalties.
Non-operating Expenses- Interest Expense, net
Interest expense consists of interest on loan payable and capital leases.
 
 
Three months ending  
 
 
Nine months ending
 
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
Sep. 30, 2017
 
 
Oct. 1, 2016
 
 
Change
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest expense, net
 $45,000 
 $2,000 
  2150%
 $109,000 
 $315,000 
  -65%
The decrease in interest expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 was mainly due to the term loan from Hercules Technology II, L.P. which the Company drew down an initial $2.5 million on September 29, 2014 and a second $2.5 million on June 18, 2015. The Company fully repaid the loan on June 14, 2016.
- 25 -
Income Taxes
At September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016, the CompanyMarch 31, 2020, we maintained a full valuation allowance against the entire deferred income tax balance which resulted in an effective tax rate of approximately 0% for the nine-monththree-month periods ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021, and October 1, 2016,March 31, 2020, respectively.
As defined in ASC 740, Income Taxes, future realization of the tax benefit will depend on the existence of sufficient taxable income, including the expectation of continued future taxable income.

30

Table of Contents

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation expense for the nine-monththree-month period ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 was approximately $396,000$0.2 million as compared to $234,000$0.2 million for the nine-monththree-month period ended October 1, 2016.March 31, 2020. We depreciate our assets on a straight-line basis, based on the estimated useful lives of the respective assets.

Amortization expense of intangible assets for the nine-monththree-month period ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 was approximately $148,000$0.1 million as compared to $63,000$0.1 million for the nine-monththree-month period ended October 1, 2016.March 31, 2020. We amortize intangible assets using a straight-line method, generally over 10 years. For licensed patent rights, the useful lives are 10 years or the remaining term of the patents underlying licensing rights, whichever is shorter. The useful lives of subsequent milestone payments that are capitalized are the remaining useful life of the initial licensing payment that was capitalized.

Amortization expense of right of use assets for the three-month period ended March 31, 2021 was approximately $0.1 million as compared to $0.1 million for the three-month period ended March 31, 2020.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

From inception through September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, we have incurred aggregate losses of approximately $48$149.2 million. These losses are primarily due to expenses associated with the development and expansion of our operations.operations and investments to protect our intellectual property, including litigation-related expenses. These operations have been financed through capital contributions, the issuance of common stock and warrants through private placements, and the issuance of debt.

Our board of directors periodically reviews our capital requirements in light of our proposed business plan. Our future capital requirements will remain dependent upon a variety of factors, including cash flow from operations, the ability to increase sales, increasing our gross profits from current levels, reducing selling and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales, continued development of customer relationships, and our ability to market our new products successfully. However, based on our results from operations, we may determine that we need additional financing to implement our business plan. There can be no assurance that any such financing will be available on terms favorable to us or at all. Without adequate financing we may have to further delay or terminate product and service expansion and curtail certain selling, general and administrative expenses. Any inability to raise additional financing would have a material adverse effect on us.

Subsequent

Pursuant to the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement for the saleFinancing, on February 23, 2021 we received proceeds of approximately $23.0$24.9 million, net of its common stock in a private placement, in return for which the purchaser will receive approximately 5.6 million shares at a per share price of $4.10. The private placement is expected to close on or about November 17, 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

offering costs.

While we anticipate that our current cash, cash equivalents, cashand available line of credit up to be generated$7.0 million from operations and cash to be received from the private placement described aboveWestern Alliance Bank will be sufficient to meet our projected operating plans into 2019,for at least the next twelve months, we may requireseek additional funds, either through additional equity or debt financings or collaborative agreements or from other sources. WeIn June 2020, we filed a $125.0 million registration statement on Form S-3 with the Commission, utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell securities from time to time, including up to $50.0 million pursuant to the ATM Facility.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken to slow its spread, the global credit and financial markets have experienced extreme volatility, including diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates and uncertainty about economic stability. There can be no commitmentsassurance that further deterioration in credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. If equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to obtain, such additional financing, and we may not be able to obtain any such additional financing on terms favorable to us, more costly and/or at all. If adequate financing is not available, the Company will further delay, postpone or terminate product and service expansion and curtail certain selling, general and administrative operations. The inability to raise additional financing may have a material adverse effect on the future performance of the Company.

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more dilutive.

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Net cash used in operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017March 31, 2021 was approximately $6,037,000$5.4 million as compared to approximately $3,128,000$5.2 million for the ninethree months ended October 1, 2016.March 31, 2020. Along with the net loss, a decreasean increase in accounts payabletrade receivables and an increase in prepaid expensesinventories were the largest uses of cash during the nine-monththree-month period ended September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, partially offset by the decreasean increase in trade receivablesaccounts payable, an increase in accrued expenses and inventories.noncash share-based compensation expense. Net cash used in operating activities for the ninethree months ended October 1, 2016March 31, 2020 largely reflects the net loss, a decrease in allowance for doubtful trade receivables and a decrease in accounts payable, and an increasepartially offset by a decrease in trade receivables along with the net loss.

and noncash share-based compensation expense.

We expect our operating cash flows to fluctuate significantly in future periods as a result of fluctuations in our operating results, shipment timetables, accountstrade receivable collections, inventory management, and the timing of our payments, among other factors.

Net cash provided by (used in) used in investing activities

Net cash provided byused in investing activities was approximately $4,897,000$46,000 for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, compared to approximately $1,146,000 used in$20,000 for the ninethree months ended October 1, 2016. Net cash provided by investing activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 primarily consisted of net proceeds from the sale of the Lab Business.March 31, 2020. Net cash used in investing activities for the ninethree months ended October 1, 2016March 31, 2021 mainly consisted of purchases of leasehold improvements and equipment. Net cash used in investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 consisted of purchases of leasehold improvements and equipment and intangibleinvestment in other long-term assets.

Net cash provided by financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $23,497,000$33.4 million for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, compared to approximately $989,000$37,000 for the ninethree months ended October 1, 2016.March 31, 2020. Net cash provided by financing activities for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017 mainlyMarch 31, 2021 primarily consisted of proceeds from the issuance of our common stock.stock pursuant to the Financing and the exercise of stock options. Net cash provided by financing activities for the ninethree months ended October 1, 2016 mainlyMarch 31, 2020 consisted of proceeds from the issuance of our common stock and warrants through a private offering to our existing stockholders and exercise of stock options, partially offset by principal payments on loan payable and capitalfinance leases.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

During the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, there were no material changes outside of the ordinary course of business in the specified contractual obligations disclosed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as contained in our Annual Report, other than as disclosed in “Item 1 Financial Statements” of this Quarterly Report.

Report on Form 10-Q.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

During the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, we had no material off-balance sheet arrangements other than with respect to ordinary operating leases as disclosed in the “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” section of our Annual Report.

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arrangements.

ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Interest Rate Risk
Our capital lease obligations bear interest at a fixed rate and therefore have no exposure to changes in interest rates.
The Company’s cash investments consist of short term, high liquid investments in money market funds managed by banks. Due to the short-term duration of our investment portfolio and the relatively low risk profile of our investments, a sudden change in interest rates would not have a material effect on either the fair market value of our portfolio, or our operating results or cash flows.
Foreign Currency Risk
All of our long-lived assets are located within the United States and we do not hold any foreign currency denominated financial instruments.
Effects of Inflation
We do not believe that inflation and changing prices during the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and October 1, 2016 had a significant impact on our results of operations.

Not applicable.

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ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the supervision of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, respectively), evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, pursuant to Rule 13a-15as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"“Exchange Act”), as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs.

Based on our evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures are designed atwere not effective as a reasonable assurance levelresult of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting discussed below.

The material weakness in internal control over financial reporting resulted from a deficiency in our disclosure controls and are effective to provide reasonable assurance that information we are requiredprocedures which could have resulted in the Company not disclosing a material potential loss requiring a qualitative disclosure and recording a liability in consolidated financial statements under ASC 450 - Contingencies. Specifically, the Company failed to disclose in reportsits Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2020 that we file or submit under the Exchange ActCompany received a letter in September 2020 from a customer requesting a full refund of approximately $1.6 million of NIAGEN® it purchased, alleging breaches of the supply agreement between the parties, and failed to record a liability in its financial statements for such quarter.

The Company is recorded, processed, summarized,still in the process of analyzing and reported withinaddressing the material weakness. The material weakness will not be considered remediated until the applicable remedial control operates for a sufficient period of time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, andmanagement has concluded, through testing, that such informationthis control is accumulated and communicatedoperating effectively. We expect that the remediation of this material weakness will be completed prior to our management, including ourthe end of year 2021.

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

believe that, notwithstanding the material weakness discussed above, the condensed consolidated financial statements in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 present fairly, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

An evaluation was also performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of any change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a−15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act) that occurred during our last fiscal quarter and that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. ThereOther than addressing the material weakness as discussed above, there were no changes in internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s thirdfirst fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM

Item 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

As previously disclosed, on December 29, 2016, ChromaDex, Inc. filedLegal Proceedings

For a complaint (the “Complaint”) in the United States District Court for the Central Districtdescription of California, naming Elysium Health, Inc.(together with Elysium Health, LLC, “Elysium”) as defendant. Among other allegations, ChromaDex, Inc. alleges in the Complaint that (i) Elysium breached the Supply Agreement, dated June 26, 2014, byour legal proceedings, see Note 12, Commitments and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium (the “pTeroPure® Supply Agreement”), by failing to make payments to ChromaDex, Inc. for purchases of pTeroPure® pursuant to the pTeroPure® Supply Agreement, (ii) Elysium breached the Supply Agreement, dated February 3, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium, as amended (the “NIAGEN® Supply Agreement”), by failing to make payments to ChromaDex, Inc. for purchases of NIAGEN® pursuant to the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement, (iii) Elysium breached the Trademark License and Royalty Agreement, dated February 3, 2014, by and between ChromaDex, Inc. and Elysium (the “License Agreement”), by failing to make payments to ChromaDex, Inc. for royalties due pursuant to the License Agreement and (iv) certain officers of Elysium made false promises and representations to induce ChromaDex, Inc. into providing large supplies of pTeroPure® and NIAGEN® to Elysium pursuant to the pTeroPure® Supply Agreement and NIAGEN® Supply Agreement. ChromaDex, Inc. is seeking punitive damages, money damages and interest.

On January 25, 2017, Elysium filed an answer and counterclaims (the “Counterclaim”) in response to the Complaint. Among other allegations, Elysium alleges in the Counterclaim that (i) ChromaDex, Inc. breached the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement by not issuing certain refunds or credits to Elysium and for violating certain confidential information provisions, (ii) ChromaDex, Inc. breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing pursuant to the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement, (iii) ChromaDex, Inc. breached certain confidential provisionsContingencies, Legal Proceedings of the pTeroPure® Supply Agreement, (iv) ChromaDex, Inc. fraudulently induced Elysium into entering into the License Agreement (the “Fraud Claim”), (v) ChromaDex, Inc.’s conduct constitutes misuseNotes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part I, Item 1 of its patent rights (the “Patent Claim”) and (vi) ChromaDex, Inc. has engaged in unlawful or unfair competition under California state law (the “Unfair Competition Claim”)this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Item 1A. Elysium is seeking damages for ChromaDex, Inc.’s alleged breaches of the NIAGEN® Supply Agreement and pTeroPure® Supply Agreement, and compensatory damages, punitive damages and/or rescission of the License Agreement and restitution of any royalty payments conveyed by Elysium pursuant to the License Agreement, and a declaratory judgment that ChromaDex, Inc. has engaged in patent misuse.

On February 15, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed an amended complaint. In the amended complaint, ChromaDex, Inc. re-alleges the claims in the Complaint, and also alleges that Elysium willfully and maliciously misappropriated ChromaDex, Inc.’s trade secrets. On February 15, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. also filed a motion to dismiss the Fraud Claim, the Patent Claim and the Unfair Competition Claim. On March 1, 2017, Elysium filed a motion to dismiss ChromaDex, Inc.'s fraud and trade secret misappropriation causes of action. On March 6, 2017, Elysium filed a first amended counterclaim. On March 20, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. moved to dismiss Elysium's amended fraud, declaratory judgment of patent misuse and the Unfair Competition Claim. On May 10, 2017, the court ruled on the motions to dismiss, denying ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion as to Elysium’s fraud and declaratory judgment claims and granting ChromaDex, Inc.’s motion with prejudice as to Elysium’s Unfair Competition Claim. With respect to Elysium’s motion, the court granted the motion with prejudice as to ChromaDex, Inc.’s fraud claim and granted with leave to amend the motion as to ChromaDex, Inc.’s trade secret misappropriation claims. On May 24, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. answered the first amended counterclaim and asserted several affirmative defenses. Also on May 24, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a second amended complaint, amending the trade secret misappropriation claims and addressing Elysium’s declaratory judgment of patent misuse counterclaim. On June 7, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a third amended complaint dismissing the trade secret misappropriation claims and asserting two breach of contract claims for Elysium’s failure to pay for the product delivered. On June 16, 2017, Elysium answered the third amended complaint. On August 14, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. moved for judgment on the pleadings as to Elysium’s declaratory judgment of patent misuse counterclaim. On September 26, 2017, the court denied ChromaDex’s motion without prejudice and directed Elysium to file an amended counterclaim if it intended to maintain its declaratory judgment counterclaim. On October 11, 2017, Elysium filed a second amended counterclaim, re-alleging the claims in the first amended counterclaim and adding a claim for unjust enrichment and restitution of the royalties Elysium paid to ChromaDex, Inc. pursuant to the License Agreement. On October 25, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the declaratory judgment of patent misuse and unjust enrichment claims and/or strike allegations in the unjust enrichment claim contained in the second amended counterclaim. The court has not yet ruled on the motion.
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On July 17, 2017, Elysium filed petitions with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inter partes review of U.S. Patent No. 8,197,807 and 8,383,086, patents to which ChromaDex, Inc. is the exclusive licensee.
On September 27, 2017, Elysium filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, naming ChromaDex, Inc. as defendant (the “SDNY Complaint”). Elysium alleges in the SDNY Complaint that ChromaDex, Inc. made false and misleading statements in a citizen petition to the Food and Drug Administration it filed on or about August 18, 2017. Among other allegations, Elysium avers that the citizen petition was filed with intent to injure Elysium’s position in the marketplace, that it falsely described Elysium’s product as dangerous, and that it misleadingly omitted material facts which made Elysium’s product appear dangerous, while casting ChromaDex, Inc.’s own products as safe. The SDNY Complaint asserts four claims for relief: (i) false advertising under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1); (ii) trade libel; (iii) deceptive business practices under New York General Business Law § 349; and (iv) tortious interference with business relations. ChromaDex, Inc. disputes the claims in the SDNY Complaint and intends to defend against them vigorously. On October 19, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the SDNY Complaint. In its motion, ChromaDex, Inc. argued that the SDNY Complaint should be dismissed because its statements in the citizen petition are immunized from all of Elysium’s claims under the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine, the litigation privilege, and New York’s Anti-SLAPP statute, and because the SDNY Complaint failed to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Elysium filed its opposition papers on November 2, 2017. ChromaDex, Inc.’s reply, if any, is due on November 9, 2017.
On October 26, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, naming Elysium as defendant (the “ChromaDex SDNY Complaint”). ChromaDex alleges in the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint that Elysium made material false and misleading statements to consumers in the promotion, marketing, and sale of its health supplement product, Basis, by deceiving consumers into erroneously believing: (1) the product is “safe” and “pure” when its current Basis product has not been sufficiently tested to support those claims; (2) the product has been approved or otherwise endorsed by the Food and Drug Administration; and (3) the product has been approved or endorsed by prominent scientists and prestigious academic institutions, among other allegations. The ChromaDex SDNY Complaint asserts five claims for relief: (i) false advertising under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1125(a); (ii) unfair competition under 15 U.S.C. § 1225(a); (iii) deceptive business practices under New York General Business Law § 349; (iv) deceptive business practices under New York General Business Law § 350; and (v) tortious interference with prospective economic advantage. Elysium has indicated that it intends on moving to dismiss the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint. On November 3, 2017, the Court consolidated the SDNY Complaint and the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint actions, and stayed discovery in both actions pending a Court ordered mediation. Briefing on the motion to dismiss the SDNY Complaint and the expected motion to dismiss the ChromaDex SDNY Complaint will continue in the interim.
While ChromaDex, Inc. expresses no opinion as to the ultimate outcome of these matters, ChromaDex, Inc. believes Elysium’s allegations are without merit and will vigorously defend against them. As of September 30, 2017, ChromaDex, Inc. did not accrue a potential loss for the Counterclaim or the SDNY Complaint because ChromaDex, Inc. believes that the allegations are without merit and thus it is not probable that a liability had been incurred, and the amount of loss cannot be reasonably estimated.
From time to time we are involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We believe that there is no other litigation pending that is likely to have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Current investors and potential investors should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below and in our Annual Report, together with all other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our Annual Report, including our financial statements, the related notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” before making investment decisions with respect to our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. Under these circumstances, the trading price and value of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our Annual Report are not the only ones facing our Company. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are not presently aware, or that we currently consider immaterial, may also impair our business operations. The risk factors set forth below that are marked with an asterisk (*) contain changes to the similarly titled risk factors included in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report.

Risks Related to our Company and our Business

*The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected, and is expected to continue to pose risks to our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, and other epidemics or outbreaks of infectious diseases may have a similar impact.

As previously disclosed, we face risks related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has spread across the globe since 2020 and is impacting economic activity worldwide. COVID-19 has caused disruption and volatility in the global capital markets, and has caused an economic slowdown. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic uncertainty may negatively impact our sales volumes in 2021. In response to COVID-19, national and local governments around the world have instituted certain measures, including travel bans, prohibitions on group events and gatherings, shutdowns of certain businesses, curfews, shelter-in-place orders and recommendations to practice social distancing. The duration of these measures is unknown, may be extended and additional measures may be imposed.

Among the potential effects of COVID-19 include, but are not limited to, the following:

·

Reduced consumer and investor confidence, instability in the credit and financial markets, volatile corporate profits, and reduced business and consumer spending, which may adversely affect our results of operations by reducing our sales, margins and/or net income as a result of a slowdown in customer orders.

·

Reduced demand for our products due to store closures and reduced operating hours of our customers.

·

Disruptions in supply chain, leading to inadequate levels of inventory that may lower our sales.

For example, our retail business, including sales to A.S. Watson group and other partners in international markets, has been impacted by the effects of COVID-19, due to store closures and reduced operating hours.

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To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, it may also heighten many of the other risks described in this section. The ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows is dependent on future developments, including the duration of the pandemic and the related length of its impact on the global economy, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.

*We have a history of operating losses, may need additional financing to meet our future long-term capital requirements and may be unable to raise sufficient capital on favorable terms or at all.

We have recorded a net loss of approximately $2,556,000$7.4 million for the ninethree months ended September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021 and we have a history of losses and may continue to incur operating and net losses for the foreseeable future. We incurred net losses of approximately $2,928,000, $2,771,000$19.9 million and $5,388,000$32.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2016, January 2, 20162020 and January 3, 2015,December 31, 2019, respectively. As of September 30, 2017,March 31, 2021, our accumulated deficit was approximately $47.8$149.2 million. We have not achieved profitability on an annual basis. We may not be able to reach a level of revenue to continue to achieve and sustain profitability. If our revenues grow slower than anticipated, or if operating expenses exceed expectations, then we may not be able to achieve and sustain profitability in the near future or at all, which may depress our stock price.

Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement for the sale

As of March 31, 2021, our cash and cash equivalents totaled approximately $23.0 million of its common stock in a private placement, in return for which the purchaser will receive approximately 5.6 million shares at a per share price of $4.10. The private placement is expected to close on or about November 17, 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

$44.7 million. While we anticipate that our current cash, cash equivalents, cash to be generated from operations and cashavailable line of credit up to be received$7.0 million from the private placement described aboveWestern Alliance Bank will be sufficient to meet our projected operating plans into 2019,through at least the next twelve months, we may require additional funds, either through additional equity or debt financings, including pursuant to the At Market Issuance Sales Agreement, dated as of June 12, 2020, with B. Riley FBR, Inc. and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (the “ATM Facility”), or collaborative agreements or from other sources. We have no commitments to obtain such additional financing, and we may not be able to obtain any such additional financing on terms favorable to us, or at all. Further, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken to slow its spread, the global credit and financial markets have experienced extreme volatility, including diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates and uncertainty about economic stability. There can be no assurance that further deterioration in credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. If equity and credit markets deteriorate, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to obtain, more costly and/or more dilutive. If adequate financing is not available, the Company will further delay, postpone or terminate product and service expansion and curtail certain selling, general and administrative operations. The inability to raise additional financing may have a material adverse effect on the future performance of the Company.
*

Our capital requirements will depend on many factors.

Our capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

the revenues generated by sales of our products;
the costs associated with expanding our sales and marketing efforts, including efforts to hire independent agents and sales representatives and obtain required regulatory approvals and clearances;
the expenses we incur in developing and commercializing our products, including the cost of obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals; and
unanticipated general and administrative expenses, including expenses involved with our ongoing litigation with Elysium.
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As a result

the revenues generated by sales of our products; 

the costs associated with expanding our sales and marketing efforts, including efforts to hire independent agents and sales representatives and obtain required regulatory approvals and clearances; 

the expenses we incur in developing and commercializing our products, including the cost of obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals; and 

unanticipated general and administrative expenses, including expenses involved with our ongoing litigation with Elysium.

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Because of these factors, we may seek to raise additional capital prior to November 2018within the next twelve months both to meet our projected operating plans after November 2018the next twelve months and to fund our longer term strategic objectives. Additional capital may come from public and private equity or debt offerings, borrowings under lines of credit or other sources. These additional funds may not be available on favorable terms, or at all. There can be no assurance we will be successful in raising these additional funds. Furthermore, if we issue equity or debt securities to raise additional funds, our existing stockholders may experience dilution and the new equity or debt securities we issue may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our existing stockholders. In addition, if we raise additional funds through collaboration, licensing or other similar arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our products or proprietary technologies, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable terms, we may not be able to develop or enhance our products, obtain the required regulatory clearances or approvals, execute our business plan, take advantage of future opportunities, or respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated customer requirements. Any of these events could adversely affect our ability to achieve our development and commercialization goals, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

*We are currently engaged in substantial and complex litigation with Elysium, the oucome of which could materially harm our business and financial results.
We are currently engaged in litigation with Elysium, a customer that represented 19% of our net sales for the year ended December 31, 2016. Elysium has made no purchases from us since August 9, 2016. The litigation includes multiple complaints and counterclaims by us and Elysium in venues in California and New York, as well as a petition by Elysium with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inter partes review of two patents to which we are the exclusive licensee. For further details on this litigation, please refer to Part II, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
The litigation is substantial and complex, and it has and could continue to cause us to incur significant costs, as well as distract our management over an extended period of time. The litigation may substantially disrupt our business and we cannot assure you that we will be able to resolve the litigation on terms favorable to us. If we are unsuccessful in resolving the litigation on favorable terms to us, we may be forced to pay compensatory and punitive damages and restitution for any royalty payments that we received from Elysium, which payments could materially harm our business, or be subject to other remedies, including injunctive relief. Further, if we are unsuccessful in resolving the Patent Claim on favorable terms, or if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidates the two patents subject to the inter partes review, we may lose the competitive advantage that is provided by the subject intellectual property rights, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, Elysium has not paid us approximately $2.7 million for previous purchase orders. We may not collect the full amount owed to us by Elysium, and as a result, we may have to write off a large portion of that amount as uncollectible expense. We cannot predict the outcome of our litigation with Elysium, which could have any of the results described above or other results that could materially harm our business.
*Interruptions in our relationships or declines in our business with major customers could materially ham our business and financial results.
Two of our customers accounted for approximately 50% of our sales during the three months ended September 30, 2017. Any interruption in our relationship or decline in our business with these customers or other customers upon whom we become highly dependent could cause harm to our business. Factors that could influence our relationship with our customers upon whom we may become highly dependent include:
our ability to maintain our products at prices that are competitive with those of our competitors;
our ability to maintain quality levels for our products sufficient to meet the expectations of our customers;
our ability to produce, ship and deliver a sufficient quantity of our products in a timely manner to meet the needs of our customers;
our ability to continue to develop and launch new products that our customers feel meet their needs and requirements, with respect to cost, timeliness, features, performance and other factors;
our ability to provide timely, responsive and accurate customer support to our customers; and
the ability of our customers to effectively deliver, market and increase sales of their own products based on ours.
*In an effort to promote and better market our consumer products, we have made a strategic decision to not ship NIAGEN® to certain ingredient segment customers, which could potentially harm our overall sales.
By developing and selling TRU NIAGEN®, our own consumer standalone NIAGEN® supplement product, we are in direct competition with some of our current ingredients segment customers that use NIAGEN® in the products that are sold to consumers. In an effort to promote and better market our consumer product, we have made a strategic decision to not ship NIAGEN® to certain ingredient segment customers, which will have a negative effect on our ingredient segment sales. For example, sales for our ingredients segment for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017 decreased 45% compared to the same period in 2016. Additionally, as our own consumer product becomes more prominent and widely adopted by consumers, the competition with our consumer product could potentially further harm the sales of our ingredients segment business, and our sales of NIAGEN® for our ingredients segment may further decrease. The sales of our consumer product may not outweigh the decrease in sales of our ingredients segment, which would lead to an overall decrease in our sales. Sales for our ingredients segment represented approximately 63% of the Company’s revenue for 2016, and sales of NIAGEN® accounted for approximately 71% of our ingredient segment’s total sales in 2016, or 45% of our overall revenue, so any harm to our NIAGEN® ingredient sales, if not compensated for by sales of our consumer product, may materially and negatively affect our business.
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Decline in the state of the global economy and financial market conditions could adversely affect our ability to conduct business and our results of operations.
Global economic and financial market conditions, including disruptions in the credit markets and the impact of the global economic deterioration may materially impact our customers and other parties with whom we do business. These conditions could negatively affect our future sales of our ingredient lines as many consumers consider the purchase of nutritional products discretionary. Decline in general economic and financial market conditions could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Specifically, the impact of these volatile and negative conditions may include decreased demand for our products and services, a decrease in our ability to accurately forecast future product trends and demand, and a negative impact on our ability to timely collect receivables from our customers. The foregoing economic conditions may lead to increased levels of bankruptcies, restructurings and liquidations for our customers, scaling back of research and development expenditures, delays in planned projects and shifts in business strategies for many of our customers. Such events could, in turn, adversely affect our business through loss of sales.
We may need to increase the size of our organization, and we can provide no assurance that we will successfully expand operations or manage growth effectively.
Our significant increase in the scope and the scale of our product launches, including the hiring of additional personnel, has resulted in significantly higher operating expenses. As a result, we anticipate that our operating expenses will continue to increase. Expansion of our operations may also cause a significant demand on our management, finances and other resources. Our ability to manage the anticipated future growth, should it occur, will depend upon a significant expansion of our accounting and other internal management systems and the implementation and subsequent improvement of a variety of systems, procedures and controls. There can be no assurance that significant problems in these areas will not occur. Any failure to expand these areas and implement and improve such systems, procedures and controls in an efficient manner at a pace consistent with our business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that our attempts to expand our marketing, sales, manufacturing and customer support efforts will be successful or will result in additional sales or profitability in any future period. As a result of the expansion of our operations and the anticipated increase in our operating expenses, as well as the difficulty in forecasting revenue levels, we expect to continue to experience significant fluctuations in our results of operations.
*Changes in our business strategy, including entering the consumer product market, or restructuring of our businesses may increase our costs or otherwise affect the profitability of our businesses.
As changes in our business environment occur we may adjust our business strategies to meet these changes or we may otherwise decide to restructure our operations or particular businesses or assets. In addition, external events including changing technology, changing consumer patterns and changes in macroeconomic conditions may impair the value of our assets. When these changes or events occur, we may incur costs to change our business strategy and may need to write down the value of assets. In any of these events, our costs may increase, we may have significant charges associated with the write-down of assets or returns on new investments may be lower than prior to the change in strategy or restructuring. For example, if we are not successful in developing our consumer product business, our sales may decrease and our costs may increase.
*The success of our ingredient and consumer product business is linked to the size and growth rate of the vitamin, mineral and dietary supplement market and an adverse change in the size or growth rate of that market could have a material adverse effect on us.
An adverse change in the size or growth rate of the vitamin, mineral and dietary supplement market could have a material adverse effect on our business. Underlying market conditions are subject to change based on economic conditions, consumer preferences and other factors that are beyond our control, including media attention and scientific research, which may be positive or negative.
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*Our future growth and profitability of our consumer product business will depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing expenditures and our ability to select effective markets and media in which to advertise.
Our consumer products business success depends on our ability to attract and retain customers, which significantly depends on our marketing practices. Our future growth and profitability will depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing expenditures, including our ability to:
create greater awareness of our brand;
identify the most effective and efficient levels of spending in each market, media and specific media vehicle;
determine the appropriate creative messages and media mix for advertising, marketing and promotional expenditures;
effectively manage marketing costs (including creative and media) in order to maintain acceptable customer acquisition costs;
acquire cost-effective television advertising;
select the most effective markets, media and specific media vehicles in which to advertise; and
convert consumer inquiries into actual orders.
Unfavorable publicity or consumer perception of our products and any similar products distributed by other companies could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We believe the nutritional supplement market is highly dependent upon consumer perception regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of nutritional supplements generally, as well as of products distributed specifically by us. Consumer perception of our products can be significantly influenced by scientific research or findings, regulatory investigations, litigation, national media attention and other publicity regarding the consumption of nutritional supplements. We cannot assure you that future scientific research, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other favorable research findings or publicity will be favorable to the nutritional supplement market or any particular product, or consistent with earlier publicity. Future research reports, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other publicity that are perceived as less favorable than, or that question, such earlier research reports, findings or publicity could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products and consequently on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our dependence upon consumer perceptions means that adverse scientific research reports, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other publicity, whether or not accurate or with merit, could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products, the availability and pricing of our ingredients, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Further, adverse public reports or other media attention regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of nutritional supplements in general, or our products specifically, or associating the consumption of nutritional supplements with illness, could have such a material adverse effect.  Any such adverse public reports or other media attention could arise even if the adverse effects associated with such products resulted from consumers’ failure to consume such products appropriately or as directed and the content of such public reports and other media attention may be beyond our control.
*We may incur material product liability claims, which could increase our costs and adversely affect our reputation, revenues and operating income.
As an ingredient supplier and consumer product supplier we market and manufacture products designed for human and animal consumption, we are subject to product liability claims if the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury. Our products consist of vitamins, minerals, herbs and other ingredients that are classified as foods, dietary supplements, or natural health products, and, in most cases, are not necessarily subject to pre-market regulatory approval in the United States. Some of our products contain innovative ingredients that do not have long histories of human consumption. Previously unknown adverse reactions resulting from human consumption of these ingredients could occur. In addition, the products we sell are produced by third-party manufacturers. As a marketer of products manufactured by third parties, we also may be liable for various product liability claims for products we do not manufacture. We may, in the future, be subject to various product liability claims, including, among others, that our products include inadequate instructions for use or inadequate warnings concerning possible side effects and interactions with other substances. A product liability claim against us could result in increased costs and could adversely affect our reputation with our customers, which, in turn, could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
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We acquire a significant amount of key ingredients for our products from foreign suppliers, and may be negatively affected by the risks associated with international trade and importation issues.
We acquire a significant amount of key ingredients for a number of our products from suppliers outside of the United States, particularly India and China.  Accordingly, the acquisition of these ingredients is subject to the risks generally associated with importing raw materials, including, among other factors, delays in shipments, changes in economic and political conditions, quality assurance, nonconformity to specifications or laws and regulations, tariffs, trade disputes and foreign currency fluctuations.  While we have a supplier certification program and audit and inspect our suppliers’ facilities as necessary both in the United States and internationally, we cannot assure you that raw materials received from suppliers outside of the United States will conform to all specifications, laws and regulations.  There have in the past been quality and safety issues in our industry with certain items imported from overseas.  We may incur additional expenses and experience shipment delays due to preventative measures adopted by the Indian and U.S. governments, our suppliers and our company.
The insurance industry has become more selective in offering some types of coverage and we may not be able to obtain insurance coverage in the future.
The insurance industry has become more selective in offering some types of insurance, such as product liability, product recall, property and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. Our current insurance program is consistent with both our past level of coverage and our risk management policies. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain comparable insurance coverage on favorable terms, or at all, in the future.  Certain of our customers as well as prospective customers require that we maintain minimum levels of coverage for our products. Lack of coverage or coverage below these minimum required levels could cause these customers to materially change business terms or to cease doing business with us entirely.
*If we experience product recalls, we may incur significant and unexpected costs, and our business reputation could be adversely affected.
We may be exposed to product recalls and adverse public relations if our products are mislabeled or alleged to cause injury or illness, or if we are alleged to have violated governmental regulations. A product recall could result in substantial and unexpected expenditures, which would reduce operating profit and cash flow. In addition, a product recall may require significant management attention. Product recalls may hurt the value of our brands and lead to decreased demand for our products. Product recalls also may lead to increased scrutiny by federal, state or international regulatory agencies of our operations and increased litigation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
*We depend on key personnel, the loss of any of which could negatively affect our business.
We depend greatly on Frank L. Jaksch Jr., Kevin M. Farr, Troy A. Rhonemus and Robert N. Fried who are our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and President and Chief Strategy Officer, respectively. We also depend greatly on other key employees, including key scientific and marketing personnel. In general, only highly qualified and trained scientists have the necessary skills to develop our products and provide our services. Only marketing personnel with specific experience and knowledge in health care are able to effectively market our products.  In addition, some of our manufacturing, quality control, safety and compliance, information technology, sales and e-commerce related positions are highly technical as well. We face intense competition for these professionals from our competitors, customers, marketing partners and other companies throughout the industries in which we compete. Our success will depend, in part, upon our ability to attract and retain additional skilled personnel, which will require substantial additional funds. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find and attract additional qualified employees or retain any such personnel. Our inability to hire qualified personnel, the loss of services of our key personnel, or the loss of services of executive officers or key employees that may be hired in the future may have a material and adverse effect on our business.
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*Our operating results may fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control.
We are subject to the following factors, among others, that may negatively affect our operating results:
the announcement or introduction of new products by our competitors;
our ability to upgrade and develop our systems and infrastructure to accommodate growth;
the decision by significant customers to reduce purchases;
disputes and litigation with competitors;
our ability to attract and retain key personnel in a timely and cost-effective manner;
technical difficulties;
the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to the expansion of our business, operations and infrastructure;
regulation by federal, state or local governments; and
general economic conditions as well as economic conditions specific to the healthcare industry.
As a result of our limited operating history and the nature of the markets in which we compete, it is extremely difficult for us to make accurate forecasts. We have based our current and future expense levels largely on our investment plans and estimates of future events although certain of our expense levels are, to a large extent, fixed. Assuming our products reach the market, we may be unable to adjust spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall. Accordingly, any significant shortfall in revenues relative to our planned expenditures would have an immediate adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Further, as a strategic response to changes in the competitive environment, we may from time to time make certain pricing, service or marketing decisions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Due to the foregoing factors, our revenues and operating results are and will remain difficult to forecast.
We face significant competition, including changes in pricing.
The markets for our products and services are both competitive and price sensitive. Many of our competitors have significant financial, operations, sales and marketing resources and experience in research and development. Competitors could develop new technologies that compete with our products and services or even render our products obsolete. If a competitor develops superior technology or cost-effective alternatives to our products and services, our business could be seriously harmed.
The markets for some of our products are also subject to specific competitive risks because these markets are highly price competitive. Our competitors have competed in the past by lowering prices on certain products. If they do so again, we may be forced to respond by lowering our prices. This would reduce sales revenues and increase losses. Failure to anticipate and respond to price competition may also impact sales and aggravate losses.
We believe that customers in our markets display a significant amount of loyalty to their supplier of a particular product. To the extent we are not the first to develop, offer and/or supply new products, customers may buy from our competitors or make materials themselves, causing our competitive position to suffer.
Many of our competitors are larger and have greater financial and other resources than we do.
Our products compete and will compete with other similar products produced by our competitors. These competitive products could be marketed by well-established, successful companies that possess greater financial, marketing, distributional, personnel and other resources than we possess. Using these resources, these companies can implement extensive advertising and promotional campaigns, both generally and in response to specific marketing efforts by competitors, and enter into new markets more rapidly to introduce new products. In certain instances, competitors with greater financial resources also may be able to enter a market in direct competition with us, offering attractive marketing tools to encourage the sale of products that compete with our products or present cost features that consumers may find attractive.
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We may never develop any additional products to commercialize.
We have invested a substantial amount of our time and resources in developing various new products. Commercialization of these products will require additional development, clinical evaluation, regulatory approval, significant marketing efforts and substantial additional investment before they can provide us with any revenue. Despite our efforts, these products may not become commercially successful products for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
we may not be able to obtain regulatory approvals for our products, or the approved indication may be narrower than we seek;
our products may not prove to be safe and effective in clinical trials;
we may experience delays in our development program;
any products that are approved may not be accepted in the marketplace;
we may not have adequate financial or other resources to complete the development or to commence the commercialization of our products or will not have adequate financial or other resources to achieve significant commercialization of our products;
we may not be able to manufacture any of our products in commercial quantities or at an acceptable cost;
rapid technological change may make our products obsolete;
we may be unable to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or we may become subject to claims that our activities have infringed the intellectual property rights of others; and
we may be unable to obtain or defend patent rights for our products.
We may not be able to partner with others for technological capabilities and new products and services.
Our ability to remain competitive may depend, in part, on our ability to continue to seek partners that can offer technological improvements and improve existing products and services that are offered to our customers. We are committed to attempting to keep pace with technological change, to stay abreast of technology changes and to look for partners that will develop new products and services for our customer base. We cannot assure prospective investors that we will be successful in finding partners or be able to continue to incorporate new developments in technology, to improve existing products and services, or to develop successful new products and services, nor can we be certain that newly developed products and services will perform satisfactorily or be widely accepted in the marketplace or that the costs involved in these efforts will not be substantial.
If we fail to maintain adequate quality standards for our products and services, our business may be adversely affected and our reputation harmed.
Dietary supplement, nutraceutical, food and beverage, functional food, analytical laboratories, pharmaceutical and cosmetic customers are often subject to rigorous quality standards to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of their products and the manufacturing processes that generate them. A failure to maintain, or, in some instances, upgrade our quality standards to meet our customers’ needs, could cause damage to our reputation and potentially substantial sales losses.
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*

Our ability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology through patents and other means is uncertain and may be inadequate, which would have a material and adverse effect on us.

Our success depends significantly on our ability to protect our proprietary rights to the technologies used in our products. We rely on patent protection, as well as a combination of copyright, trade secret and trademark laws and nondisclosure, confidentiality and other contractual restrictions to protect our proprietary technology, including our licensed technology. However, these legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. For example, our pending United States and foreign patent applications may not issue as patents in a form that will be advantageous to us or may issue and be subsequently successfully challenged by others and invalidated. In addition, our pending patent applications include claims to material aspects of our products and procedures that are not currently protected by issued patents. Both the patent application process and the process of managing patent disputes can be time consuming and expensive. Competitors may be able to design around our patents or develop products which provide outcomes which are comparable or even superior to ours. Steps that we have taken to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology, including entering into confidentiality agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements with some of our officers, employees, consultants and advisors, may not provide us with meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure or other breaches of the agreements. Furthermore, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States.

In the event a competitor infringes upon our licensed or pending patent or other intellectual property rights, enforcing those rights may be costly, uncertain, difficult and time consuming. Even if successful, litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend our patents against challenge could be expensive and time consuming and could divert our management’s attention. As further described in Part II, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we are currently involved in patent litigation, as Elysium is claiming that we misused certain patent rights, and has filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inter partes review of two patents to which we are the exclusive licensee. If we are unsuccessful in resolving the patent misuse claim on favorable terms, or if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidates the two patents subject to the inter partes review, we may lose the competitive advantage that is provided by the subject intellectual property rights, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. We may not have sufficient resources to enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend our patents rights against a challenge. The failure to obtain patents and/or protect our intellectual property rights could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

*

Our patents and licenses may be subject to challenge on validity grounds, and our patent applications may be rejected.

We rely on our patents, patent applications, licenses and other intellectual property rights to give us a competitive advantage. Whether a patent is valid, or whether a patent application should be granted, is a complex matter of science and law, and therefore we cannot be certain that, if challenged, our patents, patent applications and/or other intellectual property rights would be upheld. If one or more of those patents, patent applications, licenses and other intellectual property rights are invalidated, rejected or found unenforceable, that could reduce or eliminate any competitive advantage we might otherwise have had. For example, as further described in Part II, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we are currently involved in patent litigation, as Elysium is claiming that we misused certain patent rights, and has filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inter partes review of two patents to which we are the exclusive licensee. If we are unsuccessful in resolving the patent misuse claim on favorable terms, or if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidates the two patents subject to the inter partes review, we may lose the competitive advantage that is provided by the subject intellectual property rights, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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We may become subject to claims of infringement or misappropriation of the intellectual property rights of others, which could prohibit us from developing our products, require us to obtain licenses from third parties or to develop non-infringing alternatives and subject us to substantial monetary damages.

Third parties could, in the future, assert infringement or misappropriation claims against us with respect to products we develop. Whether a product infringes a patent or misappropriates other intellectual property involves complex legal and factual issues, the determination of which is often uncertain. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we have not infringed the intellectual property rights of others. OurThere may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for use related to the use or manufacture of our products, and our potential competitors may assert that some aspect of our product infringes their patents. Because patent applications may take years to issue, there also may be applications now pending of which we are unaware that may later result in issued patents upon which our products could infringe. There also may be existing patents or pending patent applications of which we are unaware upon which our products may inadvertently infringe.

Any infringement or misappropriation claim could cause us to incur significant costs, place significant strain on our financial resources, divert management’s attention from our business and harm our reputation. If the relevant patents in such claim were upheld as valid and enforceable and we were found to infringe them, we could be prohibited from manufacturing or selling any product that is found to infringe unless we could obtain licenses to use the technology covered by the patent or are able to design around the patent. We may be unable to obtain such a license on terms acceptable to us, if at all, and we may not be able to redesign our products to avoid infringement.infringement, which could materially impact our revenue. A court could also order us to pay compensatory damages for such infringement, plus prejudgment interest and could, in addition, treble the compensatory damages and award attorney fees. These damages could be substantial and could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and operating results. A court also could enter orders that temporarily, preliminarily or permanently enjoin us and our customers from making, using, or selling products, and could enter an order mandating that we undertake certain remedial activities. Depending on the nature of the relief ordered by the court, we could become liable for additional damages to third parties.

*

The prosecution and enforcement of patents licensed to us by third parties are not within our control. Without these technologies, our products may not be successful and our business would be harmed if the patents were infringed on or misappropriated without action by such third parties.

We have obtained licenses from third parties for patents and patent application rights related to the products we are developing, allowing us to use intellectual property rights owned by or licensed to these third parties. We do not control the maintenance, prosecution, enforcement or strategy for many of these patents or patent application rights and as such are dependent in part on the owners of the intellectual property rights to maintain their viability. If any third-party licensor is unable to successfully maintain, prosecute or enforce the licensed patents and/or patent application rights related to our products, we may become subject to infringement or misappropriate claims or lose our competitive advantage. Without access to these technologies or suitable design-around or alternative technology options, our ability to conduct our business could be impaired significantly. As

*We are currently engaged in substantial and complex litigation with Elysium Health, Inc. and Elysium Health LLC (collectively, "Elysium"), the outcome of which could materially harm our business and financial results.

The litigation includes multiple complaints and counterclaims by us and Elysium in venues in California and New York, as well as a patent infringement complaint filed by the Company and Trustees of Dartmouth College. For further described indetails on this litigation, please refer to Part II, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q,10-Q.

The litigation is substantial and complex, and it has caused and could continue to cause us to incur significant costs, as well as distract our management over an extended period. The litigation may substantially disrupt our business and we cannot assure you that we will be able to resolve the litigation on terms favorable to us. If we are unsuccessful in resolving the litigation on favorable terms to us, we may be forced to pay compensatory and punitive damages and restitution for any royalty payments that we received from Elysium, which payments could materially harm our business, or be subject to other remedies, including injunctive relief. We cannot predict the outcome of our litigation with Elysium, which could have any of the results described above or other results that could materially adversely affect our business.

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*Interruptions in our relationships or declines in our business with major customers could materially harm our business and financial results.

A.S. Watson Group accounted for approximately 11% of our sales during the quarter ended March 31, 2021. Any interruption in our relationship or decline in our business with this customer or other customers upon whom we become highly dependent could cause harm to our business. Factors that could influence our relationship with our customers upon whom we may become highly dependent include:

our ability to maintain our products at prices that are competitive with those of our competitors;

our ability to maintain quality levels for our products sufficient to meet the expectations of our customers;

our ability to produce, ship and deliver a sufficient quantity of our products in a timely manner to meet the needs of our customers;

our ability to continue to develop and launch new products that our customers feel meet their needs and requirements, with respect to cost, timeliness, features, performance and other factors;

our ability to provide timely, responsive and accurate customer support to our customers; and

the ability of our customers to effectively deliver, market and increase sales of their own products based on ours.

Our future success largely depends on sales of our TRU NIAGEN® product.

In connection with our strategic shift from an ingredient and testing company to a consumer-focused company, we expect to generate a significant percentage of our future revenue from sales of our TRU NIAGEN® product. As a result, the market acceptance of TRU NIAGEN® is critical to our continued success, and if we are unable to expand market acceptance of TRU NIAGEN®, our business, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and growth prospects would be materially adversely affected.

Our TRU NIAGEN® products are not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration or any foreign regulatory authority to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19 or any other disease or condition.

In November 2020, we received a warning letter (the “Letter”) from the FDA and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and in April 2021 we received an additional warning letter from only the FTC. For more information, see Note 12, Commitments and Contingencies, Contingencies of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

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Our TRU NIAGEN® products are not approved by the FDA or any foreign regulatory authority to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19 or any other disease or condition, and are not intended for such use, and may never be approved for such use by the FDA or any foreign regulatory authority.

Decline in the state of the global economy and financial market conditions could adversely affect our ability to conduct business and our results of operations.

Global economic and financial market conditions, including disruptions in the credit markets and the impact of the global economic deterioration may materially impact our customers and other parties with whom we do business. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken to slow its spread, have caused the global credit and financial markets to experience extreme volatility, including diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates and uncertainty about economic stability. These conditions could negatively affect our future sales of our ingredient lines as many consumers consider the purchase of nutritional products discretionary. Decline in general economic and financial market conditions could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Specifically, the impact of these volatile and negative conditions may include decreased demand for our products and services, a decrease in our ability to accurately forecast future product trends and demand, and a negative impact on our ability to timely collect receivables from our customers. The foregoing economic conditions may lead to increased levels of bankruptcies, restructurings and liquidations for our customers, scaling back of research and development expenditures, delays in planned projects and shifts in business strategies for many of our customers. Such events could, in turn, adversely affect our business through loss of sales.

We may need to increase the size of our organization, and we can provide no assurance that we will successfully expand operations or manage growth effectively.

Our significant increase in the scope and the scale of our product launches, including the hiring of additional personnel, has filedresulted in significantly higher operating expenses. As a petitionresult, we anticipate that our operating expenses will continue to increase. Expansion of our operations may also cause a significant demand on our management, finances and other resources. Our ability to manage the anticipated future growth, should it occur, will depend upon a significant expansion of our accounting and other internal management systems and the implementation and subsequent improvement of a variety of systems, procedures and controls. There can be no assurance that significant problems in these areas will not occur. Any failure to expand these areas and implement and improve such systems, procedures and controls in an efficient manner at a pace consistent with our business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that our attempts to expand our marketing, sales, manufacturing and customer support efforts will be successful or will result in additional sales or profitability in any future period. As a result of the expansion of our operations and the anticipated increase in our operating expenses, as well as the difficulty in forecasting revenue levels, we expect to continue to experience significant fluctuations in our results of operations.

Changes in our business strategy, including entering the consumer product market, or restructuring of our businesses may increase our costs or otherwise affect the profitability of our businesses.

As changes in our business environment occur we may adjust our business strategies to meet these changes or we may otherwise decide to restructure our operations or businesses or assets. In addition, external events including changing technology, changing consumer patterns and changes in macroeconomic conditions may impair the value of our assets. When these changes or events occur, we may incur costs to change our business strategy and may need to write down the value of assets. In any of these events, our costs may increase, we may have significant charges associated with the write-down of assets or returns on new investments may be lower than prior to the change in strategy or restructuring. For example, if we are not successful in developing our consumer product business, our sales may decrease and our costs may increase.

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The success of our consumer product and ingredient business is linked to the size and growth rate of the vitamin, mineral and dietary supplement market and an adverse change in the size or growth rate of that market could have a material adverse effect on us.

An adverse change in the size or growth rate of the vitamin, mineral and dietary supplement market could have a material adverse effect on our business. Underlying market conditions are subject to change based on economic conditions, consumer preferences and other factors that are beyond our control, including media attention and scientific research, which may be positive or negative.

The future growth and profitability of our consumer product business will depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing efforts and our ability to select effective markets and media in which to market and advertise.

Our consumer products business success depends on our ability to attract and retain customers, which significantly depends on our marketing practices. Our future growth and profitability will depend in large part upon the effectiveness and efficiency of our marketing efforts, including our ability to:

create greater awareness of our brand;

identify the most effective and efficient levels of spending in each market, media and specific media vehicle;

determine the appropriate creative messages and media mix for advertising, marketing and promotional expenditures;

effectively manage marketing costs (including creative and media) to maintain acceptable customer acquisition costs;

acquire cost-effective television advertising;

select the most effective markets, media and specific media vehicles in which to market and advertise; and

convert consumer inquiries into actual orders.

Unfavorable publicity or consumer perception of our products and any similar products distributed by other companies could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We believe the nutritional supplement market is highly dependent upon consumer perception regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of nutritional supplements generally, as well as of products distributed specifically by us. Consumer perception of our products can be significantly influenced by scientific research or findings, regulatory investigations, litigation, national media attention and other publicity regarding the consumption of nutritional supplements. We cannot assure you that future scientific research, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other favorable research findings or publicity will be favorable to the nutritional supplement market or any product, or consistent with earlier publicity. Future research reports, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other publicity that are perceived as less favorable than, or that question, such earlier researchreports, findings or publicity could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products and consequently on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

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Our dependence upon consumer perceptions means that adverse scientific research reports, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other publicity, if accurate or with merit, could have a material adverse effect on thedemand for our products, the availability and pricing of our ingredients, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Further, adverse public reports or other media attention regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of nutritional supplements in general, or our products specifically, or associating the consumption of nutritional supplements with illness, could have such a material adverse effect. Any such adverse public reports or other media attention could arise even if the adverse effects associated with such products resulted from consumers’ failure to consume such products appropriately or as directed and the content of such public reports and other media attention may be beyond our control.

We may incur material product liability claims, which could increase our costs and adversely affect our reputation, revenues and operating income.

As a consumer product and ingredient supplier we market and manufacture products designed for human and animal consumption, we are subject to product liability claims if the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury. Our products consist of vitamins, minerals, herbs and other ingredients that are classified as food ingredients, dietary supplements, or natural health products, and, in most cases, are not necessarily subject to pre-market regulatory approval in the United States. Some of our products contain innovative ingredients that do not have long histories of human consumption. Previously unknownadverse reactions resulting from human consumption of these ingredients could occur. In addition, the products we sell are produced by third-party manufacturers. As a marketer of products manufactured by third parties, we also may be liable for various product liability claims for products we do not manufacture. We may, in the future, be subject to various product liability claims, including, among others, that our products include inadequate instructions for use or inadequate warnings concerning possible side effects and interactions with other substances. A product liability claim against us could result in increased costs and could adversely affect our reputation with our customers, which, in turn, could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

We acquire ingredients for our products from foreign suppliers, and may be negatively affected by the risks associated with international trade and importation issues.

We acquire ingredients for a number of our products from suppliers outside of the United States. Accordingly, the acquisition of these ingredients is subject to the risks generally associated with importing raw materials, including, among other factors, delays in shipments, changes in economic and political conditions, quality assurance, health epidemics affecting the region of such suppliers, including COVID-19, nonconformity to specifications or laws and regulations, tariffs, trade disputes and foreign currencyfluctuations. While we have a supplier certification program and audit and inspect our suppliers’ facilities as necessary both in the United States and internationally, we cannot assure you that raw materials received from suppliers outside of the United States will conform to all specifications, laws and regulations. There have in the past been quality and safety issues in our industry with certain items imported from overseas. We may incur additional expenses and experience shipment delays due to preventative measures adopted by the U.S. Patentgovernments, our suppliers and Trademark Officeour company.

The insurance industry has become more selective in offering some types of coverage and we may not be able to obtain insurance coverage in the future.

The insurance industry has become more selective in offering some types of insurance, such as product liability, product recall, property and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. Our current insurance program is consistent with both our past level of coverage and our risk management policies. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain comparable insurance coverage on favorable terms, or at all, in the future. Certain of our customers as well as prospective customers require that we maintain minimum levels of coverage for inter partes reviewour products. Lack of two patentscoverage or coverage below these minimum required levels could cause these customers to materially change business terms or to cease doing business with us entirely.

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If we experience product recalls, we may incur significant and unexpected costs, and our business reputation could be adversely affected.

We may be exposed to product recalls and adverse public relations if our products are alleged to be mislabeled or to cause injury or illness, or if we are alleged to have violated governmental regulations. A product recall could result in substantial and unexpected expenditures, which would reduce operating profit and cash flow. In addition, a product recall may require significant management attention. Product recalls may hurt the value of our brands and lead to decreased demand for our products. Product recalls also may lead to increased scrutiny by federal, state or international regulatory agencies of our operations and increased litigation and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

*We depend on key personnel, the loss of any of which could negatively affect our business.

We depend greatly on Frank L. Jaksch Jr., Robert N. Fried, Kevin M. Farr, Lisa H. Harrington and Fadi Karam, who are our Executive Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Chief Marketing Officer, respectively. We also depend greatly on other key employees, including key scientific and marketing personnel. In general, only highly qualified and trained scientists have the necessary skills to develop our products and provide our services. Only marketing personnel with specific experience and knowledge in health care are able to effectively market our products. In addition, some of our manufacturing, quality control, safety and compliance, information technology, sales and e-commerce related positions are highly technical as well. We face intense competition for these professionals from our competitors, customers, marketing partners and other companies throughoutthe industries in which we compete. Our success will depend, in part, upon our ability to attract and retain additional skilled personnel, which will require substantial additional funds. There can be no assurance that we will be able to find and attract additional qualified employees or retain any such personnel. Our inability to hire qualified personnel, the loss of services of our key personnel, or the loss of services of executive officers or key employees that may be hired in the future may have a material and adverse effect on our business.

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are the exclusive licensee. Pursuantoutside of our control.

We are subject to the exclusive licensefollowing factors, among others, that may negatively affect our operating results:

the announcement or introduction of new products by our competitors; 

our ability to upgrade and develop our systems and infrastructure to accommodate growth; 

the decision by significant customers to reduce purchases; 

disputes and litigation with competitors;

our ability to attract and retain key personnel in a timely and cost-effective manner; 

technical difficulties; 

the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to the expansion of our business, operations and infrastructure; 

regulation by federal, state or local governments; and 

general economic conditions as well as economic conditions specific to the healthcare industry. 

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For example, our operating results may be harmed by the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on global economic conditions. As a result of our limited operating history and the nature of the markets in which we compete, it is extremely difficult for us to make accurate forecasts. We have based our current and future expense levels largely on our investment plans and estimates of future events although certain of our expense levels are, to a large extent, fixed. Assuming our products reach the market, we may be unable to adjust spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall. Accordingly, any significant shortfall in revenues relative to our planned expenditures would have an immediate adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Further, as a strategic response to changes in the competitive environment, we may from time to time make certain pricing, service or marketing decisions that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Due to the foregoing factors, our revenues and operating results are and will remain difficult to forecast.

We face significant competition, including changes in pricing.

The markets for our products and services are both competitive and price sensitive. Many of our competitors have significant financial, operations, sales and marketing resources and experience in research and development. Competitors could develop new technologies that compete with our products and services or even render our products obsolete. If a competitor develops superior technology or cost-effective alternatives to our products and services, our business could be seriously harmed.

The markets for some of our products are also subject to specific competitive risks because these markets are highly price competitive. Our competitors have competed in the past by lowering prices on certain products. If they do so again, we may be forced to respond by lowering our prices. This would reduce sales revenues and increase losses. Failure to anticipate and respond to price competition may also impact sales and aggravate losses.

We believe that customers in our markets display a significant amount of loyalty to their supplier of a particular product. To the extent we are not the first to develop, offer and/or supply new products, customers may buy from our competitors or make materials themselves, causing our competitive position to suffer.

Many of our competitors are larger and have greater financial and other resources than we do.

Our products compete and will compete with other similar products produced by our competitors. These competitive products could be marketed by well-established, successful companies that possess greater financial, marketing, distributional, personnel and other resources than we possess. Using these resources, these companies can implement extensive advertising and promotional campaigns, both generally and in response to specific marketing efforts by competitors, and enter into new markets more rapidly to introduce new products. In certain instances, competitors with greater financial resources also may be able to enter a market in direct competition with us, offering attractive marketing tools to encourage the sale of products that compete with our products or present cost features that consumers may find attractive.

We may never develop any additional products to commercialize.

We have invested a substantial amount of our time and resources in developing various new products. Commercialization of these products will require additional development, clinical evaluation, regulatory approval, significant marketing efforts and substantial additional investment before they can provide us with any revenue. Despite our efforts, these products may not become commercially successful products for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:

we may not be able to obtain regulatory approvals for our products, or the approved indication may be narrower than we seek; 

our products may not prove to be safe and effective in clinical trials; 

we may experience delays in our development program; 

any products that are approved may not be accepted in the marketplace; 

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we may not have adequate financial or other resources to complete the development or to commence the commercialization of our products or will not have adequate financial or other resources to achieve significant commercialization of our products; 

we may not be able to manufacture any of our products in commercial quantities or at an acceptable cost; 

rapid technological change may make our products obsolete; 

we may be unable to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or we may become subject to claims that our activities have infringed the intellectual property rights of others; and 

we may be unable to obtain or defend patent rights for our products. 

In addition, we may never achieve technical feasibility under the supply agreement with Nestec Ltd., and therefore our sales and profit expectations resulting from this agreement may be reduced.

We may not be able to partner with others for technological capabilities and new products and services.

Our ability to remain competitive may depend, in part, on our ability to continue to seek partners that can offer technological improvements and improve existing products and services that are offered to our customers. We are committed to attempting to keep pace with technological change, to stay abreast of technology changes and to look for partners that will develop new products and services for our customer base. We cannot assure prospective investors that we will be successful in finding partners or be able to continue to incorporate new developments in technology, to improve existing products and services, or to develop successful new products and services, nor can we be certain that newly developed products and services will perform satisfactorily or be widely accepted in the Trustees of Dartmouth College (“Dartmouth”), Dartmouth controls all future preparation, filing, prosecutionmarketplace or that the costs involved in these efforts will not be substantial.

If we fail to maintain adequate quality standards for our products and maintenance of the two patentsservices, our business may be adversely affected and our reputation harmed.

Dietary supplement, nutraceutical, food and beverage, functional food, analytical laboratories, pharmaceutical and cosmetic customers are often subject to such inter partes review.

rigorous quality standards to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of their products and the manufacturing processes that generate them. A failure to maintain, or, in some instances, upgrade our quality standards to meet our customers’ needs, could cause damage to our reputation and potentially substantial sales losses.

We may be subject to damages resulting from claims that we, our employees, or our independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of others.

Some of our employees were previously employed at other dietary supplement, nutraceutical, food and beverage, functional food, analytical laboratories, pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies. We may also hire additional employees who are currently employed at other such companies, including our competitors. Additionally, consultants or other independent agents with which we may contract may be or have been in a contractual arrangement with one or more of our competitors. We may be subject to claims that these employees or independent contractors have used or disclosed such other party’s trade secrets or other proprietary information. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our management. If we fail to defend such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. A loss of key personnel or their work product could hamper or prevent our ability to market existing or new products, which could severely harm our business.

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*Litigation may harm our business.

Substantial, complex or extended litigation could cause us to incur significant costs and distract our management. For example, lawsuits by employees, stockholders, collaborators, distributors, customers, competitors or others could be very costly and substantially disrupt our business. Disputes from time to time with such companies, organizations or individuals are not uncommon, and we cannot assure you that we will always be able to resolve such disputes or on terms favorable to us. As further described in Part II, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we are currently involved in substantial and complex litigation with Elysium.litigation. Unexpected results could cause us to have financial exposure in these matters in excess of recorded reserves and insurance coverage, requiring us to provide additional reserves to address these liabilities, therefore impacting profits.

Our sales and results of operations for our analytical reference standards and services segment depend on our customers’customers research and development efforts and their ability to obtain funding for these efforts.

Our analytical reference standards and services segment customers include researchers at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, chemical and related companies, academic institutions, government laboratories and private foundations. Fluctuations in the research and development budgets of these researchers and their organizations could have a significant effect on the demand for our products. Our customers determine their research and development budgets based on several factors, including the need to develop new products, the availability of governmental and other funding, competition and the general availability of resources. As we continue to expand our international operations, we expect research and development spending levels in markets outside of the United States will become increasingly important to us.

Research and development budgets fluctuate due to changes in available resources, spending priorities, general economic conditions, institutional and governmental budgetary limitations and mergers of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Our business could be harmed by any significant decrease in life science and high technology research and development expenditures by our customers. In particular, a small portion of our sales has been to researchers whose funding is dependent on grants from government agencies such as the United States National Institute of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Cancer Institute and similar agencies or organizations. Government funding of research and development is subject to the political process, which is often unpredictable. Other departments, such as Homeland Security or Defense, or general efforts to reduce the United States federal budget deficit could be viewed by the government as a higher priority. Any shift away from funding of life science and high technology research and development or delays surrounding the approval of governmental budget proposals may cause our customers to delay or forego purchases of our products and services, which could seriously damage our business.

Some of our customers receive funds from approved grants at a particular time of year, many times set by government budget cycles. In the past, such grants have been frozen for extended periods or have otherwise become unavailable to various institutions without advance notice. The timing of the receipt of grant funds may affect the timing of purchase decisions by our customers and, as a result, cause fluctuations in our sales and operating results.

Demand for our products and services are subject to the commercial success of our customers’customers products, which may vary for reasons outside our control.

Even if we are successful in securing utilization of our products in a customer’s manufacturing process, sales of many of our products and services remain dependent on the timing and volume of the customer’s production, over which we have no control. The demand for our products depends on regulatory approvals and frequently depends on the commercial success of the customer’s supported product. Regulatory processes are complex, lengthy, expensive, and can often take years to complete.

We may bear financial risk if we under-priceunderprice our contracts or overrun cost estimates.

In cases where our contracts are structured as fixed price or fee-for-service with a cap, we bear the financial risk if we initially under-priceunderprice our contracts or otherwise overrun our cost estimates. Such under-pricingunderpricing or significant cost overruns could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

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We rely on single or a limited number of third-party suppliers for the raw materials required for the production ofto produce our products.

Our dependence on a limited number of third-party suppliers or on a single supplier, and the challenges we may face in obtaining adequate supplies of raw materials, involve several risks, including limited control over pricing, availability, health epidemics affecting the region of such suppliers (including the coronavirus), quality and delivery schedules. We cannot be certain that our current suppliers will continue to provide us with the quantities of these raw materials that we require or satisfy our anticipated specifications and quality requirements. Due to COVID-19, there may be delays in shipments from our suppliers. Any supply interruption in limited or sole sourced raw materials could materially harm our ability to manufacture our products until a new source of supply, if any, could be identified and qualified. Although we believe there are other suppliers of these raw materials, weWe may be unable to find a sufficient alternative supply channel in a reasonable time or on commercially reasonable terms. Any performance failure on the part of our suppliers could delay the development and commercialization of our products, or interrupt production of then existing products that are already marketed, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

* For example, W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. (“Grace”) is the exclusive manufacturer to us for the supply of NR. There is no guarantee that we will be able to continue to contract with Grace for the supply of NR, or that such terms will be favorable to us.

We maynot be successful in acquiring complementary businesses or products on favorable terms.

As part of our business strategy, we intend to consider acquisitions of similar or complementary businesses.businesses or products. No assurance can be given that we will be successful in identifying attractive acquisition candidates or completing acquisitions on favorable terms. In addition, any future acquisitions will be accompanied by the risks commonly associated with acquisitions. These risks include potential exposure to unknown liabilities of acquired companies or to acquisition costs and expenses, the difficulty and expense of integrating the operations and personnel of the acquired companies, the potential disruption to the business of the combined company and potential diversion of our management's time and attention, the impairment of relationships with and the possible loss of key employees and clients as a result of the changes in management, the incurrence of amortization expenses and write-downs and dilution to the shareholders of the combined company if the acquisition is made for stock of the combined company. In addition, successful completion of an acquisition may depend on consents from third parties, including regulatory authorities and private parties, which consents are beyond our control. There can be no assurance that products, technologies or businesses of acquired companies will be effectively assimilated into the business or product offerings of the combined company or will have a positive effect on the combined company's revenues or earnings. Further, the combined company may incur significant expense to complete acquisitions and to support the acquired products and businesses. Any such acquisitions may be funded with cash, debt or equity, which could have the effect of diluting or otherwise adversely affecting the holdings or the rights of our existing stockholders.

stockholders.

If we experience a significant disruption in our information technology systems or if we fail to implement new systems and software successfully, our business could be adversely affected.

We depend on information systems throughout our company to control our manufacturing processes, process orders, manage inventory, process and bill shipments and collect cash from our customers, respond to customer inquiries, contribute to our overall internal control processes, maintain records of our property, plant and equipment, and record and pay amounts due vendors and other creditors. Due to COVID-19, most of our employees have been working remotely from home and we have depended on communication tools and remote connections to our information technology systems to conduct business virtually. If we were to experience a prolonged disruption in our information systems that involve interactions amongst employees as well as with customers and suppliers, it could result in the loss of sales and customers and/or increased costs, which could adversely affect our overall business operation.

*Our cash flows and capital resources may be insufficient to make required payments on future indebtedness.
On November 4, 2016, we entered into entered into a business financing agreement (the “Financing Agreement”) with Western Alliance Bank (“Western Alliance”), in order to establish a formula based revolving credit line pursuant to which the Company may borrow an aggregate principal amount of up to $5,000,000, subject to the terms and conditions of the Financing Agreement. The interest rate will be calculated at a floating rate per month equal to (a) the greater of (i) 3.50% per year or (ii) the Prime Rate published in the Money Rates section of the Western Edition of The Wall Street Journal, or such other rate of interest publicly announced by Lender as its Prime Rate, plus (b) 2.50 percentage points. Any borrowings, interest or other fees or obligations that the Company owes Western Alliance pursuant to the Financing Agreement (the “Obligations”) will be become due and payable on November 4, 2018.
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As of September 30, 2017 and November 8, 2017, we did not have any indebtedness under the Financing Agreement. However, we may incur indebtedness in the future and such indebtedness could have important consequences to you. For example, it could:
make it difficult for us to satisfy our other debt obligations;
make us more vulnerable to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
limit our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate requirements;
expose us to interest rate fluctuations because the interest rate on the debt under the Financing Agreement is variable;
require us to dedicate a portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our debt, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow for operations and other purposes;
limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate; and
place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to competitors that may have proportionately less debt and greater financial resources.
In addition, our ability to make payments or refinance our obligations depends on our successful financial and operating performance, cash flows and capital resources, which in turn depend upon prevailing economic conditions and certain financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, among others:
economic and demand factors affecting our industry;
pricing pressures;
increased operating costs;
competitive conditions; and
other operating difficulties.
If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell material assets or operations, obtain additional capital or restructure our debt. In the event that we are required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations, the value realized on such assets or operations will depend on market conditions and the availability of buyers. Accordingly, any such sale may not, among other things, be for a sufficient dollar amount. Our obligations pursuant to the Financing Agreement are secured by a security interest in all of our assets, exclusive of intellectual property. The foregoing encumbrances may limit our ability to dispose of material assets or operations. We also may not be able to restructure our indebtedness on favorable economic terms, if at all.
We may incur additional indebtedness in the future. Our incurrence of additional indebtedness would intensify the risks described above.
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The Financing Agreement contains various covenants limiting the discretion of our management in operating our business.
The Financing Agreement contains various restrictive covenants that limit our management's discretion in operating our business. In particular, these instruments limit our ability to, among other things:
incur additional debt;
grant liens on assets;
make investments, including capital expenditures;
sell or acquire assets outside the ordinary course of business; and
make fundamental business changes.
If we fail to comply with the restrictions in the Financing Agreement, a default may allow the creditors under the relevant instruments to accelerate the related debt and to exercise their remedies under these agreements, which will typically include the right to declare the principal amount of that debt, together with accrued and unpaid interest and other related amounts, immediately due and payable, to exercise any remedies the creditors may have to foreclose on assets that are subject to liens securing that debt and to terminate any commitments they had made to supply further funds.

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If we are unable to maintain sales, marketing and distribution capabilities or maintain arrangements with third parties to sell, market and distribute our products, our business may be harmed.

To achieve commercial success for our products, we must sell our product lines and/or technologies at favorable prices. In addition to being expensive, maintaining such a sales force is time-consuming. Qualified direct sales personnel with experience in the natural products industry are in high demand, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to hire or retain an effective direct sales team. Similarly, qualified independent sales representatives both within and outside the United States are in high demand, and we may not be able to build an effective network for the distribution of our product through such representatives. There can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into contracts with representatives on terms acceptable to us. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that we will be able to build an alternate distribution framework should we attempt to do so.

We may also need to contract with third parties in order to market our products. To the extent that we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform marketing and distribution services, our product revenue could be lower and our costs higher than if we directly marketed our products. Furthermore, to the extent that we enter into co-promotion or other marketing and sales arrangements with other companies, any revenue received will depend on the skills and efforts of others, and we do not know whether these efforts will be successful. If we are unable to establish and maintain adequate sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, independently or with others, we will not be able to generate product revenue, and may not become profitable.

Our business could be negativelyimpacted by cyber security threats.

In the ordinary course of our business, we use our data centers and our networks to store and access our proprietary business information. We face various cyber security threats, including cyber security attacks to our information technology infrastructure and attempts by others to gain access to our proprietary or sensitive information. Due to COVID-19, there may be additional cyber security threats as most of our employees work from home, utilizing network connections outside of the Company premises. Information security risks have significantly increased in recent years in part due to the proliferation of new technologies and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, data and related privacy breaches, terrorists and other external parties, including foreign private parties and state actors. Despite the implementation of preventative and detective security measures, our internal computer systems and those of our current and any future contractors, consultants, collaborators and third-party service providers, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from a variety of sources, including computer viruses, unauthorized access, accidental acts or omissions by those with authorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failure, and cybersecurity threats (including the deployment of harmful malware, ransomware, denial-of-service attacks, supply chain attacks, social engineering, and other means to affect service reliability and threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information). The procedures and controls we use to monitor these threats and mitigate our exposure may not be sufficient to prevent all cyber security incidents. The result of these incidents could include disrupted operations, lost opportunities, misstated financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, theft of our intellectual property, loss of data and other personally identifiable information, increased costs arising from the implementation of additional security protective measures, litigation and reputational damage. Any remedial costs or other liabilities related to cyber security incidents may not be fully insured or indemnified by other means. Additionally, some of the federal, state and foreign government requirements include obligations of companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving particular personally identifiable information, which could result from breaches experienced by us or by our vendors, contractors, or organizations with which we have formed strategic relationships. Notifications and follow-up actions related to a security breach could impact our reputation, cause us to incur significant costs, including legal expenses and remediation costs.

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Compliance with global privacy and data security requirements could result in additional costs and liabilities to us or inhibit our ability to collect and, if applicable, process data globally, and the failure to comply with such requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

The regulatory framework for the collection, use, safeguarding, sharing, transfer and other processing of information worldwide is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) imposes strict obligations on the processing of personal data, including, without limitation, personal health data, and the free movement of such data. The GDPR applies to any company established in the European Union as well as any company outside the European Union that processes personal data in connection with the offering of goods or services to individuals in the European Union or the monitoring of their behavior. The GDPR provides data protection obligations for processors and controllers of personal data, including, for example, obligations relating to: processing health and other sensitive data; obtaining consent of individuals; providing notice to individuals regarding data processing activities; responding to data subject requests; taking certain measures when engaging third-party processors; notifying data subjects and regulators of data breaches; implementing safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of personal data; and transferring personal data to countries outside the European Union, including the U.S. The GDPR imposes fines for breaches of data protection requirements and provides other remedies for parties who suffer harm as a result of a data breach. Furthermore, the vote in the United Kingdom in favor of exiting the European Union, referred to as Brexit, has complicated data protection regulation in the United Kingdom. As of January 1, 2021, the GDPR has been converted into United Kingdom law and the United Kingdom is now a “third country” under the GDPR. The United Kingdom and European Union agreed to an extendable four-month period as of January 1, 2021 during which the United Kingdom will be treated like an European Union member state in relation to transfers of personal data to the United Kingdom. However, following the expiration of the specified period, there will be an increasing scope for divergence in application, interpretation and enforcement of the data protection law as between the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (“EEA”). The GDPR and other changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of sensitive data, such as healthcare data or other personal information from our clinical trials, could require us to change our business practices or lead to government enforcement actions, private litigation or significant penalties against us and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Similarly, European data protection laws also generally prohibit the transfer of personal data from Europe, including the EEA, United Kingdom and Switzerland, to the United States and most other countries unless the parties to the transfer have implemented specific safeguards to protect the transferred personal data. One of the primary safeguards used for transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States, namely, the Privacy Shield framework administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, was recently invalidated by a decision of the European Union’s highest court. The same decision also cast doubt on the ability to use one of the primary alternatives to the Privacy Shield, namely, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, to lawfully transfer personal data from Europe to the United States and most other countries. At present, there are few if any viable alternatives to the Privacy Shield and the Standard Contractual Clauses. To the extent that we were to rely on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework or the Standard Contractual Clauses, we will not be able to do so in the future, which could increase our costs and limit our ability to process personal data from the European Union.

Additionally, the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”), creates new individual privacy rights for consumers and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling personal data of consumers. Among other things, the CCPA requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers, and provides such consumers new ways to opt-out of certain sales of personal information. The CCPA provides for penalties for violations, as well as other remedies for parties who suffer harm as a result of a data breach, which may increase data breach litigation. Moreover, effective starting on January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) will significantly modify the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain sensitive personal information. The CPRA also creates a new state agency that will be vested with authority to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA. Likewise, new legislation proposed or enacted in Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and other states, imposes, or has the potential to impose, additional obligations on companies that collect, store, use, retain, disclose, transfer and otherwise process confidential, sensitive and personal information. The CCPA, CPRA and other proposed or enacted state laws may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. We expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws and regulations concerning data privacy and security, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business.

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*Our failure to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, our failure to meet our reporting obligations and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which in turn could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.

Maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to produce reliable financial statements. Our management previously identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and concluded that the material weakness has not been remediated and our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of March 31, 2021. The material weakness in internal control over financial reporting resulted from a deficiency in our disclosure controls and procedures which could have resulted in us not disclosing a material potential loss requiring a qualitative disclosure and recording a liability in our consolidated financial statements under ASC 450 - 43 -

Contingencies. If not remediated, or if we identify further material weaknesses in our internal controls, our failure to establish and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements and a failure to meet our reporting and financial obligations, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and the trading price of our common stock.

We are subject to financial and operating covenants in our business financing agreement with Western Alliance Bank (the Credit Agreement) and any failure to comply with such covenants, or obtain waivers in the event of non-compliance, could limit our borrowing availability under the Credit Agreement, resulting in our being unable to borrow under the Credit Agreement and materially adversely impact our liquidity. In addition, our operations may not provide sufficient cash to meet the repayment obligations of debt incurred under the Credit Agreement.

The Credit Agreement contains affirmative and restrictive covenants, including covenants regarding delivery of financial statements, maintenance of inventory, payment of taxes, maintenance of insurance, dispositions of property, business combinations or acquisitions and incurrence of additional indebtedness, among other customary covenants, in each case subject to limited exceptions.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the financial and other covenants in the Credit Agreement, and the effects of COVID-19 may make it more difficult for us to comply with such covenants. Our failure to comply with these covenants could cause us to be unable to borrow under the Credit Agreement and may constitute an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of the maturity of any indebtedness then outstanding under the Credit Agreement, which would require us to pay all amounts then outstanding. If we are unable to repay those amounts, Western Alliance Bank could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that debt, which would seriously harm our business. Such an event could materially adversely affect our financial condition and liquidity. Additionally, such events of non-compliance could impact the terms of any additional borrowings and/or any credit renewal terms. Any failure to comply with such covenants may be a disclosable event and may be perceived negatively. Such perception could adversely affect the market price for our common stock and our ability to obtain financing in the future.

Risks Related to Regulatory Approval of Our Products and Other Government Regulations

We are subject to regulation by various federal, state and foreign agencies that require us to comply with a wide variety of regulations, including those regarding the manufacture of products, advertising and product label claims, the distribution of our products and environmental matters. Failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to fines, penalties and additional costs.

Some of our operations are subject to regulation by various United States federal agencies and similar state and international agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the FDA, the FTC, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Agriculture. These regulations govern a wide variety of product activities, from design and development to labeling, manufacturing, handling, sales and distribution of products. If we fail to comply with any of these regulations, we may be subject to fines or penalties, have to recall products and/or cease their manufacture and distribution, which would increase our costs and reduce our sales.

As disclosed above, we received the Letter from the FDA and FTC in November 2020, and the Second Letter from the FTC in April 2021.

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We are also subject to various federal, state, local and international laws and regulations that govern the handling, transportation, manufacture, use and sale of substances that are or could be classified as toxic or hazardous substances. Some risk of environmental damage is inherent in our operations and the products we manufacture, sell, or distribute. Any failure by us to comply with the applicable government regulations could also result in product recalls or impositions of fines and restrictions on our ability to carry on with or expand in a portion or possibly all of our operations. If we fail to comply with any or all of these regulations, we may be subject to fines or penalties, have to recall products and/or cease their manufacture and distribution, which would increase our costs and reduce our sales.

Government regulations of our customer’scustomers business are extensive and are constantly changing. Changes in these regulations can significantly affect customer demand for our products and services.

The process by which our customers’ industries are regulated is controlled by government agencies and depending on the market segment can be very expensive, time consuming, and uncertain. Changes in regulations or the enforcement practices of current regulations could have a negative impact on our customers and, in turn, our business. At this time, it is unknown how the FDA will interpret and to what extent it will enforce GMPs, and other regulations that will likely affect many of our customers. These uncertainties may have a material impact on our results of operations, as lack of enforcement or an interpretation of the regulations that lessens the burden of compliance for the dietary supplement marketplace may cause a reduced demand for our products and services.

*

Changes in government regulation or in practices relating to the pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, food and cosmetic industry could decrease the need for the services we provide.

Governmental agencies throughout the world, including in the United States, strictly regulate the pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, food and cosmetic industries. Our business involves helping pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies navigate the regulatory drug approval process. Changes in regulation, such as a relaxation in regulatory requirements or the introduction of simplified drug approval procedures, or an increase in regulatory requirements that we have difficulty satisfying or that make our services less competitive, could eliminate or substantially reduce the demand for our services. Also, if the government makes efforts to contain drug costs and pharmaceutical and biotechnology company profits from new drugs, our customers may spend less, or reduce their spending on research and development. If health insurers were to change their practices with respect to reimbursements for pharmaceutical products, our customers may spend less, or reduce their spending on research and development.

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If we should in the future become required to obtain regulatory approval to market and sell our goods we will not be able to generate any revenues until such approval is received.

The pharmaceutical industry is subject to stringent regulation by a wide range of authorities. While we believe that, given our present business, we are not currently required to obtain regulatory approval to market our goods because, among other things, we do not (i) produce or market any clinical devices or other products, or (ii) sell any medical products or services to the customer, we cannot predict whether regulatory clearance will be required in the future and, if so, whether such clearance will at such time be obtained for any products that we are developing or may attempt to develop. Should such regulatory approval in the future be required, our goods may be suspended or may not be able to be marketed and sold in the United States until we have completed the regulatory clearance process as and if implemented by the FDA. Satisfaction of regulatory requirements typically takes many years, is dependent upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product or service and would require the expenditure of substantial resources.

If regulatory clearance of a good that we propose to propose to market and sell is granted, this clearance may be limited to those particular states and conditions for which the good is demonstrated to be safe and effective, which would limit our ability to generate revenue. We cannot ensure that any good that we develop will meet all of the applicable regulatory requirements needed to receive marketing clearance. Failure to obtain regulatory approval will prevent commercialization of our goods where such clearance is necessary. There can be no assurance that we will obtain regulatory approval of our proposed goods that may require it.

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Risks Related to the Securities Markets and Ownership of our Equity Securities

*

The market price of our common stock may be volatile and adversely affected by several factors.

The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly in response to various factors and events, including, but not limited to:

our ability to integrate operations, technology, products and services;
our ability to execute our business plan;
our operating results are below expectations;
our issuance of additional securities, including debt or equity or a combination thereof,;
announcements of technological innovations or new products by us or our competitors;
acceptance of and demand for our products by consumers;
media coverage regarding our industry or us;
litigation;
disputes with or our inability to collect from significant customers;
loss of any strategic relationship;
industry developments, including, without limitation, changes in healthcare policies or practices;
economic and other external factors;
reductions in purchases from our large customers;
period-to-period fluctuations in our financial results; and
whether an active trading market in our common stock develops and is maintained.

·

our ability to integrate operations, technology, products and services;

·

our ability to execute our business plan;

·

our operating results are below expectations;

·

our issuance of additional securities, including debt or equity or a combination thereof,;

·

announcements of technological innovations or new products by us or our competitors;

·

acceptance of and demand for our products by consumers;

·

media coverage regarding our industry or us;

·

litigation;

·

disputes with or our inability to collect from significant customers;

·

loss of any strategic relationship;

·

industry developments, including, without limitation, changes in healthcare policies or practices;

·

economic and other external factors, including effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;

·

reductions in purchases from our large customers;

·

period-to-period fluctuations in our financial results; and

·

whether an active trading market in our common stock develops and is maintained.

In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

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We have not paid cash dividends in the past and do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any return on investment may be limited to the value of our common stock.

We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends on our capital stock will depend on our earnings, financial condition and other business and economic factors affecting us at such time as the board of directors may consider relevant. If we do not pay dividends, our common stock may be less valuable because a return on your investment will only occur if the common stock price appreciates.

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Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

Our federal net operating losses (“NOL”s) generated in taxable years beginning on or prior to December 31, 2017 could expire unused. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as modified by the CARES Act, federal NOLs incurred in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such federal NOLs in tax years beginning after December 31, 2020, is limited to 80% of taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or the CARES Act. In addition, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and corresponding provisions of state law, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” which is generally defined as a greater than 50% change (by value) in its equity ownership over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOL carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. We may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership, some of which may be outside of our control. As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-ownership change NOL carryforwards to offset U.S. federal taxable income may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us. In addition, at the state level, there may be periods during which the use of NOLs is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed. For example, California imposed limits on the usability of California state net operating losses to offset taxable income in tax years beginning after 2019 and before 2023.

*We have a significant number of outstanding options and unvested restricted stock units. Future sales of these shares could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

As of March 31, 2021, we had outstanding options for an aggregate of approximately 10.2 million shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $4.27 per share and unvested restricted stock units of approximately 0.1 million shares. The holders may sell many of these shares in the public markets from time to time, without limitations on the timing, amount or method of sale. As and when our stock price rises, if at all, more outstanding options will be in-the-money and the holders may exercise their options and sell a large number of shares. This could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Our amended and restated bylaws, as amended (our Bylaws) provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for certain disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our Bylaws provide that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors or officers to our company or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against our company arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against our company governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This choice of forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring certain claims in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. If a court were to find this choice of forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

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General Risks

We may become involved in securities class action litigation that could divert managements attention and harm our business.

The stock market in general, and the stocks of early stage companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the companies involved. If these fluctuations occur in the future, the market price of our shares could fall regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. If the market price or volume of our shares suffers extreme fluctuations, then we may become involved in this type of litigation, which would be expensive and divert management’s attention and resources from managing our business.

As a public company, we may also from time to time make forward-looking statements about future operating results and provide some financial guidance to the public markets. Projections may not be made in a timely manner or we might fail to reach expected performance levels and could materially affect the price of our shares. Any failure to meet published forward-looking statements that adversely affect the stock price could result in losses to investors, stockholder lawsuits or other litigation, sanctions or restrictions issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us or our customers may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations.

New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. For example, legislation enacted in 2017, informally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted many significant changes to the U.S. tax laws. Future guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities with respect to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may affect us, and certain aspects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act could be repealed or modified in future legislation. For example, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), modified certain provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the CARES Act, or any newly enacted federal tax legislation. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or future reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges, and could increase our future U.S. tax expense.

Our shares of common stock may be thinly traded, so you may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all.

We cannot predict the extent to which an active public market for our common stock will develop or be sustained. This situation may be attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company that is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community who generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they tend to be risk averse and would be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares until such time as we have become more seasoned and viable. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or weeks when trading activity in our shares is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer which has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. We cannot assure you that a broader or more active public trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained, or that current trading levels will be sustained or not diminish.

We have not paid cash dividends in the past and do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any return on investment may be limited to the value of our common stock.
We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends on our capital stock will depend on our earnings, financial condition and other business and economic factors affecting us at such time as the board of directors may consider relevant. If we do not pay dividends, our common stock may be less valuable because a return on your investment will only occur if the common stock price appreciates.

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Stockholders may experience significant dilution if future equity offerings are used to fund operations or acquire complementary businesses.

If future operations or acquisitions are financed through the issuance of additional equity securities, stockholders could experience significant dilution. Securities issued in connection with future financing activities or potential acquisitions may have rights and preferences senior to the rights and preferences of our common stock. In addition, the issuance of shares of our common stock upon the exercise of outstanding options or warrants may result in dilution to our stockholders.

*We may become involved in securities class action litigation that could divert management’s attention and harm our business.
The stock market in general, and the stocks of early stage companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the companies involved. If these fluctuations occur in the future, the market price of our shares could fall regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. If the market price or volume of our shares suffers extreme fluctuations, then we may become involved in this type of litigation, which would be expensive and divert management’s attention and resources from managing our business.
As a public company, we may also from time to time make forward-looking statements about future operating results and provide some financial guidance to the public markets. Projections may not be made timely or set at expected performance levels and could materially affect the price of our shares. Any failure to meet published forward-looking statements that adversely affect the stock price could result in losses to investors, stockholder lawsuits or other litigation, sanctions or restrictions issued by the SEC.
*We have a significant number of outstanding options and warrants, and future sales of these shares could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
As of September 30, 2017, we had outstanding options exercisable for an aggregate of 5,922,288 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $3.41 per share and outstanding warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 470,444 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $4.15 per share. The holders may sell many of these shares in the public markets from time to time, without limitations on the timing, amount or method of sale. As and when our stock price rises, if at all, more outstanding options and warrants will be in-the-money and the holders may exercise their options and warrants and sell a large number of shares. This could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
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ITEM

Item 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

On April 26, 2017,February 20, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with certain purchasers named thereinEverFund (the “Purchasers”“Financing”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and issue up to $25.0approximately 3.8 million of its common stock at a purchase price of $2.60 per share in three tranches of approximately $3.5 million, $16.4 million and $5.1 million, respectively. The first tranche closed on April 27, 2017, pursuant to which the Company issued 1,346,154 shares of its common stock. The second tranche closed on May 24, 2017, pursuant to which the Company issued 6,303,814 shares of its common stock. The third tranche closed on August 18, 2017, pursuant to which the Company issued 1,965,417 shares of its common stock.

The shares of the Company’s common stock soldCommon Stock, par value $0.001 per share at a price of $6.50 per share. On February 23, 2021, the Company closed the Financing and received proceeds of $24.9 million, net of offering costs. The shares issued pursuant to the Securities Purchase AgreementFinancing were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or any state securities laws. The Company had relied on the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof and Rule 506 of Regulation D thereunder. In connection with the Purchasers’ execution of the

Item 3. Defaults upon Senior Securities Purchase Agreement, the Purchasers’ represented to the Company that they are each an “accredited investor” as defined in Regulation D of the Securities Act and that the securities purchased by them were acquired solely for their own account and for investment purposes and not with a view to the future sale or distribution.

ITEM 3.                       DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

None.

ITEM 4.                       

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

ITEM 5.                       OTHER INFORMATION
As previously disclosed in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 12, 2017, on June 9, 2017, ChromaPharma, Inc., entered into a License Agreement (the "License Agreement") and a Research Funding Agreement with the Scripps Research Institute, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation ("TSRI").
Under the terms of the License Agreement, TSRI granted to the Company a worldwide, exclusive, royalty-bearing right and license to use certain patent rights relating to methods and compositions for enhancing cancer therapy. As consideration for the license granted, the Company made a cash payment of $50,000 to TSRI. Additionally, the Company will pay TRSI (i) annual cash fees that range from $50,000 to $100,000 which will be credited against running royalties due, (ii) product development milestone payments that range from the low-six digit dollar figure to the low-eight digit dollar figure and that in the aggregate may total up to $32.2 million if all product development milestones are achieved, (iii) royalties on net sales of licensed products in the mid-single digit percentage figure range, and (iv) a percentage of sublicense revenues in the 10% to 30% range, based on the achievement of certain product development milestones on the date of the agreement with the sublicensee. The Company will also reimburse TSRI for certain costs incurred in connection with the preparation, filing and/or maintenance of applications for patent protection.
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ITEM 6.                       EXHIBITS

Item 5. Other Information

None.

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Item 6. Exhibits

Exhibit No.No.


Description of Exhibits


Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of May 21, 2008, by and among Cody Resources, Inc., CDI Acquisition, Inc. and ChromaDex, Inc., as amended on June 10, 2008 (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 2.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 333-140056) filed with the Commission on June 24, 2008) (1)

(incorporated by reference from, and filed as Exhibit 2.2 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-37752) filed with the Commission on November 9, 2017)*

(incorporated by reference from, and filed as Exhibit 2.2 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (File No. 001-37752) filed with the Commission on November 9, 2017)

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-37752) filed with the Commission on March 16, 2017)15, 2018)

Bylaws of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 333-140056) filed with the Commission on June 24, 2008)

Certificate of Amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 000-53290) filed with the Commission on April 12, 2016)

Amendment to Bylaws of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-37752) filed with the Commission on July 19, 2016)

Form of Stock Certificate representing shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 000-53290) filed with the Commission on April 3, 2009)

Investor’s Rights Agreement, effective as of December 31, 2005, by and between The University of Mississippi Research Foundation and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 333-140056) filed with the Commission on June 24, 2008)

Tag-Along Agreement effective as of December 31, 2005, by and among the Registrant, Frank Louis Jaksch, Snr. & Maria Jaksch, Trustees of the Jaksch Family Trust, Margery Germain, Lauren Germain, Emily Germain, Lucie Germain, Frank Louis Jaksch, Jr., and the University of Mississippi Research Foundation (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 333-140056) filed with the Commission on June 24, 2008)

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4.4

Form of Stock Certificate representing shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock effective as of January 1, 2016 (incorporated by reference to, and filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-37752) filed with the Commission on March 17, 2016)

March 7, 2019)

4.7

Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of August 21, 2017,15, 2019, by and among the Registrant and the parties thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 15, 2019)

4.8

Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of April 27, 2020, by and among the Registrant and the parties thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 29, 2020)

4.9

Registration Rights Agreement, dated February 20, 2021, by and among the Company and the Purchaser (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 22, 2021)

10.1

Securities Purchase Agreement, dated February 20, 2021, by and between the Company and the Purchaser (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 22, 2021)

10.2

Executive Employment Agreement, dated November 13, 2020, by and between Lisa H. Harrington and the Registrant❖

10.3

Consultant Agreement, dated March 15, 2021, by and between Mark Friedman and the Registrant❖

10.4

Consent to Business Financing Agreement, dated January 14, 2021, by and among Western Alliance Bank and ChromaDex Corporation, ChromaDex, Inc., ChromaDex Analytics, Inc. and Healthspan Research, LLCCorporation❖

Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended❖

Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended❖

Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 (as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes−Oxley Act of 2002)❖

101.INS

Inline XBRL Instance DocumentDocument- the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document

101.SCH

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

101.CAL

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

101.DEF

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

101.LAB

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

101.PRE

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

104

104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)

Filed herewith.
(1)
A redacted version of this Exhibit is filed herewith. An un-redacted version of this Exhibit has been separately filed with the Commission pursuant to an application for confidential treatment. The confidential portions of the Exhibit have been omitted and are marked by an asterisk.
(2) 
Schedules have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. ChromaDex Corporation undertakes to furnish supplemental copies of any of the omitted schedules upon request by the Securities and Exchange Commission; provided, however, that ChromaDex Corporation may request confidential treatment pursuant to Rule 24b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for any schedule so furnished.
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Filed herewith.

(1)

Plan and related Forms were assumed by ChromaDex Corporation pursuant to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of May 21, 2008, among ChromaDex Corporation (formerly Cody Resources, Inc.), CDI Acquisition, Inc. and ChromaDex, Inc.

*

This exhibit has been granted confidential treatment and has been filed separately with the Commission. The confidential portions of this exhibit have been omitted and are marked by an asterisk.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Date:  November 9, 2017

CHROMADEX CORPORATION

/s/

Date: May 6, 2021

 /s/ KEVIN M. FARR

Kevin M. Farr

Chief Financial Officer

(principal financial and accounting

officer

and duly authorized on behalf of

the registrant)

57
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