The TGA has allowed the ‘longevity ingredient’ to be used in therapeutic products, but not everyone is convinced about its potential benefits.
Can one molecule really help you live longer?
Last week the TGA announced that nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) has been approved as a permissible ingredient, meaning it can be used in therapeutic goods in Australia.
NMN is a naturally occurring molecule that has a role in cellular energy production and repair due to being a precursor to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD). The latter molecule is involved in mitochondrial function, DNA repair, gene regulation and cellular resilience. Our bodies’ NAD levels drop as we age, and taking NMN to raise NAD levels can support healthy cellular function and energy metabolism.
“As we age, our NAD+ levels naturally decline, partly because our bodies accumulate more DNA damage and inflammation, and partly because our ability to produce NAD+ slows down. It is thought that by supplementing with NMN, we can provide the body with the building blocks it needs to help restore NAD+ levels and support healthy cellular function as we get older,” said Dr Sophie Stocker (PhD), an Associate Professor from the University of Sydney Pharmacy School.
Professor Stocker is also part of the scientific and advisory board for Longevity Life Sciences, an Australian biotechnology company that drove the regulatory change. Longevity Life Sciences are currently the only company permitted to supply NMN. Their product, branded as CellVive NMN, will be manufactured by Shanghai-based green biotechnology and pharmaceuticals company SyncoZymes.
The company claims the regulatory change will ensure Australians can now legally purchase NMN-containing products and be confident in the quality and purity of what they are buying.
But Professor Oliver Jones, a chemist and analytical scientist from RMIT, has warned consumers about falling for the marketing surrounding NMN, explaining that it is highly unlikely that a single compound can address all age-related changes in the body.
“Even if NAD concentrations did decline with age, that would not mean that the decrease in NAD caused the ageing,” he told The Guardian last week.
“There are plenty of biochemical changes associated with ageing but that does not mean the changes caused the ageing.”
Professor Bruce Neal, physician and executive director at The George Institute, told The Guardian there was also debate about whether there is enough evidence showing NMN supplementation leads to better health or a longer lifespan. There has been more research on the effects on NMN in rodents, rather than humans.
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The change in classification, detailed in the Therapeutic Goods (Permissible Ingredients) Determination (No. 4) 2025, notes that until 10 December 2027, only oral medications can contain NMN, that the maximum daily dose must not exceed 500mg of NMN and that the recommended duration of use for medicines containing NMN must be 12 weeks or less. Furthermore, the medications must only be indicated for use in adults, and not in pregnant or lactating women.
In April, the TGA issued a warning notice to sponsors and product owners after becoming aware that products containing or claiming to influence the levels of NMN or NAD in the body were being sold in Australia.
The US Food and Drug Administration have also changed their views on NMN in recent times. In October, the organisation announced that it had reversed an earlier declaration banning the use of NMN in supplements.
