Is MOTS-c legal in the US?
No. It is not approved and is sold as a research chemical.
CAnimal and cell studiesNot approvedas of 2026-10-26
Not approved by the FDA for any use and sold as a research chemical. MOTS-c was nominated for the FDA's compounding bulk-substances list and placed in Category 2 (significant safety risk); the nomination was withdrawn, the FDA removed it from that category in April 2026, and the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee discussed it in July 2026. It is also on the 2026 WADA Prohibited List. 45
More on MOTS-c
Citations
- Front Endocrinol 2023: Review of MOTS-c in metabolism and disease doi.org
- Biochim Biophys Acta 2021: Mitochondrial-derived peptides and exercise doi.org
- Lee 2015, Cell Metab: The mitochondrial-derived peptide MOTS-c promotes metabolic homeostasis and reduces obesity and insulin resistance pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- FDA: Certain bulk drug substances for use in compounding may present significant safety risks fda.gov
- WADA: 2026 Prohibited List wada-ama.org
- Reynolds 2021, Nat Commun: MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Miller 2022, J Clin Invest: Mitochondria-derived peptides in aging and healthspan pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the MOTS-c article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.