Is Degarelix legal in the United Kingdom?

A hormone blocker approved in 2008 for advanced prostate cancer. In its main study of 610 men, testosterone was down to castration level by day 3 in about 96 percent on degarelix, and in none on the older drug, leuprolide. Over 12 months it held testosterone down just as well. 40 percent had reactions where the shot went in, against under 1 percent on leuprolide. The study built to test whether it is easier on the heart was stopped early and found no difference.

Degarelix is a man-made chain of ten building blocks. Five of them are mirror-image forms.

How it works: It blocks the GnRH receptor in the pituitary gland directly. That stops the hormones that drive the testes right away, so testosterone falls within days with no first surge.

Approval history: FDA-approved on 24 December 2008 under NDA 022201, sold as Firmagon, to treat advanced prostate cancer. No boxed warning. Not approved for any use beyond that, including prostate cancer that has not spread, any use in women, or any use in healthy adults.

Licenses medicines for sale in the UK. A compound without a licence to be sold (a marketing authorisation) is an unlicensed medicine. The law only lets it reach people through a prescriber, under the specials scheme (unlicensed medicines made for one patient's needs). It cannot be sold as a research product.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency listings for Degarelix on the reviewed date. It is not a legal opinion. Rules change. Bringing a compound into the country, prescribing it and owning it can each be treated differently. Check with the agency before you act on anything here.

Check MHRA directly

Whether Degarelix is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in the United Kingdom. Before you compete or get tested, look up Degarelix by name on the Prohibited List, or look up a named product in Global DRO. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, category S0 bans, at all times, any drug-like substance that meets two tests. No other section of the List covers it. And no government health regulator anywhere has a current approval for it as a treatment in people. Many substances that are approved somewhere are banned by name in another section. So approval does not mean a substance is allowed in sport.

• WADA Prohibited List
• Global DRO (check a named product)
• USADA (US athletes)
• Operation Supplement Safety (US service members)

The rules you compete or serve under decide this, not this page.