Niagen Bioscience, Inc.

Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us and welcome to the Niagen Bioscience second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. I will now hand the conference over to Lauren Borzanski, Assistant Controller. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon and welcome to Niagen Bioscience, Inc.'s second quarter 2026 conference call. Joining me today are our Chief Executive Officer Rob Fried, Chief Financial Officer Ozan Pamir, and Senior Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Andrew Shao. Dr. Shao will join the call for Q&A. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that today's call may include forward-looking statements. These statements relate to, among other things, our research and development activities, clinical trial plans and timing, regulatory filings, expansion into new markets, business development opportunities, and our expected financial and operating performance. These statements are based on our current expectations as of today and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For our discussion of these risks, please refer to our most recent Form 10Q, and other filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update these statements except as required by law. In addition, we may reference certain non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in today's earnings release and presentation, both available in the investor relations section of our website. With that, it's now my pleasure to turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Rob Fried.

Thank you, Lauren, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. This quarter marks another important milestone in the evolution of Niagen Bioscience. For many years, investors knew us primarily as the company behind TruNiagen, the leading nicotinamide riboside NAD supplement. Today, we are becoming something much broader, a science-driven platform company built around the biology of NAD. with opportunities spanning consumer health, injectable and IV, skincare, and pharmaceuticals. Our name, Niagen Bioscience, reflects that evolution. It represents the company we are building and the opportunity we believe lies ahead. As we look at the progress we've made in 2026 in developing our platform, we see this year as our springboard for growth and for value creation. Our financial results this quarter demonstrate the resilience of our core business, while our strategic progress reinforces our confidence that we're building multiple long-term engines of growth. Today, Niagen Bioscience spans consumer supplements, branded ingredients, intravenous delivery through Niagen Plus, skin care, and pharmaceutical development. These businesses are connected by a common scientific foundation and increasingly reinforce one another. The scientific discoveries guide our commercial path and the commercial adoption expands awareness of Niagen. Pharmaceutical development deepens our understanding of NAD biology while expanding the long term value of our intellectual property. That integrated platform is what differentiates Niagen Bioscience. Global interest in NAD continues to accelerate. We estimate the worldwide NAD supplement market now exceeds $2 billion annually, while the IV and injection market has now grown beyond $500 million. We believe these markets remain in the early stages of their development as scientific understanding of cellular NAD continues to expand. Looking forward, we believe additional opportunities in skincare, IV and injections, pharmaceuticals, and other healthcare applications have the potential to substantially expand the overall addressable market. For more than a decade, Niagen has helped define this category through scientific leadership, regulatory excellence, intellectual property, and what we believe is the industry's largest body of human clinical research supporting NAD and nicotinamide riboside. Those advantages continue to differentiate us as awareness of NAD grows around the world. Our core business continues to provide a solid foundation, and we expect our e-commerce business to continue to be the engine for consistent growth. During the quarter, TrueNight and website sales increased 23% year over year, while Amazon sales increased 10%. We estimate Amazon growth would have been approximately 19% absent a temporary platform issue during early June that has since been resolved. Within the ingredient business, purchases from Life Extension were lower than last year, affecting quarterly comparisons. We also continue to see competitive activity from NMN and NAD as a straight ingredient in certain channels. While we recognize these near-term challenges, our confidence remains grounded in our scientific leadership, intellectual property, regulatory position, manufacturing quality, and extensive body of clinical evidence supporting Niagen. Across every market in which we participate, we are seeing the same trend emerge. Organizations seeking the most scientifically validated approach to elevating NAD are increasingly choosing Niagen.

and that trend is becoming particularly evident within skincare.

Earlier this year, we completed a limited launch of our first branded skincare product, Niagen NanoClouds. The response exceeded our internal expectation and supports a broader commercial launch later this year. More importantly, we are now seeing growing validation from some of the world's most respected skincare companies. Recently published research demonstrating that nicotinamide riboside was more effective than niacinamide at increasing NAD levels and protecting against UV-induced depletion in human skin models. Presently, we are engaged in discussions with two global skincare companies that are evaluating the incorporation of Niagen into one of its established skincare brands. We're encouraged by the level of interest we are seeing from leading companies throughout the industry. IV and injection represents another exciting opportunity. During the quarter, we expanded the Niagen Plus platform with the launch of our at-home injection kit while continuing to grow relationships with clinic networks such as Restore Hyper Wellness. Perhaps most encouraging, several of the largest telehealth companies have approached us to explore adding Niagen injections as their NAD offering on their platform. Should these discussions ultimately lead to commercial partnerships, they have the potential to meaningfully expand the reach of the Niagen platform. More importantly, they reinforce our belief that consumers are increasingly recognizing the advantages of Niagen over traditional NAD administration. Our newest business may ultimately prove to be our most transformational. Earlier this month, we formally launched NAD Pharmaceuticals, establishing a dedicated organization focused on developing therapies for rare genetic diseases and age-related disorders. Our lead development candidate, NB4168, has already received rare pediatric disease designation from the FDA, and Orphan Medicinal Product Designation from the European Medicines Agency for Ataxia telangiectasia. Rare disease development provides an opportunity to address areas of significant unmet medical need while leveraging our deep understanding of NAD biology. We intend to invest thoughtfully, remain financially disciplined and provide updates as we achieve meaningful scientific, regulatory and clinical milestones. Ozan will discuss the economics in greater detail later in today's call. Scientific leadership remains the foundation that supports every business we operate. During the quarter, researchers reported encouraging findings linking nitrogen supplementation with reductions in measures of epigenetic age acceleration and improvements associated with mitochondrial biology. Additional independent studies explored potential applications in retinal disease, neurodegeneration, immune function, and mitochondrial disorders. While many of these findings remain early stage and require further validation, they illustrate an important trend. Independent researchers around the world continue choosing nicotinamide riboside to investigate fundamental questions in cellular health. That expanding body of science benefits every segment of our business. As we look ahead, we believe Niagen Bioscience is entering one of the most exciting periods in its history. We have a profitable and cash generating core business. We have a growing global consumer brand. We have a differentiated intellectual property portfolio. We have an expanding commercial opportunity across skin care and IV injections and the beginnings of a pharmaceutical pipeline addressing diseases with significant unmet need. We are building the world's leading NAD platform company. Our objective is clear. Wherever consumers, physicians, researchers, or pharmaceutical companies seek the most clinically supported approach to elevating NAD, we want Niagent to be their first choice. We remain disciplined in how we allocate our capital and resources, and we remain realistic about the work still ahead. We're highly confident that the investments we are making today in our brand, in our science, and in our pipeline are laying the foundation for a much larger company in the years ahead. This year will be our springboard for growth in 2027 and well beyond. With that, I'll turn the call over to Ozan to review our financial results, discuss our pharmaceutical strategy in greater detail, and then we'll open the call for your questions. Ozan?

Thank you, Rob. It is a pleasure to once again address our investors, partners, and team members today. As Rob stated, the NAD platform that we have built extends beyond our core consumer and our nitrogen ingredient businesses. Those profitable, cash-generated businesses provide the financial foundation for nitrogen plus telehealth, skincare, and pharmaceutical development. These opportunities are at different stages and are not yet fully reflected in our financial results. However, the strategic optionality they provide is tangible. As we advance these opportunities, we remain disciplined in allocating resources across marketing, research and development and operations. Our objective is to invest thoughtfully in long-term growth while maintaining a strong balance sheet and financial flexibility to pursue the most attractive opportunities. We believe these investments will strengthen our foundation for growth and value creation beyond 2026. In the second quarter of 2026, we delivered $29.8 million of revenue, with TrueNigem bringing in $24.2 million, an increase of 6% or $1.5 million year over year. Ecommerce was the primary driver of our consumer business, generating $20.5 million in revenue, up 14% or $2.5 million. Excluding the temporary marketplace listing issue experienced in June, we estimate our ecommerce business would have grown by 19% year-over-year. Our ingredient business generated $5.4 million in revenue, comprised of $4.9 million in food grade nitrogen and $400,000 in pharma grade nitrogen ingredient. Gross margin was stable at 64.8% in the second quarter, compared with 65% a year ago. The modest decline of 20 basis points primarily reflected changes in product and business mix. Selling and marketing expense represented 34% of net sales compared with 26.4% in the second quarter of 2025. This increase reflects investments in e-commerce growth, brand awareness, new product launches, and our China cross-border business. China remains a meaningful growth opportunity for TrueNiogen. In fact, through May 2026, revenue from our China Cross Border channel had already exceeded the revenues generated by that channel for the full year 2025. Research and development expense was $1.5 million, a slight decrease of $100,000 year over year. R&D spending can fluctuate with the timing of clinical studies and external research programs. The expected to increase as we conduct targeted study supporting new claims and products and advanced preclinical and IND enabling work for NB4168. General and administrative expense was $7 million, a decrease of approximately $300,000 from the prior year quarter, primarily due to lower royalties under our agreement with Queen's University Belfast. And finally, Net income was $1 million, or $0.01 per diluted share compared with $0.05 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2025. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow, we generated $2.8 million in operating cash flow during the quarter. Cash used in financing activities was $2.5 million, primarily reflecting $2.8 million of common stock repurchases. We ended the quarter with $66.7 million in cash and no debt. Our balance sheet is stronger than ever, and we have $14.6 million of authorization remaining under our $20 million share repurchase program. I would now like to take a moment to discuss how we evaluate the potential economics of our drug development program around NB4168. The commercial opportunity is driven by NB4168's differentiation as a pharmaceutical asset. Compared with NRCL, NB4168 offers enhanced bioavailability and a potentially higher therapeutic index. It is also a novel molecule that is not naturally occurring or marketed as a dietary supplement, and it is protected by composition of matter intellectual property. These are attributes that could support stronger exclusivity, specialized rare disease pricing, and greater strategic value to potential pharmaceutical partners. If NB4168 ultimately receives FDA approval and meets the applicable statutory requirements, it may also qualify for a transferable priority review voucher. Recent voucher transactions have generated proceeds of approximately $150 million, providing a meaningful potential source of value independent of product sales. We have completed a detailed risk-adjusted financial analysis of the Ataxia telangiectasia opportunity, incorporating relevant assumptions around the addressable patient population, development costs, regulatory timing, commercial adoption, and pricing. Based on that work, we estimate that the AT indication alone could support a net present value of approximately $200 to $400 million, excluding the potential value of the voucher. Additionally, our review of the precedent transactions involving differentiated rare disease assets that achieved regulatory approval demonstrate that successful programs can create multi-billion dollar strategic value. One relevant example is Biogen's $7.3 billion acquisition of Riata Pharmaceuticals following the approval of SkyClaris for Friedreich's Ataxia. It's worth noting that the opportunity may also extend beyond AT. We are evaluating a basket-style development approach across diseases with shared underlying biology, including but not limited to citrin deficiency, Werner syndrome, mitochondrial myopathy, and cocaine syndrome. Subject to supporting evidence and regulatory alignment, this could broaden the potential clinical and commercial potential of NB4168s. Our financial performance update is supported by the combination of our consumer and ingredient businesses. For the full year 2026, we expect our e-commerce business to grow between 10 to 15% year over year. Our expectation of the rest of the consumer business remains unchanged. We do expect our ingredients business to be lower than the prior year, Thank you for watching. As we look beyond 2026, our revenue streams from these core verticals will be the foundation for our continued growth in 2027 and beyond. We expect operating expenses to increase as we execute on these strategic priorities. Selling and marketing expense will reflect our broader brand initiative, refresh creative assets, and support for new and developing channels. R&D spending will increase as we advance NB4168 and continue research related to our topical and injectable opportunities. G&A expenses also expected to increase as we build the infrastructure needed to support these programs and our broader market expansion. We will phase these investments thoughtfully, measure their performance, and maintain the financial discipline that has enabled us to generate positive cash flow and preserve balance sheet strength. This year is an important investment year as we allocate resources toward new market verticals, pharmaceutical development, and greater brand awareness. We view 2026 as a springboard for faster growth and value creation, and we believe that we have created a business model set up for greater success. Our core business remains cash generative, giving us the flexibility to invest selectively across the broader NIGEM platform. We remain confident in our ability to strengthen the brand, advance Nigem Plus and NV4168, and create long-term value for our customers, partners, and shareholders. Operator, we are now ready to take questions.

We will now begin the question and answer session. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up only. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 to raise your hand To withdraw your question, press star 1 again We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster Your first question comes from the line of Ram Selvaraju with HC Wainwright. Ram, your line is open. Go ahead.

Thanks so much for taking our questions. Firstly, I was wondering if you could provide us with any update on the lawsuit filed against the FDA and when you anticipate any potential further progress on that front and the possibility of some decision in that proceeding. Secondly, I was wondering if you could comment on the outlook for the Asia-Pacific business, particularly the partnership with Watson's. And then lastly, with respect to any future initiatives or endeavors in the Rx or pharmaceutical space, wanted to see if you could give us some insight into how many additional novel analogs of nicotinamide riboside you may have in addition to the disclosed one, and if you have any pharmaceutical development initiatives intended for these analogs, as well as whether you have any plans to move into other areas of the space in between supplements and wellness products and the Rx space, like, for example, wellness peptides. Thank you.

Does that count as one question? Thank you, Ram. Those are good questions and very relevant. Let me address. First of all, with regard to the FDA, the FDA had filed a motion to dismiss several months ago. We replied to that. We expect the judge to rule on that motion to dismiss within the next two, maybe three months. We feel very confident. about that and the facts overall in the case. With regard to Asia Pacific and Watson's, also another great and relevant question. Watson's is back and making purchases and they've sold through the excess inventory that they had at the end of last year and looking quite strong. So we're very confident with Watson's. We've, as you know, been launching some new SKUs here in the US and Watson's is interested in carrying those as well. Nanoclouds, Beauty, etc. We also expect to be expanding into other countries with Watson's. We're hoping to receive regulatory approval soon in Taiwan and Korea, and we hope to pursue those channels with Watson's. We recently received regulatory approval for a skin care product in mainland China, which could be a significant opportunity, and we hope to pursue that with Watson's as well. With regard to the RX farm analogs, there are actually quite a few, as you know, and we have conducted studies on several of those, and there's reason to believe that they may actually even be more potent than NB4168 and NR chloride in elevating NAD. So we are excited about developing those for potential therapeutic use as well, and we have had discussions with certain larger companies in the pharma space about those other molecules. The space in between dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals for us is what we call Niagen Plus, the IV and the injection business. We are more bullish on that Niagen Plus business today than we have ever been. As you know, Ram, Niagen is significantly superior to NAD. We believe that the NAD IV injection market is about $500 million, probably a bit more, and it's almost all in the United States at this point. This is the market for people who self-inject NAD or who get IVs of NAD either through their physician or at clinics. And we've done head-to-head comparisons. We know Niagen is superior. It takes several hours to get an IV of NAD. It takes minutes to get Niagen. That's because NAD is not bioavailable. People who get the NAD IVs, it often takes three, four hours for them to ingest. They have stomach pains, they have sweats, they have fevers. There are side effects that do not exist when you do Niagen. But perhaps most importantly, Niagen is far more effective at elevating NAD. So we see this as a significant opportunity. And as you know, Ron, we've spent years developing this business. We got on the category one list of the FDA for compound pharmacy. We've produced pharmaceutical grade Niagen that we make available. And we've developed the commercial infrastructure and supply chain for serving this market. The reason Niagen Plus hasn't yet taken over that $500 million market has related to price. Niagen is more expensive than NAD. And if you go to the clinic and get a Niagen IV, it's priced not to meet the average consumer. It really just focuses on the very wealthy or on the extreme biohackers at this point. And as you know, we've discussed this in the past, one of the reasons why we added Olympia as a second compound pharmacy to Wells, who has done very good work with us, was to create a little bit of price compression. We believe that we have solved the pricing problem, but we don't believe it will be solved for the next two or three months. We think that within the next two or three months, we will be able to reduce the price to the clinics and still make it satisfactory for the compound pharmacies and for Niagen and its shareholders to make plenty of profit and bring the price down to the average consumer. This is one of the reasons that we are expecting the big revenue push in the Niagen Plus category to happen in 2027 and not in the second half of 2026. But we are very excited. In fact, some of these clinics, a couple of these large clinic franchises have contacted us and said if we could get the price down to a certain level, that they would like to make Niagen the flagship ingredient in the entire chain, not just instead of NAD, but overall as their flagship ingredient. and we've been contacted by several of the larger telehealth companies that are presently selling NAD as an at-home injection product or are contemplating that. So we expect some good things for Niagen Plus next year and we're developing these things, but we don't expect it to hit its stride in 2026.

That's really helpful. Thank you so much.

Your next question comes from the line of Jeffrey Cohen with Leidenberg Thalmann. Jeffrey, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hi, Rob and Ozan. Thanks for taking the questions. I guess firstly, Rob, can you talk a little bit more about PRV and a potential priority review for the NV4168? Do you have to Request that now or does that request come later and just prior to an MDA or a BLA? When will we hear about or know more about the clarity on that pathway?

Jeff, I'll take that question. So the Priority Review Voucher is a program that's dedicated for rare pediatric diseases and orphan drugs. Once you receive those designations and you receive approval by the FDA for that drug, there's no reason for the company to not receive that voucher. And once a company receives that voucher, it is exchangeable for money. And the recent transactions we're seeing, it's ranging between $150 to $180 million for that voucher. It essentially is a voucher to incentivize pharma companies to develop drugs for rare diseases and create instant value, and you can recover your RN costs through that mechanism and make a profit.

Okay, got it. That's helpful. And I guess as a follow-up, could you talk a little bit more about NanoCloud preparations and work that you'll be doing in the back half this year prior to more of a full-blown launch into the marketplace.

So as I think you know, Jeff, one of the properties of nitrogen which makes it challenging in certain markets is that it's highly sensitive to water. So we need to solve the problem of putting it in a water-based cream. Nanoclouds is one solution to that problem where it's essentially pillows, the covering of which are made out of hyaluronic acid. And we sell them as individual little disks. We call them pillows or nanoclouds, which when combined with liquid, a cream or water can then be applied to the face and is stable. So we developed it as an experiment to see if it worked and if it was stable, and we've done Numerous user studies to see if consumers liked it. They do a lot. And then we tested it on the market. We only made three or four thousand of these things, but they sold out very quickly. And what else is encouraging is that many of the customers that bought them repeat purchased and asked when it will be back on the market. So we're encouraged by this. Those aren't gigantic numbers, but those are numbers that indicate that there's real demand and real interest. One of the things that we also found interesting about NanoClouds, it was a very high percentage of new to brand customers. It wasn't necessarily customers who are already buying TruNiagin that bought it. So all of these data points suggest that there's a market here for skincare for us. So we're also developing other skincare products under the TruNiagin brand name that do come in sort of a combined oil-based cream. We expect to launch the additional NanoClouds that we are making right now in October. It might be November, depending on when they get delivered, and there'll be a marketing campaign associated with that. And of course, as you know, the way our business model works, we develop our own consumer brands and our own consumer products, but at the same time, we supply the ingredient in other quality brands. And there are several of the best known skincare brands globally. who have expressed, I would say, very strong interest in including Niagen in some of their well-known brands.

Okay, perfect. Thanks for taking the questions and congrats on the quarter.

Thanks, Jeff.

Your next question comes from the line of Susan Anderson with Canaccord Genuity. Susan, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Hi, thanks for taking my question. I guess I just wanted to follow up on the skincare business. I guess, how are you thinking about it longer term? Do you think selling the ingredient to beauty companies, which they sound very interested in, will be bigger than your own products at some point? Or do you think it'll be more balanced? And then I think you had mentioned in the past that you're looking at another topical. I guess, is that still in the works?

Yes, thank you, Susan. It really is an economic question. At least one, perhaps two of these skincare companies are very, very large companies and have expressed interest in a significant exclusive deal. The economics would have to be very, very significant for us to agree to something like that. And of course, it would be subject to some studies that we would have to co-conduct. And then there's the possibility of co-exclusive. We made a deal with them and the only other brand that could exist would be ours. So at this point, it's too early to say, but we think that one way or the other, the skincare market looks fairly substantial for us in the long term. What was the second question? Oh, the second question was the second product. Second product.

Yeah, exactly.

I expect that second product to be launched around April of next year.

Great. Great. That sounds good. And then maybe just another follow-up to, I think you guys had talked about bringing the supplements to retail. Maybe you had moved into a club, I thought. Maybe just wanted to get an update on that. And then on the marketing expense, I guess, should we think about this as a new, the selling and marketing, a new benchmark going forward? Or is it one quarter? Or how should we think about that? Thanks.

With the first question, we are expanding into certain selected retail outlets. We just went into Sam's Club, I think, a couple of months ago, and several others. We're in GNC, Vitamin Shop, Sam's Club, Sprouts, and we're in discussions with a few other retailers. It's too early for us to say how it's doing at this point, but we are planning a brand campaign with a series of celebrities. to support our retail distribution presently. So we expect that to happen toward the end, probably in the fourth quarter. What was the second part of that question?

The selling and marketing expense, if we should expect that to kind of, that run rate kind of the rest of the year, the 34%.

Well, we're very focused on maintaining a cash flow positive business. We have these verticals that we look at, which all have very, very dramatic, significant upside potential. What we're endeavoring to do here is to minimize the downside and maximize the upside. We think that the pharma space could be very big. We think the Niagen Plus business could be extremely big. And we think the skincare market could be big. But we want to pursue all of these while still being cash flow positive and improving our balance sheet. So the answer to the question is yes, we are going to carefully increase marketing spend, especially as we roll out retail distribution and more global distribution, but always trying to maintain cash flow positive. One other thing I want to point out that might be worth mentioning, which is This core business that we have of true nitrogen, our dietary supplement business, there was a company that I read today called Thorne that sold to P&G for $3.8 billion. One of the things that people like about Thorne is that it's considered a science-based brand. But I think that even if you spoke to the people at Thorne, they would say the most science-based brand is Niogen Bioscience. They've made a habit of endeavoring to poach Niogen Bioscience people. We think that the true Niogen business that we have, which as you know, is really based on very few skews and primarily one ingredient, is a very respected brand. with very respected loyal consumers and is very much primed for expansion in that space. If Thorne can do it, we do it better. So we talk a lot about pharma, we talk a lot about Niagen Plus, and we talk about skincare, but the true Niagen core supplement business is very ripe for expansion and growth. But again, we are always very focused on profitable growth. and not just spending too much on marketing at risk of our balance sheet.

Okay, great. That's good to hear. That's all. I'll pass it on to the next person. Thanks for all the details. Good luck.

Thank you, Susan. Thank you.

Your next question comes from the line of Sean McGowan with Roth Capital Partners. Sean, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Hi, Rob. Hi, Ozan and James. So my question is about what can you help us with on framing the spending plans as it relates to exploiting NB 4168? I know you've talked about spinoffs or partnerships, but in terms of sitting here now in the middle of 26, what should we be expecting will be incremental spending related to that effort?

Do you want to take it? I can take that. Thanks, Sean, for the question. So with NB4168, we're approaching it the way we approach the rest of the business. We're not going to be spending millions and millions of dollars to bring ourselves to cash flow negative. We are looking to spend Not a very significant amount for the rest of the year on efficacy studies and developing this candidate to an IND stage. I expect that we'll have first in human studies done next year. The overall program, if you take it from today to approval, is not so significant like some of the other drug development programs. It's a $30 million spent across, spread across four years versus, you know, compared to some of the larger trials you may do, which a single trial would cost more than that. This is one of the primary reasons why we selected to approach rare diseases and specifically ataxia conjunctasia. First of all, it is, you know, we understand biology, but secondly, from an economic standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. The way we approach spin-outs and partnerships is we continue to have these dialogues, but we feel comfortable developing this molecule to a certain point ourselves. We think that we will be able to generate significantly more value for our shareholders, you know, when we generate a little bit more data.

Okay, thank you. And if I could follow up with a question on a spending question. So you commented on sales and marketing, you know, and you talked about this beginning last year, you know, invest in sales and marketing. So no surprise there. R&D fluctuates. You commented on that. But is this, I mean, the G&A was actually a little bit lower than I would have thought. Is there anything in the quarter that kind of offset normal spending or is this a base from which, you know, is this kind of a level we should expect to see in the next couple of quarters?

Yeah, what you see is reasonable for the next few quarters. There may be a slight increase. I mean, we gave guidance in the past that GNA will increase year over year. The GNA expense will still increase, but at a smaller amount. We expect it to increase to the $3 million year over year for the full year, not for the second half.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Your next question comes from the line of Bill DeZellum with Titan Capital. Bill, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Thank you. In your opening remarks, you discussed that you have kind of new ingredient partners that you're planning on bringing into the fold over time here. Would you please walk us through where you see those those next ingredient partners that you bring on board fitting into the Niagen ecosystem and whether that be geographic focused or some targeted target market otherwise focused walk us through how how you were thinking about that please we are looking

at geographic partners, particularly in the EU and one or two also in Asia. The EU is just waking up to NAD and we have been having some discussions with potential partners there. You know, the ingredient business is very, we are very careful with the ingredient business. It was very strategic for us to get into that business because we felt that we needed to get the word out that NAD was important. but also that Niagen is the best way to elevate NAD and we knew that that would be expensive and we thought that getting the right partners in would help us communicate that message and it did but you know one or two of those partners became a little larger than we would have expected so we think a balance would be a little bit healthier for us rather than having one or two that are very large maybe four or five that are That's helpful.

Thank you, Rob. And then I'd like to switch to China if we could. A couple of different questions there. The first one is relative to cross-border sales activities. Walk through that in a bit more detail than you did in your opening remarks. And then You threw out the nugget of skin care product approval in China and would like more detail on that, please.

Well, you know, when you enter a new country, you have to get the ingredient approved and then you have to get the product registered. And we've had a challenge in certain countries in Asia getting nitrogen as an ingredient approved. In certain countries, it has to do with the manufacturing process that we use. and they would want us to replicate many of the studies that we've already done in the U.S. to get that approval. So it's taken so long and China in particular is difficult. But we were able to get topical approval in China, not dietary supplement approval as the ingredient, but the ingredient approved as a topical product in China. And we still have to get the product registered of true nitrogen as a topical product and we're also interested in potentially partners for that territory. But that is a good milestone, an important milestone for us in the skincare market in China.

In terms of cross-border, do you want to answer that? I can answer that. So Bill, thanks for the question. Last year, China cross-border is the first year that we started it. We started China cross-border in Q2 of 2025. This year, you know, I mentioned it in my opening remarks, by May, we have already surpassed the revenue that we had in China cross-border, and we expect that business to significantly increase. Last year, it was under a million dollars of business in 2025. This year, we expect it to be significantly more.

Okay, thank you. And I assume that this traction that you have gained, you are benefiting from NMN having been banned in China. And if that is the case, is there a general awareness with the Chinese consumer that Niagen is actually a better NAD precursor than NMN?

Well, it is a better precursor than NMN. I don't know if the general public in China is aware of that fact. There was a point in time where the CFDA, the China FDA, did ban NMN. We see it creeping back into the marketplace, so I'm not sure what the current status is. In China, it's very small, but it's still there. But we do think that there's serious demand in mainland China and awareness of true nitrogen. I mean, they're aware of the popularity of the product in Hong Kong. So we think that there's a good opportunity. We're seeing the growth there through our cross-border sales of true nitrogen into China. We expect to continue to invest in that and develop that business.

Okay, so the reason I continue to push on this is it is Our sense that that market is so large and the supplement market in general is very large in China and therefore this could grow very fast and maybe even surpass U.S. actual dollar sales levels given enough time. Is that a fair assessment or are we a little over exuberant with our perspective?

Well, the population is much larger in China, and it's a sophisticated population, and they are aware of NAD. At one time, cross-border sales of NMN, we saw a report that showed that they believed, this report believed that cross-border NMN sales was between $500 billion and $1 billion. I mean, that's a fraction of that today, since they were making false claims. and the CFA acted upon that. But that's a fairly large market and it's a market we would like to be in. But as I say, for selling in country, it requires a level of ingredient approval that we have not yet been able to achieve, but we're working on it.

We have reached the end of our Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Lauren Borzanski for closing remarks.

Thank you, Jillian. There will be a replay of this call beginning at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Time Day. The replay number is 1-833-461-5787. And the replay ID is 879-107-368. Thank you all for joining us today. We look forward to updating you again next quarter.

Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.