Is Ursodeoxycholic acid legal in the United Kingdom?

An approved bile acid with a genuine mechanism in mitochondrial protection. It failed mouse lifespan testing, and its randomised trial in Parkinson's disease is the more informative result.

Ursodeoxycholic acid is a naturally occurring bile acid, approved for primary biliary cholangitis and gallstone dissolution, that turned out to have effects beyond the liver. It stabilises mitochondria, reduces endoplasmic reticulum stress and inhibits apoptosis, which made it a candidate for neurodegeneration and for ageing.

Mechanism: A hydrophilic secondary bile acid. In cholestatic liver disease it displaces more toxic hydrophobic bile acids from the bile acid pool and stimulates biliary secretion, which is the basis of its approval.

Regulatory history: FDA-approved for primary biliary cholangitis and for gallstone dissolution in selected patients. Not approved for Parkinson's disease or 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 Ursodeoxycholic acid 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.