On January 3, 2023, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., issued a final ruling rendering the previously issued U.S. Patent No. 8,383,086 ("the ‘086 patent") to be unpatentable and therefore invalid. The ‘086 patent claim covered "The pharmaceutical composition . . . wherein nicotinamide riboside is isolated from a natural or synthetic source." The effect of the ‘086 patent was to provide broad patent protection of the nicotinamide riboside molecule regardless of source and in any salt form such as NR chloride, NR tartrate, NR malate, etc. Thorne HealthTech had challenged the validity of the ‘086 patent at the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the PTAB had upheld Thorne’s challenge, which rendered the ‘086 patent invalid at that time. The ‘086 patent is owned by Dartmouth College and is licensed to ChromaDex, of Irvine, California, for commercial use. Dartmouth College had appealed the PTAB’s decision to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. However, just days ago, Dartmouth College withdrew their appeal, which leaves the initial PTAB invalidity ruling of the ‘086 patent intact. Thorne HealthTech intends to continue its highly successful expansion into the nutritional supplement marketplace with its nicotinamide riboside hydrogen malate suite of products. Thorne’s NRM has among the highest safety profiles in the NR market and is the subject of several ongoing clinical trials related to healthy aging, cognition, and human performance.
Published first on TheFly
