Is 17-DMAG legal in the United Kingdom?

An HSP90 inhibitor that failed to extend mouse lifespan by the Interventions Testing Program's protocol test and showed a 7 to 9 percent male median gain by the Gehan test, and that extended healthspan in a progeroid mouse as one of the first senolytics identified. In people it went through oncology phase 1 trials with cardiac, ocular and one treatment-related death as dose-limiting events, and development stopped around 2010.

17-DMAG (alvespimycin) is a water-soluble derivative of geldanamycin that inhibits heat shock protein 90, the chaperone that stabilises many oncogenic signalling proteins. It was developed as a cancer drug by Kosan Biosciences and then Bristol-Myers Squibb, reached phase 1 in solid tumours, acute myeloid leukaemia and HER2-positive breast cancer, and was not taken further.

Mechanism: 17-DMAG binds the ATP pocket of HSP90 and blocks its chaperone cycle, sending client proteins such as CDK4, HER2, AKT and mutant kinases to proteasomal degradation and inducing HSP70 as a compensatory response. In the human phase 1 trials, HSP72 induction in blood cells was detectable from 20 mg/m2 and client protein depletion at 80 mg/m2, so the target was engaged at tolerated doses.

Regulatory history: Investigational, never approved. Oncology phase 1 trials completed 2004 to 2012; a phase 2 in HER2-positive breast cancer was terminated after 4 patients; no trial registered since 2010. The lifespan signal is a Gehan-only reanalysis result in male mice; the healthspan result is in a progeroid mouse model.

Licenses medicines for the UK market. A compound without a marketing authorisation is an unlicensed medicine, which can only lawfully be supplied for human use through a prescriber under the specials scheme, not sold as a research product.

The classification above is the The Longevity Archive reading of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency listings for 17-DMAG at the reviewed date, not a legal opinion. Rules change, and importing, prescribing and possessing a compound can each be treated differently. Check the regulator directly before acting on anything here.