What the MHRA is
The MHRA is an executive agency sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care. It regulates medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion across the UK.
Medicines law itself is mainly set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The MHRA applies and enforces those rules.
How it decides what is a medicine
Under regulation 2 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, a product can be a medicinal product in two ways. It is a medicine by presentation if it is presented as preventing or treating disease in people. It is a medicine by function if it may be used in or given to people to restore, correct or modify a body function, or to make a medical diagnosis.
Products that sit near the line are called borderline products. When the MHRA looks at one, it considers:
What it can do
Regulation 46 says a person may not sell or supply, or offer to sell or supply, a medicinal product that is not authorised. So once a product counts as a medicine, it needs the right authorisation, such as a UK marketing authorisation, before it can be sold.
The MHRA makes borderline decisions when a seller asks for advice or when it receives a complaint about a product sold as a medicine without authorisation. It says it aims to fix most cases through voluntary compliance, for example by changing claims. Cases that are not resolved can be escalated, up to possible prosecution.
The MHRA also notes that products sold by companies outside the UK and sent straight to UK buyers may fall outside its reach.
Where research peptides fit
A "research use only" label does not decide the question on its own. The MHRA looks at the whole picture, so health claims, dosing instructions or reviews describing use in people can make a peptide product look like a medicine, whatever the label says.
Get advice for your own case
This is general information, not legal advice. A UK regulatory solicitor can tell you how the rules apply to specific products and wording.
Educational information only. Nothing here is medical advice, dosing guidance or a recommendation to use any substance. Research peptides are not approved medicines and are not for human or animal consumption. Speak to a qualified professional and follow the law where you are.
