Is Rilmenidine legal in the United Kingdom?

A European blood pressure drug that extends lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans through the nischarin receptor. In mammals the record is worse than neutral: it induced autophagy as designed in two mouse models of motor neuron disease and made both of them worse.

Rilmenidine is a centrally acting antihypertensive that works through the I1-imidazoline receptor. It entered geroscience sideways, through a screen for compounds whose gene expression signature resembles caloric restriction, and it came out near the top.

Mechanism: Agonist at the I1-imidazoline receptor, with weaker alpha-2 adrenoceptor activity than clonidine, which is why it lowers blood pressure with less sedation. The geroscience mechanism proposed is induction of mTOR-independent autophagy plus a transcriptional state resembling caloric restriction.

Regulatory history: Not approved in the United States. Rilmenidine is a Servier product licensed as an antihypertensive in France and several other European markets under the names Hyperium, Tenaxum, Albarel and Iterium.

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 Rilmenidine 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.