Is CoQ10 legal in the United Kingdom?

One genuinely strong randomised outcome trial, in moderate to severe heart failure, where it cut major events from 26% to 15%. And a clean null for statin muscle pain, which is why most people take it.

CoQ10 has an unusual evidence shape: strong where almost nobody takes it, and null where almost everybody does. The strong result is Q-SYMBIO, which randomised 420 patients with moderate to severe chronic heart failure on standard therapy to 100 mg three times daily or placebo for two years.

Mechanism: Coenzyme Q10 is an endogenous lipid-soluble electron carrier in the mitochondrial inner membrane, shuttling electrons from complexes I and II to complex III in the respiratory chain. In its reduced form, ubiquinol, it is also a lipid-phase antioxidant that regenerates vitamin E.

Regulatory history: Sold as a dietary supplement in the United States. Not approved to prevent or treat any condition. Approved as a drug in some other jurisdictions for specific cardiac indications.

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 CoQ10 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.