NOVOS Core Clinical Trial: Results and Findings
Our vascular system supplies every organ. It’s also one of the first parts of the body to show wear, starting as early as age 30.1 That wear is driven by the hallmarks of aging, like inflammaging and cellular senescence.2 NOVOS Core is designed around the hallmarks of aging.
In STAMINA, a randomized, double-blind trial at the University of Surrey, 61 healthy adults over 40 took NOVOS Core or a placebo every day for six months. Compared with placebo, three measures of vascular aging improved: blood vessel function, arterial flexibility and systolic blood pressure.* Cholesterol did not change.
The results are published in the European Heart Journal Open, a European Society of Cardiology journal.3
Peer-reviewed
NOVOS Core Improved Three Vascular Health Markers
Three independent measures of vascular aging, all improved. These were healthy adults whose numbers sat near normal at the start, where change is hardest to show.
Difference vs placebo after six months, adjusted for each person’s starting point
+2.9points*
Blood vessel function (FMD)
How much the artery widens as blood flow increases. (Higher is better.)
Vs placebo · the trial’s main measure · statistically significant
In the NOVOS Core group, FMD rose from 5.5% to 8.1%. The placebo group stayed about the same.
It’s a widely used measure of how well blood vessels work.
−1.18m/s*
Arterial flexibility (PWV)
How fast the pressure wave travels along the arteries; more flexible arteries carry it more slowly. (Lower is better.)
Statistically significant
PWV typically rises about 1 m/s per decade of adult life.4
−6.1mmHg*
Systolic blood pressure
The peak pressure of each heartbeat, the top number in a blood pressure reading. (Lower is better.)
Statistically significant
Most participants started in the normal range.
For researchers
FMD (primary endpoint): +2.9 percentage points, p<0.0001, 95% CI 2.1 to 3.8. NOVOS Core +2.6, placebo −0.1.
PWV: −1.18 m/s, p=0.006, 95% CI −2.00 to −0.36. NOVOS Core −0.78, placebo +0.56.
Systolic blood pressure: −6.1 mmHg, p=0.014. NOVOS Core −8.5, placebo −1.5.
Central blood pressure, the pressure in the aorta (the main artery leaving the heart), also went down: 8.7 points with NOVOS Core and 4.3 points with placebo. At six months, the difference between the two groups was too small to be statistically certain. A second analysis that looked at every visit together found a significant effect.
Central aortic systolic blood pressure (estimated): adjusted between-group difference −4.6 mmHg (95% CI −10.8 to 1.5), p=0.134, not significant. Repeated-measures analysis across all visits: significant overall treatment effect, p=0.047.
“Our hypothesis in this study was whether a multi-component supplement addresses many biological and biochemical processes related to vascular aging and has an effect on measures of vascular health. We found favourable changes in endothelial function, arterial stiffness and systolic blood pressure after six months. These findings are encouraging, and supplements can be a part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Prof. Christian Heiss, MDProfessor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Surrey and lead investigator of the STAMINA trialInterviews: mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk
Take the same active formula tested in the trial. One sachet of NOVOS Core a day, from $2.60 on the annual plan. May qualify for HSA/FSA reimbursement.
Shop NOVOS CoreHow was the trial designed?
Participants took either NOVOS Core, the same active formula sold today, or a placebo matched in look and taste. Neither they nor the researchers knew who was taking which. Blood vessel health was measured at the start, one hour after the first serving, and after six months.
31 of the 61 participants were women, a group historically underrepresented in cardiovascular research. People with unstable cardiovascular disease, heart rhythm disorders or active cancer were excluded.
Trial design
- Trial
- STAMINA (Effects of a Supplement to Target Ageing Mechanisms on Vascular Function), registered as NCT06145087.
- Design
- Single-center, randomized 1:1, double-blind and placebo-controlled.
- Where
- University of Surrey; principal investigator Prof. Christian Heiss.
- Who
- 61 healthy, non-smoking adults over 40 (33 NOVOS Core, 28 placebo).
- Serving
- One measured serving in water, every day for six months.
- Endpoints
- Primary: change in brachial FMD. Secondary: PWV, blood pressure and lipids, among others.
For researchers: why test the finished formula
In a large animal study of many interventions, 61% of ingredient combinations performed no better than, or worse than, their best single compound (Phelps M et al., Aging Cell 2025).5 Testing the finished formula against placebo is the only way to know what the product itself does.
How fast did it work?
+3.9points
Blood vessel function one hour after the first serving, vs placebo
At one hour, only blood vessel function had changed significantly. The gains in arterial flexibility and blood pressure were clear at six months.
Why is the one-hour gain bigger than the six-month result? The one-hour reading came right after a serving. The six-month reading came a day after the last one, with participants fasting.
For researchers
FMD at one hour vs placebo: +3.9 percentage points, 95% CI 2.7 to 5.1.
Did it last?
Yes. Six months in, all three measures were better than placebo, even a full day after the last serving.
Because participants were measured fasted, about 24 hours after their final serving, the results show the effect of six months of daily use.
See every participant
“In particular, the magnitude of improvement in flow-mediated dilation stood out, because it is a well-established functional marker of endothelial health.”
Christopher Yi, MDVascular surgeon, MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center · Not affiliated with NOVOS · Medical News Today, Feb 2026Dr. Yi also noted the single-center design, and that a multi-ingredient formula can’t show which ingredients drove the effect.Did it work for most people?
100%
23 of 23 improved on at least one measure.
95.7%
22 of 23 improved on two or all three.
An exploratory analysis done after the trial, covering 23 NOVOS Core participants. Each figure is one person. “Improved” includes normal variation, and some placebo participants also improved on single measures. The placebo comparison remains the main evidence. Individual results may vary.
Who improved most?
The people who started with the least healthy blood vessel numbers improved the most: those with the weakest blood vessel function and the highest blood pressure saw the biggest gains.
An exploratory finding, from a correlation analysis in the paper.
For researchers
Baseline correlation analysis: larger improvements were associated with lower baseline FMD and higher baseline systolic blood pressure. Exploratory; see the paper.
“The cardiovascular system supplies every cell and organ in the body, it is one of the first systems to show signs of aging, and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States and worldwide. That made it the natural place to test our hypothesis that targeting the hallmarks of aging would improve cardiovascular health. The STAMINA results indicate it did, and in healthy adults, whose measures already sit close to normal and are among the hardest to move.”
Diogo Barardo, PhDDirector of R&D at NOVOS and a geroscientist, a scientist specialized in the biology of agingWhat else was measured?
Cholesterol and triglycerides didn’t change. That suggests the improvements came from the blood vessels themselves.
No significant change
Diastolic blood pressure (the lower number), and augmentation index, another measure related to arterial flexibility.
For researchers
Not significant: diastolic pressure −0.8 mmHg (p=0.636); augmentation index; total, LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglycerides (p=0.233–0.871). Daily walking distance was registered but not reported.
How NOVOS Core Compares With Other Heart Health Supplements
On each measure, NOVOS Core’s effect was larger than the average result from trials of the best-selling heart-health supplements: 2.4× on systolic blood pressure, 2.7× on arterial flexibility and 1.2× on blood vessel function. None of those 14 ingredients improved all three measures in a single trial. NOVOS Core did.*
Systolic pressure, mmHg lower
2.4× the average
PWV, m/s lower
2.7× the average
FMD, points gained
1.2× the average
NOVOS Core’s improvement in arterial flexibility (PWV) was larger than the result of every one of the 12 PWV trials in the review, across all ingredients.
Of the 14 ingredients, omega-3 came closest: separate omega-3 trials found significant effects on each of the three measures, but no single omega-3 trial improved all three.
These are results from separate published studies, not tested side by side. Results vary.
How the comparison was done
NOVOS Science & R&D started from the best-selling heart-health supplements: 14 ingredients, including omega-3, magnesium, garlic and beetroot. It then gathered every placebo-controlled trial of these ingredients that measured systolic pressure, PWV or FMD (147 trials, PubMed to June 8, 2026), keeping significant and non-significant results alike; 110 found no significant effect. Effects are placebo-adjusted.
Each comparison pairs one published trial’s result on one measure with NOVOS Core’s result on the same measure. The main analysis uses fasted measurements only, the way the six-month results were taken: 55 comparisons. NOVOS Core’s effect was larger in 49 of them (89%), and in 96% of all 171 comparisons, fasted or not. The six exceptions were individual trials on a single measure; none of those trials improved all three measures.
Full methodology and trial list: NOVOS Core vs. leading heart-health supplements.
What can’t the trial tell us?
- A single-center, relatively small trial.
- Participants were healthy adults over 40 with mostly normal blood pressure.
- Which ingredient or mechanism is responsible is unknown.
- NOVOS Core is a dietary supplement, and it was not studied in people taking medication.
Who ran and paid for the trial?
The University of Surrey sponsored and ran the trial, which its own researchers proposed. It is registered as NCT06145087.
NOVOS provided NOVOS Core, the matching placebo and an unrestricted contribution toward research costs. NOVOS had no role in study design, collection or primary interpretation of the data, or the decision to publish. The University of Surrey researchers retained control of the study data.
One co-author, D. Barardo, is a NOVOS employee; per the paper, he independently reproduced the statistical analyses.
What came before this trial?
In an earlier study, aged mice on NOVOS Core lived 18% longer.*
The same formula was also tested in human cells. Mice and cell cultures are models; the human evidence is the STAMINA trial described above.
For researchers
Mice: log-rank p=0.045. Fibroblasts: nuclear area about 15% smaller; a senostatic effect. Keratinocytes: heavily damaged = ≥20 53BP1 foci, a marker of DNA double-strand breaks.
NOVOS donated to the Newcastle lab and funded the University of Bologna study. The keratinocyte chart was drawn by NOVOS from the paper’s Table 4.
Future Research on NOVOS Core
NOVOS is evaluating follow-up studies of NOVOS Core in other organ systems, including muscle function, brain and cognition, and skin, and further analysis of how it affects biological aging.
“I founded NOVOS to answer one question: what can a person do to slow the aging process and stay healthier for longer? A credible answer demands the scrutiny medicine applies to anything it takes seriously, which means a blinded, placebo-controlled trial run by university researchers and reviewed by their peers. People deserve that level of proof from every company that puts the word ‘longevity’ on a label, and we intend to keep meeting it.”
Chris MirabileFounder & CEO, NOVOS
The NOVOS Core Formula Used in the Trial
NOVOS Core is one daily drink: one sachet in water, with 12 ingredients chosen for their research on the hallmarks of aging. The trial used the same active formula as NOVOS Core sold today.
- Calcium alpha-ketoglutarate
- Glycine
- Magnesium malate
- Vitamin C
- Glucosamine sulfate
- L-theanine
- Hyaluronic acid
- Fisetin
- Pterostilbene
- Rhodiola rosea
- Ginger
- Micro-dosed lithium
What each ingredient does, and the research behind it
From $2.60 a day on the annual plan (12 boxes billed upfront). Change your renewal date or cancel anytime, up to 2 business days before renewal. May qualify for HSA/FSA reimbursement through Truemed.
Shop NOVOS CoreIf you have a heart condition or take blood-pressure medication, talk to your doctor before starting.
References
- Ding Y et al. Cell 2025 (doi:10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.047)
- Gkaliagkousi E et al. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23(15):8672 (doi:10.3390/ijms23158672)
- Piercy C et al. Eur Heart J Open 2026; oeag157 (doi:10.1093/ehjopen/oeag157; NCT06145087)
- Vlachopoulos C et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010
- Phelps M et al. Aging Cell 2025
- Brookes C et al. Preprints.org 2025 (preprint)
- Punzo A et al. Nutrients 2024
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Publication does not imply endorsement by the journal, the European Society of Cardiology or Oxford University Press. Individual results vary. NOVOS Core is not a substitute for prescribed treatment. Prepared by NOVOS.
About NOVOS. A public benefit longevity company founded in 2019 in New York City.
For press. Paper: Eur Heart J Open, doi:10.1093/ehjopen/oeag157 · Press page and press kit
Media contact. Sofia Spieler · sofia@novoslabs.com · 315-395-1877