UK regulatory status: MHRA, EMA and FDA rules for metabolic peptides

The metabolic peptide landscape includes three distinct regulatory categories under UK law, each with very different rules around supply, advertising, use and pharmacovigilance. Licensing status can also differ by regulator — the MHRA (UK), EMA (EU) and FDA (US) do not always reach the same decision on the same molecule at the same time; see MHRA vs EMA vs FDA for why:

• UK prescription-only medicines (POM). Tirzepatide (Mounjaro), semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic, Rybelsus), liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza) and dulaglutide (Trulicity) are MHRA-licensed POMs for specific indications. Supply must be via a qualified UK prescriber and a registered pharmacy following appropriate clinical assessment.
• Investigational compounds. Retatrutide, cagrilintide, CagriSema, survodutide, pemvidutide, mazdutide, cotadutide and several non-peptide comparators (orforglipron, danuglipron, MariTide) are in active clinical development. They are not licensed for human therapeutic use in the UK and must not be used outside an authorised research setting.
• Research-only compounds. AOD-9604, HGH Fragment 176-191, CJC-1295 and ipamorelin have not advanced to UK licensed human therapeutic indications. They are supplied for laboratory research only and must not be used for human therapeutic purposes.

This hub explains each category, the rules that apply, and the related risks — counterfeit products, grey-market supply, advertising restrictions, online pharmacy verification, and sport / anti-doping considerations.