Is Cartalax legal in Australia?

A three amino acid peptide studied almost entirely in cell culture by the group that developed it. The only human claim is a sentence in a 2023 review saying it was given orally to older osteoarthritis patients; no primary report of that human use has been located.

Cartalax is Ala-Glu-Asp, written AED, one of a family of ultrashort peptides designed at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology and assigned to cartilage.

Mechanism: Proposed as epigenetic regulation by an ultrashort peptide that enters the cell and interacts with DNA and histones to shift transcription. In chondrocyte work AED is reported to normalise a senescence pattern characterised by raised p16, p21, p53, TNF-alpha and IL-1-alpha and lowered Sirt1.

Regulatory history: Not approved for any indication in the United States and not evaluated by the FDA. Sold as a supplement or a research chemical depending on the vendor.

Registers or lists therapeutic goods on the ARTG and schedules substances in the Poisons Standard. Many peptides are Schedule 4 (prescription only), so possession without a prescription and personal importation are restricted even when no product is registered.

The classification above is the The Longevity Archive reading of Therapeutic Goods Administration listings for Cartalax 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.