Citruslabs

Citruslabs is a contract research organization (CRO) serving consumer health brands. It designs and runs IRB-approved clinical trials, consumer perception studies, single-arm clinical studies, and randomized controlled trials across supplements, skincare and cosmetics, food and beverage, functional food and beverage, pet health, women's health, longevity, biotech and pharma, medical food, and consumer medical devices. The company handles the full study lifecycle — protocol design, IRB submission and approval, participant recruitment, data collection and compliance monitoring, statistical analysis, and the final report — and converts findings into product claims reviewed against FTC and FDA best practices for use on packaging, product detail pages, advertising, and retail pitch materials. Products completing a study can carry the Citruslabs Tested Seal, a mark the company positions for packaging, Amazon listings, retail shelf talkers, advertising, and investor decks.

Study capabilities include blood-based biomarkers (the company cites 50+ biomarkers, including inflammatory, hormonal, lipid and metabolic markers), microbiome and stool sampling, salivary cortisol, epigenetic age testing (Horvath, GrimAge, PhenoAge), continuous glucose monitoring, wearable data integration (Oura, Whoop, Fitbit, Apple Watch), validated cognitive and psychometric instruments, standardized photography and expert grading for dermatology endpoints, and both in-clinic and at-home mobile phlebotomy. Study designs offered include perception studies, single-group trials, RCTs, and crossover designs. Sponsor brands retain full ownership of the dataset, statistical analyses, report, and derived IP; the company states it does not retain or resell study data.

The company's own materials give inconsistent founding and location details: the homepage cites 10+ years of operation, while the About page states Citruslabs was "founded in 2018 by Susanne Mitschke and Patrick Renner" yet also lists 2015 as the year founded, describes a 2015 launch in Las Vegas by Mitschke, Renner and Roger Arellano, and gives New York as the headquarters. An investor-data profile lists the headquarters as Santa Monica, California (1639 11th Street) with 17 employees and a founding year of 2015.

Founding story

Before Citruslabs, the founding team built MindMate, an Alzheimer's and dementia app used by millions of patients and caregivers. Building that product exposed what the founders describe as a large gap between clinical research and consumer health: pharma companies had researchers, regulatory teams and multi-year budgets, while supplement, skincare and functional food brands made claims based on borrowed ingredient data, competitor studies, or nothing. The company's stated aim was to close the gap between expensive pharma-style trials consumer brands could not afford and ingredient research they did not run, by delivering clinical evidence on a brand's actual formulation at brand-appropriate prices and timelines.

Business model

Citruslabs sells fee-based clinical research services to consumer health brands, with published pricing tiers: consumer perception studies from about $15,000, single-arm clinical studies from about $40,000, and randomized controlled trials from about $80,000. Studies start in the low five figures, pricing is public with a price-match guarantee, and the company states there are no hidden fees or change orders. It positions study cost at 70–85% below traditional CROs. An optional Citruslabs Tested Seal is awarded to products whose data supports the claims.

Project-based fees per study, priced by study design (perception study, single-arm clinical study, randomized controlled trial, crossover study), with custom proposals returned within two business days.

Traction

Company-reported figures include 600+ completed clinical studies (300+ in supplements), a database of 250,000+ vetted participants, six industry verticals, work for brands in 20+ countries, 98% participant retention (against a cited ~72% industry average), and an average eight-week timeline from kickoff to marketing-ready claims for supplement studies. The first round of the Citruslabs Grant Program drew more applications than expected, leading the company to expand from a single planned grant to support for up to nine brands.

Latest developments

In 2025 Citruslabs launched the Citruslabs Tested Seal and introduced the Citruslabs Grant Program to subsidize research costs for health and wellness brands in underfunded areas such as women's health, mental health, sleep and longevity. Co-founder Susanne Mitschke discussed the program on the NutraIngredients-USA NutraCast podcast in May 2025, saying the spring round drew far more applications than expected and that the original plan of one grant covering 65% of research cost was replaced by three tiers (30%, 25% and 15%) supporting up to nine brands.