Is Bofanglutide legal in the United Kingdom?

In a phase 2b trial in 272 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes it lowered glycated haemoglobin more than semaglutide 1 mg, and gastrointestinal side effects hit 82 to 87 percent of people on it against 52 percent on semaglutide. No phase 3 has reported.

Bofanglutide is a long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist from Gan and Lee Pharmaceuticals in Beijing, developed under the code GZR18 and designed to be given once every two weeks rather than once a week. It is worth separating from the compound it is routinely confused with: HEC88473, a dual GLP-1 and FGF21 agonist from a different company, which this site covers on its own page.

Mechanism: A GLP-1 receptor agonist engineered for a long circulating half-life, measured at approximately seven days in healthy American and Chinese adults, which is what allows a once every two weeks schedule rather than the weekly schedule of semaglutide and dulaglutide. Receptor pharmacology is conventional for the class: activation of the GLP-1 receptor on pancreatic beta cells increases glucose-dependent insulin secretion, suppresses glucagon, slows gastric emptying and reduces food intake through central pathways.

Regulatory history: Not approved in the United States or anywhere else. Two phase 2b trials are published and two phase 3 trials are registered but not yet recruiting as of this review.

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 Bofanglutide 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.