Is TERN-601 legal in the United Kingdom?

Dose-dependent weight loss in phase 1 and phase 2, then discontinued after three participants developed liver enzyme elevations consistent with potential drug-induced liver injury.

The second oral small-molecule GLP-1 agonist in this batch to work and be stopped, and its report is unusually clear about why. Phase 1 ran 28 days and produced dose-dependent weight loss with statistically significant reductions against placebo at every dose, along with the pharmacodynamic signatures you would expect from this class: reduced appetite and delayed gastric emptying.

Mechanism: An orally administered small-molecule agonist at the GLP-1 receptor, dosed once daily. Small molecules bind the receptor differently from the native peptide because they cannot reproduce its large binding surface, but the downstream signalling is the same: glucose-dependent insulin secretion, glucagon suppression, delayed gastric emptying and reduced appetite.

Regulatory history: Never approved. Clinical development was discontinued following liver safety findings in phase 2.

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 TERN-601 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.