Is Mifepristone legal in the United Kingdom?

Blocking cortisol signalling was a serious longevity hypothesis, because chronic glucocorticoid exposure damages muscle, bone and brain. The mouse lifespan test found nothing in either sex.

The reason anyone tested this is worth stating, because it is a good hypothesis. Cortisol rises with age, and sustained glucocorticoid exposure causes exactly the changes that define ageing badly: muscle wasting, bone loss, visceral fat accumulation, insulin resistance, hippocampal atrophy and immune suppression.

Mechanism: A competitive antagonist at the glucocorticoid receptor, blocking cortisol's transcriptional effects, and at the progesterone receptor, which is the basis of its obstetric use. At the glucocorticoid receptor it prevents the catabolic signalling that drives muscle proteolysis, hepatic gluconeogenesis and adipose redistribution.

Regulatory history: FDA-approved as Korlym for hyperglycaemia secondary to hypercortisolism in Cushing's syndrome, and as Mifeprex for medical termination of pregnancy. Not approved for any ageing indication.

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 Mifepristone 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.