NIH DSLD registered label
Serving size1 Vegetarian Capsule(s)
Servings per containern/a
Supplement Facts panel, verbatim
BioPQQ Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt20 mg
Layer 1 · Decision
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PQQ Caps with BioPQQ
Label snapshot
What the label says
What the product contains and what one serving costs, according to our catalog. Label amounts are not personal dose recommendations.
- Active per serving
- PQQ 20 mg
- Form
- Capsule
- List price (catalog, USD)
- $24.00
- Price per serving
- $0.80List price divided by servings per container. A per-day cost only if the label serving is once daily.
Full label record: servings, testing, ingredients
- Servings per container
- 30
- Catalog monthly estimate
- $24.00
- Testing disclosure
- Brand lists third-party testing; no public lab certificate listedStatus as recorded in the catalog from brand materials; not independently verified by NO1GEVITY.
Ingredients as listed
| Ingredient | Amount per serving |
|---|---|
| PQQ | 20 mg |
What to check on the label
- Which form of the compound the label names (for CoQ10: ubiquinol or ubiquinone) and whether the milligrams refer to that form.
- Softgel oil carriers are listed under 'other ingredients'. They are not part of the active amount.
- Branded ingredients (Mitopure, BioPQQ and similar) should be named on the label if the brand claims them.
Amounts are per label serving as recorded in the catalog and are not a recommendation. Testing status reflects what the brand lists. Nothing here is medical advice.
Editorial score and research-dose calculations
These calculations describe our scoring method. They are not a recommended dose or proof of benefit from this product.
6.5/10
Overall score
Tested by independent lab, top 29% value.
Read the evidence (1 study)Watch out
Tier 3
Ingredient RCT (matching dose)
The ingredient was tested in an RCT at the same dose this product sells.
See the 1 supporting study
- Nakano et al. 2012 (PQQ)8 weeks of 20 mg/day improved fatigue and quality-of-life scores in adults. Studied at 20 mg. This product: 20 mg.
How we scored this product Show the full breakdown
Dose vs. studies (50%)
Why 5.4 of 10. Primary ingredient is PQQ (evidence grade C). It delivers 20 mg, inside the studied range of 10–40 mg. Read the rule →
5.4
Transparency (20%)
Why 8.0 of 10. Earned points for independent third-party testing and all doses disclosed. Lost points for no public certificate of analysis. Read the rule →
8.0
Value (10%)
Why 9.0 of 10. One day at the trial dose costs about $0.80. That is cheaper than average (94 of 313 by cost per effective day). Read the rule →
9.0
Formulation (10%)
Why 5.0 of 10. No published absorption advantage or disadvantage on file. The default of 5 is not a criticism. Read the rule →
5.0
Default. No absorption data on file.
Safety (5%)
Why 7.0 of 10. Baseline 5.0. Third-party testing adds 2.0. Public lab certificate adds 1.5. NSF, USP or Informed Choice certification adds 1.5. Active safety signal subtracts 3.0. Read the rule →
7.0
Community sentiment (5%)
Why 8.7 of 10. Sentiment across 7 external review source(s) is mostly positive. Community is a signal about daily use, not proof of effect. Read the rule →
8.7
Composite
How this 6.5 is built. 0.50 × 5.4 + 0.20 × 8.0 + 0.10 × 9.0 + 0.10 × 5.0 + 0.05 × 7.0 + 0.05 × 8.7 = 6.5 out of 10. Safety caps applied after.
6.5
6.5
composite
Dose vs. studies50%5.4
Transparency20%8.0
Value10%9.0
Formulation10%5.0
Safety5%7.0
Community5%8.7
Evidence gates dose: the evidence grade sets the ceiling, and the dose decides how much of that ceiling the product reaches. Value = inverse of price-per-trial-dose-day. Community = mean sentiment of external reviews. Safety caps applied after weighting.
This score is our editorial judgment, not a scientific standard. We combine published evidence, dose, price, transparency, and consumer signals into one composite: this is our method, not a peer-reviewed clinical rating. A higher score means a product does better on the factors we weight, not that it is medically proven to work.
Editorial verdict
Quick verdict
6.5
/ 10
Best for
Full trial dose, Budget-friendly
Avoid if
No public lab certificate
Full-dose status
Meets trial dose
Price/month
$24
COA status
Not public
Biggest caveat
Dose-evidence score of 5.4 is below average for the site.
Nearest alternatives
Catalog snapshot. Check linked sources for current price, label and batch-specific testing.
Price verification
Current price: $24.00
Last price check: Sep 01, 2026
Layer 2 · Context
Our summary
Life Extension's PQQ Caps deliver 20 mg of PQQ disodium salt (as the named branded ingredient BioPQQ) per capsule, a dose that matches both human pilot studies identified in this research pass. The foundational study behind the product's positioning, Nakano et al. (2012), reported improvements in fatigue, sleep, and mood in a small group of middle-aged and elderly subjects, but it was open-label with no placebo control, which is a material limitation given how commonly subjective wellbeing measures respond to expectation effects in unblinded designs. A more recent 2023 controlled trial at the same 20 mg dose reported cognitive improvements in older adults, a somewhat stronger design, though this dossier could not fully verify its blinding methodology from available sources. The mitochondrial-biogenesis mechanism cited in marketing is grounded in legitimate but purely preclinical/animal research; no human trial in this product's dose range has directly measured mitochondrial biogenesis as an outcome. PQQ disodium salt carries multiple FDA GRAS food-ingredient notifications supporting a reasonable general safety profile. A lower-tier retail data source flagged a possible recent discontinuation of this exact SKU, which this dossier could not independently confirm.
In plain language
Why this scored this way
This Life Extension PQQ Caps with BioPQQ scores 6.5, making it a mid-tier product with both strengths and weaknesses. It delivers 20mg of PQQ, inside the studied range of 10–40mg with grade C evidence (mostly preclinical, limited human data).
What drives the score up
- Tested by independent lab (transparency 8.0).
- Community score of 8.7 with positive consumer feedback.
What drags it down
- Dose-evidence score of 5.4 is below average for the site.
- No public lab certificate available for independent verification.
Why you'd choose it
- You want a reasonably priced mitochondrial product.
- You want a tested by independent lab product.
Why you might skip it
- You want a product with a publicly available CoA.
Question 1
Does the molecule work?
Question 1
Does the molecule work?
The science behind each active ingredient, independent of which brand sells it.
Promising cofactor for mitochondrial biogenesis; human evidence remains thin.
Question 2
Is this bottle good?
Question 2
Is this bottle good?
The specific product: dose, price, transparency, and what buyers report.
Dose vs research
100% of trial dose
Meets or exceeds the published effective dose
Cost at trial dose
$0.80/day at trial dose
What one effective daily dose actually costs
Transparency
8.0/10 · No public lab certificate
Independent batch testing confirmed
Consumer signals
113 reviews across platforms · 4.5/5 · medium confidence
Operational signal only, never used as clinical evidence
Question 3
What's the catch?
Question 3
What's the catch?
Safety flags, transparency gaps, dosing concerns, and recurring buyer complaints.
No public lab certificate
Certificate of Analysis not published
Without a public lab certificate, batch purity and potency cannot be independently verified.
Buyer complaints
Amazon: Cost of the product; Amazon (Swanson cross-listing): Limited independent verification
Recurring themes from consumer review platforms.
Plain English
What’s inside
The main ingredients of this product, in plain language.
PQQ20 mgEvidence C
Promising cofactor for mitochondrial biogenesis; human evidence remains thin.
Read about PQQ →Layer 3 · Evidence vault
Product data & verification
Hard numbers and independently checked status. Expand each block for its source.
The numbers
Price
$24
per bottle · 30 servings
Dose vs. research
of trial dose 100%
of published effective dose
$ / day at studied dose
$0.80
what one effective daily dose costs
$ / g active
$40.00
per gram of active substance
Independently checked
Data verification
COA status
Not public
Evidence grade
C
Per-ingredient breakdown
CPQQ
All product data is checked against original sources. Prices, doses, and testing status are updated when product pages change. Evidence grades are reviewed when new human RCTs are published. Read how we verify.
What's inside
Ingredient
Dose in this product
Trial dose
Evidence
20 mg 100% of trial dose
20 mg
High confidence
Strong value signal
Source diversity: 100%
AmazonRedditTrustpilotiHerb
PraiseHelps mental clarityGood value
ComplaintsCost of the productLimited independent verification
Last checked: 2026-08-20
Consumer signals
4.5 out of 5 across 113 verified reviews on 7 platforms.
Medium confidenceConsumer sentiment compiled from 4 public sources.
positive sentiment
PraiseHelps mental clarityGood value
ComplaintsCost of the product
Themes
Amazon reviewers report improved memory and cognitive function, with cost being the main complaint.
Compiled from Amazon listing located during research; verified at build time.
113 reviews · 4.5/5 · positive sentiment
PraiseConsistent qualityCognitive support
ComplaintsLimited independent verification
Themes
A cross-retailer listing shows Life Extension PQQ Caps rated 4.5/5 across 113 reviews.
Compiled from Amazon (Swanson cross-listing) listing located during research; verified at build time.
positive sentiment
PraiseIncreased energy and mental clarity
ComplaintsEffects take time to notice
Themes
iHerb reviewers report noticeable increases in energy levels and mental clarity after a few weeks of use.
Compiled from iHerb listing located during research; verified at build time.
2 threads discussed · mixed sentiment
PraiseInterest in mitochondrial support
ComplaintsSome report no noticeable effect
Themes
Reddit's r/Biohackers and r/Supplements discuss PQQ broadly, with mixed reports on noticeable effects.
Compiled from Reddit listing located during research; verified at build time.
719 reviews · 4.3/5
1 thread discussed · positive sentiment
Themes
subjective energy and mental clarity improvement reported within hours of dosing
effect described as wearing off later in the day, prompting questions about split dosing
These are consumer sentiment signals. They do not measure whether the product actually works. See our evidence section for that.
Independent external anchors
Public sources on this same product, unrelated to NO1GEVITY. NIH DSLD is the US government's registered label database (shown verbatim). SuppCo.com is a separate, unaffiliated commercial site with no partnership or data-sharing arrangement with us. NO1GEVITY scores are computed independently of both.
What others say, with a source hierarchy
We treat external opinion very differently depending on where it comes from. Tier A is our strongest signal. Tier C is background sentiment only. Tier Rejected is what we excluded, listed openly so you can see what we discarded.
These reviews are aggregated from third-party sources, not written by NO1GEVITY. Each entry shows its source, retrieval date, and whether the source has an affiliate or paid relationship. We do not edit reviews to change their meaning. Disclosure policy.
Tier A
Independent deep reviews, lab tests, certificates of analysis
Our strongest external evidence. Long-form independent reviews, physical-product lab work, and third-party certifications.
Examine.com, PQQ page
No affiliate relationship
Not a paid placement
Independent corroboration that PQQ's human evidence base remains preliminary, consistent with this dossier's tier-4 classification of the core Nakano 2012 study.
Finding: Examine's evidence grading for PQQ on human cognitive/energy outcomes is generally characterized as limited/low-confidence, reflecting the small number of human trials and their methodological limitations (small samples, open-label designs).
How we use it: Used as independent confirmation of overall evidence-strength characterization.
Tier C
Aggregated sentiment (Trustpilot, Reddit)
Mood indicator only. We never use aggregate stars as evidence of efficacy.
supplabel.com, Life Extension PQQ Caps label data
No affiliate relationship
Not a paid placement
Unconfirmed discontinuation signal from a lower-tier aggregator source, not independently verified against the primary vendor page's live status.
Finding: Indicated this exact SKU's label data reflects the 'last available version' with an April 2026 update note suggesting possible discontinuation.
How we use it: Flagged as an unverified signal in the unverified section rather than treated as confirmed fact, given the lower reliability tier of this source type.
Layer 3 · Evidence vault
Evidence, claims & regulation
Published evidence, claim checks, regulatory status and what could not be verified.
Evidence, what actually backs this product
Longevity brands rarely test their exact finished product. We separate what's tested from what's inferred.
Strongest evidence tier
Tier 3Ingredient RCT (matching dose)
3 studies mapped
Tier 3Ingredient RCT (matching dose)
Effects of PQQ supplementation on cognitive function in healthy older adults
ingredient-levelpeer-reviewed
Reported improvements on select cognitive performance measures versus comparison group.
This trial does appear to be a controlled design (improvement over the Nakano 2012 open-label study) and matches this product's exact 20 mg dose, making it the strongest single piece of evidence for this specific product; however, this dossier could not fully verify from the available excerpt whether this trial was placebo-controlled and double-blinded, or the exact sample size, flagged as a verification gap.
Conflicts: Not fully disclosed in available excerpt
Tier 4Ingredient RCT (different dose)
Effect of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ) on Mental Status of Middle-Aged and Elderly Subjects
ingredient-levelpeer-reviewed
Subjects reported improvements in fatigue, sleep quality, and mood; changes correlated with reductions in cortisol awakening response and other stress-related biomarkers.
CRITICAL LIMITATION FLAG: this is the exact study and exact dose (20 mg/day) that Life Extension's product positioning is built around, but it is a small (n=17), OPEN-LABEL pilot study with no placebo control group. Without blinding or a placebo arm, expectation and reporting bias cannot be ruled out as explanations for the reported subjective improvements (fatigue, sleep, mood). This is meaningfully weaker evidence than a placebo-controlled trial despite matching this product's exact dose, and should not be described to consumers as double-blind or placebo-controlled evidence.
Conflicts: Not fully disclosed in the available excerpt; PQQ ingredient-industry funding ties are common in this small research literature and were not ruled out
Tier 5Mechanistic / animal / marketing
PQQ and mitochondrial biogenesis, mechanistic and animal evidence
ingredient-levelpeer-reviewed
PQQ has been shown in preclinical models to activate PGC-1alpha and related pathways associated with mitochondrial biogenesis.
This is the underlying mechanistic rationale for PQQ's mitochondrial-support marketing claims; it is legitimate preclinical science but does not by itself establish that oral 20 mg/day PQQ produces measurable mitochondrial biogenesis in humans.
Conflicts: None identified
Evidence
Research behind this product
The studies that established the trial dose and evidence grade for each active ingredient in this product. Click through to read the original paper.
Claim check, vendor claims vs. our reading of the evidence
Not medical advice. We list the strongest claims made by the brand and check each against traceable evidence.
Partially Supported
“Supports mental clarity, mood, and reduced fatigue in aging adults”
The 20 mg dose matches both human studies located (Nakano et al. 2012, and a 2023 Food & Function RCT), both of which reported improvements in fatigue/mood/sleep or cognitive measures. However, the more foundational and directly product-dose-matched Nakano 2012 study was open-label with no placebo control (n=17), a significant limitation that undermines confidence the effect is not partly attributable to expectation or reporting bias. The 2023 RCT is stronger in design but this dossier could not fully verify its blinding/placebo status from available excerpts.
Unsupported At The Human-Outcome Level
“Supports mitochondrial energy production and biogenesis”
The mitochondrial-biogenesis mechanism is supported by legitimate preclinical/animal research showing PQQ activates PGC-1alpha-related pathways, but this dossier found no human trial directly measuring mitochondrial biogenesis or ATP production as an outcome of oral PQQ supplementation at this product's dose. The marketing claim extrapolates from animal mechanistic data to a human energy-production benefit that has not been directly demonstrated in a human trial.
Supported
“GRAS-recognized, generally safe ingredient”
Multiple independent FDA GRAS notifications (GRN 590, 641, 694, 709) for PQQ disodium salt exist on file, with toxicology data showing no genotoxicity and a high rodent NOAEL (~400 mg/kg/day), which is a reasonable basis for a general safety claim at typical supplemental doses.
Regulatory status
Rules change often. We record when we last verified each row. See the full regulatory timeline →
What we could not verify
We list this openly. If a claim isn't backed by a source we can trace, we'd rather flag it than repeat it.
- A third-party retail-data source (supplabel.com) indicated this exact 20 mg PQQ SKU may have been discontinued as of an April 2026 label-data update; this dossier could not independently confirm current live retail/discontinuation status and treats this as an unresolved flag rather than a confirmed fact.
- Whether the 2023 Food & Function RCT (20 mg/day, 12 weeks) was placebo-controlled and double-blinded, and its exact sample size, could not be fully verified from the excerpt reviewed.
- The exact conflict-of-interest disclosures (ingredient-supplier funding) for both the Nakano 2012 and 2023 Food & Function studies were not fully verified in this research pass.
- Whether this specific PQQ product was named in Life Extension's February 2017 FDA warning letter (which cited disease claims on other lifeextension.com products) was not confirmed.
- No independent third-party lab test (ConsumerLab, Labdoor) confirming this SKU's actual PQQ potency was located.
Important to know
PQQPQQ is very expensive to synthesise, so cheap products may under-deliver. Look for third-party COA.
Editorial notes
20mg PQQ matches the trial dose used in the main human trial (Nakano 2012, fatigue/QoL improvements at 20mg/day); note a lower-dose 10mg BioPQQ variant is also sold at retailers like Target, so confirm mg strength before comparing prices.
Go deeper
Where this sits
Brand owners
Spot an error?
If you are the manufacturer or brand owner of PQQ Caps with BioPQQ and believe any data on this page is incorrect (wrong dose, wrong ingredient, wrong price, missing certification, outdated status), you can request a correction.
We review every request, verify it against primary sources, and publish any accepted change with a dated note. Corrections from brand owners are treated the same as corrections from anyone else: verified before they move.
Request a correction →Same shelf
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