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{{short description|American multi-level marketing company}}
'''Protandim''' is a herbal [[dietary supplement]] marketed with unsupported claims that it can treat a number of medical conditions. The product is a [[patent medicine|patented]]<ref name=Patent1 /> mix of five herbal ingredients and sold by LifeVantage Corporation (formerly LifeLine Therapeutics, Lifeline Nutraceuticals, and Yaak River Resources, Inc), a [[Utah]]-based [[multi-level marketing]] company.<ref name="LifeVantage">LifeVantage Corporation{{cite web | url=http://www.lifevantage.com/faqs/ | title=FAQs – LifeVantage | access-date=4 July 2014 }}</ref> The manufacturers of Protandim
== History ==
In 2003, Lifeline Therapeutics, a privately held Denver-based [[nutraceutical]] licensing and marketing company, entered into an agreement with Massachusetts biotechnology company CereMedix for the rights to market CMX-1152, an experimental [[peptide]]-based [[chemical compound|compound]], under the brand name "Protandim" (also sometimes referred to at that time as "Rholen," "Rejuven8r" and "ependymin").<ref name="NutraceuticalsWorld">{{cite news|title=Lifeline Nutraceuticals, CereMedix sign agreement|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-112356866.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413142849/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-112356866.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 13, 2016|access-date=2012-08-19|newspaper=Nutraceuticals World|date=December 1, 2003}}</ref><ref name=BetterhumansPR>{{cite news|title=The Uncertain Antiaging Pill (press release)|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb183718.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050125045232/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb183718.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 25, 2005|access-date=2012-08-19|newspaper=Betterhumans|date=December 1, 2004}}</ref><ref name="McCook">{{cite journal |author=Alison McCook|title=Your Money for Your Life |journal=The Scientist|volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=33 |date=February 2006 |url=http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/23192/#ixzz1DA5Ng18E
CMX-1152 was due to be marketed as an [[over the counter]] [[anti-aging]] pill in June 2004 after completing human clinical trials. However, plans to market the CMX-1152 version of Protandim fell through and in April 2004 Lifeline Therapeutics announced that it would instead be marketing a different (non-peptide) [[dietary supplement]] under the name "Protandim CF" (to distinguish it from the peptide version initially developed by Cermedix). The new version of Protandim, a combination of five common [[herbal]] ingredients including [[turmeric]] and [[green tea]] was invented following "months of extensive research and development" by Lifeline employees Paul Myhill and William Driscoll (a former oil company executive), who together hold the patent on the product,<ref name="Patent1">{{Cite patent | inventor1-last=Myhill | inventor1-first=Paul R. | inventor2-last=Driscoll | inventor2-first=William J. | issue-date=10 July 2007 | patent-number=7241461 | title=Composition for alleviating inflammation and oxidative stress in a mammal. | postscript=<!--None--> | country-code=US }}</ref> and it was launched in February 2005. Myhill and Driscoll resigned from the company later that year.<ref name="DenverPost" /><ref name="Footnoted">{{cite news|title=Some days it's just hard to believe|url=http://www.footnoted.com/uncategorized/some-days-its-just-hard-to-believe/|access-date=2012-08-19|newspaper=Footnoted|date=November 17, 2005}}</ref><ref name="DBJ">{{cite news|title=Lifeline Therapeutics CEO resigns|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2005/07/04/daily12.html|access-date=2012-08-20|newspaper=[[Denver Business Journal]]|date=July 5, 2005}}</ref><ref name="Myhill8K">{{cite news|title=Paul R. Myhill. RE: Resignation from the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Lifeline Therapeutics, Inc (Form 8-K)|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/849146/000102189005000208/lifeline1111058kex991.htm|access-date=2012-08-20|newspaper=[[United States Securities and Exchange Commission]]|date=November 11, 2005}}</ref>
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Beginning in 2005, Protandim was produced under a manufacturing agreement with [[Chemins|The Chemins Company]] of Colorado Springs, Colorado.<ref name="LIFEVANTAGE-CORP-Jan-2006-10KSB/A">{{cite web|url=http://edgar.secdatabase.com/135/102189006000015/filing-main.htm |title=LIFEVANTAGE CORP, Form 10KSB/A, Filing Date Jan 26, 2006 |publisher=secdatabase.com |access-date =May 15, 2018}}</ref> In July 2008, LifeVantage entered into a new manufacturing agreement with Cornerstone Research & Development to produce Protandim, and with Wasatch Product Development to produce a Protandim-based skin cream (''TrueScience'').<ref name="LIFEVANTAGE-CORP-Sep-2011-10-K">{{cite web|url=http://pdf.secdatabase.com/988/0001193125-11-258536.pdf |title=LIFEVANTAGE CORP, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Sep 28, 2011 |publisher=secdatabase.com |access-date =May 15, 2018}}</ref>
In 2006, biochemist [[Joe M. McCord]] joined the LifeVantage board of directors as the company's
In January 2014, McCord was replaced by Shawn Talbott (developer of [[CortiSlim]]),<ref name="TalbottFTC">{{cite web|title=Three Cortislim Defendants to Give up $4.5 Million in Cash and Other Assets|url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2005/09/three-cortislim-defendants-give-45-million-cash-and-other-assets|publisher=[[Federal Trade Commission]]|access-date=July 14, 2016|date=September 21, 2005}}</ref> who served as the company's
=== Product invention ===
As recently as July 21, 2011, LifeVantage credited McCord as the creator of Protandim on its website.<ref name="InventControversy2">{{cite web |url= http://www.lifevantage.com/products-breakthrough.aspx |title= Scientific Breakthrough. [Filed 21 July 2011] |url-status= bot: unknown |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110721233521/http://www.lifevantage.com/products-breakthrough.aspx |archive-date= 21 July 2011 }}</ref> At a 2011 conference for LifeVantage distributors, McCord stated, "I was presented with a list of 41 potential ingredients for a product they wanted to call Protandim, and I went through the list and penciled out, rapidly, about 36 of those ingredients," leaving the 5 ingredients in the current formulation of Protandim.<ref name="InventControversy3">{{cite web |url= http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/C5vli73g_CA
== Composition ==
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Marketing claims that Protadim can prevent or treat [[cancer]] are unproven and have been deemed [[fraudulent]] by the FDA.<ref name="fda2017">{{cite web |publisher=FDA |title=Illegal Cancer Treatments: FDA Warning – Fraudulent Claims of Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention or Cure |date=25 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424192807/https://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm554777.htm |archive-date=24 April 2018 |url=https://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm554777.htm}}</ref> Research into use as a treatment for [[amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] is of poor quality, casting doubt on its usefulness for drawing any conclusions about efficacy.<ref>{{cite journal| author=ALSUntangled Group| title=ALSUntangled No. 31: Protandim. | journal=Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener | year= 2015 | volume= 17 | issue= 1–2 | pages= 154–6 | pmid=26414415 | doi=10.3109/21678421.2015.1088707 | s2cid=207664215 |type=Review| doi-access=free }}</ref>
In 2011, [[Harriet A. Hall]] wrote for ''[[Science-Based Medicine (website)|Science-Based Medicine]]'' that
== Side effects ==
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=== FDA Warning for illegal marketing ===
On April 17, 2017, LifeVantage was issued a [[FDA warning letter|warning letter]] by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding illegal advertising claims on the company's websites suggesting that Protandim can play a role in helping to cure various ailments, including cancer and diabetes. The claims were deemed to be in violation of Section 201(g)(1)(B) of the [[Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act]]
=== Other ===
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In September 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed against LifeVantage in Utah alleging that the company and its executive Darren Jensen and Mark Jaggi made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, the case alleged that the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) LifeVantage lacked effective internal financial controls; (ii) as a result, the Company had improperly accounted for sales in certain international markets, along with associated revenue and income tax accruals; and (iii) as a result of the foregoing, LifeVantage's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.<ref name="Rosen091616">{{cite web|author1=Rosen Law Firm|title=Rosen Law Firm Announces Filing of Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against LifeVantage Corporation – LFVN|url=https://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-952.html|access-date=April 27, 2018|date=September 16, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Zhang1">{{cite web|title=Zhang v LifeVantage et al: Case 2:16-cv-00965-BCW|url=http://securities.stanford.edu/filings-documents/1059/LC00_02/2016915_f01c_16CV00965.pdf|access-date=April 27, 2018|date=September 15, 2018}}</ref> The case was dismissed in June 2017.<ref name="LFVN102317">{{cite web|title=LifeVantage Announces Dismissal of Class Action Lawsuit|url=https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/10/23/1151587/0/en/LifeVantage-Announces-Dismissal-of-Class-Action-Lawsuit.html|publisher=Lifevantage|access-date=April 27, 2018|date=October 10, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Zhang2">{{cite web|title=Zhang v Lifevantage et al: Memorandum decision and order granting defendants' motion to dismiss.|url=https://ecf.utd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?216cv0965-51|access-date=April 27, 2018|date=June 15, 2017}}</ref>
In January 2018, a class action lawsuit was filed against LifeVantage in Connecticut alleging that the company and its
== Promotional sponsorship ==
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