Is Relaxin-2 legal in Canada?

The pregnancy hormone that opens up blood flow. A drug version, serelaxin, was tested in 1,161 people with sudden heart failure, and there were 42 deaths by six months on the drug against 65 on a dummy drip. But that was a side question. The bigger follow-up in 6,545 people found heart deaths of 8.7 percent on the drug and 8.9 percent without it. Serelaxin was never approved and work on it for heart failure stopped.

Relaxin-2 is a hormone made of two linked chains, from the same family as insulin. The ovary and the placenta make it.

How it works: Relaxin-2 works through a receptor called RXFP1. It widens blood vessels across the body, makes the heart pump more, sends more blood to the kidneys and makes arteries more stretchy.

Approval history: Relaxin-2 is a hormone the body makes. Serelaxin, a lab-made copy of it, is not approved by the FDA or any other regulator. It drew attention after the RELAX-AHF result. But the larger follow-up study, RELAX-AHF-2, missed both of its main goals, and work on it for sudden heart failure was stopped.

Allows a drug to be sold by issuing a Notice of Compliance and a Drug Identification Number (DIN). A compound that is not allowed for sale cannot legally be sold for use in people. Bringing in prescription drugs for your own use is also limited.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads Health Canada, Health Products and Food Branch listings for Relaxin-2 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 Health Canada directly

Whether Relaxin-2 is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in Canada. Before you compete or get tested, look up Relaxin-2 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.