NAD+ is a searched research compound, and the first thing to get right about it is that, unlike most of the catalog, it is not a peptide. The questions to settle before ordering are otherwise the familiar ones: what is it, what does its documentation establish, and what is the regulatory context in Canada. This is a source-based summary. It is not a guide to any use, not a claim that NAD+ is an authorized drug or suitable for human use, and not legal or medical advice.

Identity starts with the named compound

NAD+ — nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide — is a coenzyme found in all living cells. It is a dinucleotide: two nucleotides joined through their phosphate groups, one carrying an adenine nucleobase and the other nicotinamide. It is not a peptide (it is not a chain of amino acids), and a listing is accurate when it describes NAD+ as a coenzyme or a small molecule rather than as a peptide. In cellular metabolism it acts as a redox cofactor, carrying electrons between reactions and existing in an oxidized form (NAD+) and a reduced form (NADH). It is endogenous — synthesized within the body. A procurement record should still begin with the compound name, that identity, the selected strength, and the lot, so a receiving laboratory can reconcile what was ordered against the label and the source document.

Research status and an important distinction

That NAD+ is a fundamental, naturally occurring coenzyme does not make an injectable research preparation an authorized drug. A molecule’s central role in metabolism, or its natural presence in every cell, says nothing about whether a lyophilized, reconstituted-for-injection material has been assessed or authorized by a regulator. This article makes no claim about effects.

Canadian regulatory context

Health Canada’s April 2026 public advisory on unauthorized injectable peptides names NAD+ among the products it identifies, and states that unauthorized drug products are illegal in Canada and have not been assessed for safety, efficacy, and quality by Health Canada. The advisory is explicit that a “research use only” label “does not make these products legal or exempt from regulatory requirements.” Vitatide’s research-use wording should be read the same way — a use boundary, not a claim of regulatory authorization — and determining whether a given procurement, possession, import, or use complies with applicable requirements remains the purchaser’s and the receiving laboratory’s responsibility.

Read the Health Canada public advisory

What a CoA can and cannot establish

A lot-linked Certificate of Analysis can report measurements such as chromatographic area percentage, observed mass, or other tests performed by the issuing laboratory, and its scope is limited to the sample, methods, and results stated on that document. Because NAD+ is a small molecule rather than a peptide, its documentation is characterized accordingly, but the reading discipline is the same:

  • Match the compound, lot, and certificate identifier.
  • Read the method and the actual measured value.
  • Separate chromatographic purity from identity.
  • Do not treat a CoA as regulatory approval, sterility assurance, or a substitute for an end laboratory’s validated controls unless the document expressly supports that conclusion.

Procurement boundary for Canadian laboratories

Before ordering, review the canonical product page, the posted source record, destination restrictions, and the Research-Use-Only Acknowledgement. After receipt, identity reconciliation, storage, preparation, assay design, waste handling, and chain-of-custody remain the receiving laboratory’s responsibility.

For laboratory research use only. Not for human consumption, diagnostic, or therapeutic use. This article summarizes public regulatory and reference sources and is not legal or medical advice.