Max Marchione has never been coy about his unconventional approach to medicine. Now that candour is being used against him in a US courtroom.
The Australian entrepreneur has spoken openly about injecting experimental peptides, questioned whether traditional doctors are obsolete, and told one podcast last year that his Superpower employees inject each other at Friday breakfasts “because we think it’s fun”.
Function Health, a US health tech company that has raised USD298 million ($422.6 million), has sued smaller rival Superpower, which has raised USD51 million, in a federal court in Los Angeles. Function is accusing the company of false advertising, doctoring social media posts to manufacture endorsements, and operating with “flippant disregard for legal and regulatory safeguards”.
The complaint, filed on January 26, alleges Superpower engaged in a “sweeping campaign of deception” to lure customers away from Function — and intensified its attacks after Function announced a USD298 million fundraise in November.