Is Metformin plus rapamycin legal in the United States?

Nobody has tested this pair in people. In mice fed both from 9 months, typical lifespan rose 23 percent in both sexes. But metformin alone did nothing in the same run. There was no rapamycin-only group to compare with. And the mouse program's own paper says the extra gain over earlier rapamycin-only runs did not pass its standard test.

This page is about one group in one mouse experiment. People across the longevity world cite it as proof that metformin and rapamycin boost each other.

How it works: Rapamycin blocks mTORC1, a growth switch. At the doses used in mice, it lowers cancer rates, changes immune function and shifts metabolism in ways that differ from eating less.

Approval history: Both drugs are FDA-approved for other uses (metformin for type 2 diabetes, rapamycin as sirolimus for transplant rejection and other uses). The combination is not approved for anything. The lifespan result is in mice, and the study did not test rapamycin alone at the same time to compare.

Approves prescription drugs, each for a named use. It also acts against unapproved products, including peptides sold online. Compounding pharmacies, which mix drugs to order, may make some compounds with a prescription. That only applies when the FDA puts the compound in a category of bulk ingredients it allows.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads U.S. Food and Drug Administration listings for Metformin plus rapamycin 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 FDA directly

Whether Metformin plus rapamycin is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in the United States. Before you compete or get tested, look up Metformin plus rapamycin 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.