Full profile
| Also known as | Prevagen |
|---|---|
| Best for | Historically marketed for memory support — not applicable to a healthy-adult focus product |
| Evidence grade | Graded Out — Graded out — evaluated and not featured (failed replication or a safety signal) |
| Studied dose range | Not applicable — not a candidate for inclusion. |
| Time to effect | Not applicable. |
| Best form | Not applicable. |
Evidence, honestly graded
Graded out on both efficacy and plausibility grounds. Apoaequorin's own sponsor-run Madison Memory Study showed no statistically significant improvement over placebo on any of its nine pre-specified cognitive endpoints. In January 2017 the FTC and the New York State Attorney General jointly brought a deceptive-advertising action against Prevagen's marketing claims. Mechanistically, apoaequorin is an orally ingested protein: it is digested in the gastrointestinal tract like any other dietary protein and has no established route to reach or act on the brain intact. Do not feature.
See the full grading rubric — study type, replication, population match, and dose adequacy — in The Evidence Standard.
Side effects
- Generally reported as well tolerated in marketing materials — not the basis for exclusion
What to look for on a label
- Documented here for transparency only — not a candidate ingredient under any circumstance.
References
- Madison Memory Study — apoaequorin sponsor-run trial. Sponsor-run trial failed its pre-specified primary endpoints for memory and cognitive function. Basis for the Graded Out status. Educational.
- FTC v. Quincy Bioscience (2017) — Prevagen (apoaequorin) marketing claims. The FTC and the New York State Attorney General jointly filed a deceptive-advertising action (S.D.N.Y., January 2017) over Prevagen's memory claims. Educational, historical/regulatory background.
Entries above without a linked identifier are either editorial summaries of a wider body of literature or references to a named authority (a regulator or government monograph) cited by name rather than by a single paper.
Grades and studied doses are our conservative reading of the human research, shown for education. They are not product claims, and a studied dose is not a recommended dose.
Revision history
Every change to this ingredient's evidence status, dated and explained. The full cross-library log lives at Evidence Updates.
- 2026-07-07Graded out
Initial profile published straight into Graded Out: the sponsor-run Madison Memory Study failed its pre-specified primary endpoints, and an orally-digested protein has little plausible route to the brain.
See how Apoaequorin compares on grade, dose, and goal in the Evidence Explorer.