CRONaxal

benaGene, also known as Jubilance, also known as CRONaxal, also known as Gilaxal[1], is marketed by Terra Biological LLC as a supplement, or medical food,File:Wikipedia's W.svg or whatever they're selling it as this month. CRONaxal was "specially formulated" for people with primary brain tumours. Terra Biological say it contains a substance called oxaloacetate,File:Wikipedia's W.svg which they also market as a treatment for the unrelated conditions[2] Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,[3] Pre Menstrual Syndrome,[4] tremor,[5] and doping athletes.[6] Now they're selling the exact same thing branded as Jubilance, for PMS symptoms, and benaGene, for just about everything under the Sun, including anti-aging, "brain fog", sugar cravings, and "stabiliz[ing] blood sugar levels".

Against allopathy
Alternative medicine
Clinically unproven
v - t - e
Terra Biological's unimpressive* clinical case studies for CRONaxal. ( * "Low-Grade Oligodendroglioma" can be indolent for years ).

They also make an eponymous oxaloacetate formula for Dr. Mitch Ghen D.O.[7] “Dr. Mitch” has twice been disciplined: once by the North Carolina Medical Board, and once by the Florida Board of Medicine.[8]

In their 2015 patent application, Terra Biological said that their oxaloacetate stuff is in clinical trials for "mitochondrial disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Cancer".[9] Is there nothing this miraculous[10] substance can't treat?

The bulk price for oxaloacetate is US$1-$10 per kilogram.[11] CRONaxal could cost up to $1500 per month.[12] A set of 12 benaGene bottles is, as of writing, on sale (better hurry up and buy!) for $499, which comes out to the low, low price of $13,861.11 per kilogram of oxaloacetate. Terra claims the oxaloacetate in their products is "thermally stabilized", although without giving any details on the method of doing so; you judge whether this justifies the rather large premium.

So benaGene/Jubilance/CRONaxal/Gilaxal allegedly treats many unrelated conditions, check ✔. It's recommended by dodgy doctors,[13] check ✔. Its manufacturer uses the word "miracle", check ✔. It's sold as a food/supplement rather than a drug whose efficacy has to be proven, check ✔. Grossly overpriced, check ✔. All the hallmarks of a health-fraud scam.

Science

Anyone who knows their biochemistry rolled their eyes as soon as they saw "oxaloacetate". Oxaloacetate is literally everywhere in the human body, as it's an intermediate in several metabolic pathways, most notably the citric acid cycle, which takes place in every cell with mitochondria.[note 1] Oxaloacetate is found in detectable levels in the blood, and one study (actually using one of the Terra products) found no significant change in blood levels from a daily oral dose of 200 mg.[14][note 2] Some of the studies Terra points to as showing possible benefits are animal studies that involved injection of high doses. It is possible that supraphysiological doses of oxaloacetate could do something in humans, but these doses might not be achievable orally, and in any case we need human studies to find out.

Notes
  1. That would be every cell in humans apart from red blood cells, which in mammals lose their organelles before being released into the blood.
  2. This is unsurprising. First-pass metabolismFile:Wikipedia's W.svg is an issue for most things administered orally, and since oxaloacetate is already used in metabolic pathways, liver cells can easily consume it.
gollark: You have many and the renewal cost must be nontrivial.
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gollark: ++tel graph
gollark: You were first to the moon, but that's about it.

References
  1. Gliaxal renamed CRONaxal in 2014
  2. FDA says be suspicious of products which claim to treat unrelated conditions
  3. A copy of http://alsmedicalfood.com/ , (archived February 2017).
  4. A copy of http://endpmsanger.com/about-us (archived February 2017).
  5. A copy of http://tremorstop.com/ (archived February 2017).
  6. A copy of http://endurance4athletes.com/ (archived February 2017).
  7. "Dr. Mitch’s Rock Solid Glucose" an oxaloacetate supplement made by Terra Biological LLC
  8. Mitchell Joseph Ghen, D.O., has been repeatedly disciplined, and investigated by the FDA.
  9. Terra Biological's patent 2015 application.
  10. Terra Biological do own a URL which has the word "miracle".
  11. Bulk oxaloacetate is US$1-$10 per kilogram.
  12. The “highly aggressive package” of CRONaxal costs $1500 per month.
  13. CRONaxal is used at Hope4Cancer.
  14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4816034/
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