Rapamycin, also sold as sirolimus, is an FDA-approved prescription drug that inhibits mTOR, a protein complex that regulates cell growth and metabolism. It is approved to help prevent organ rejection after a kidney transplant. Longevity clinics prescribe it off-label, at much lower and less frequent doses, because it has extended lifespan in yeast, worms, flies and mice.

Is rapamycin FDA-approved for longevity or anti-aging?

No. Rapamycin is FDA-approved for transplant medicine, not for slowing aging. Longevity use is off-label: a licensed prescriber can legally prescribe it for that purpose, but the FDA has not reviewed it for that use, and compounded versions are not FDA-approved products at all.

What does the human evidence show?

It is early. PEARL, a 48-week placebo-controlled trial of 5 mg or 10 mg weekly rapamycin in healthy adults, found adverse events were similar to placebo. Its primary outcome, visceral fat, did not change. It reported improvements in lean mass and pain in women on 10 mg and in self-reported well-being on 5 mg. The trial was run by AgelessRx and its authors are company employees, so read it as promising safety data rather than proof of benefit.

How is longevity rapamycin dosed?

Once a week, not daily. Transplant patients take it every day to suppress the immune system; longevity protocols use intermittent weekly doses so levels fall between doses. At AgelessRx, generic sirolimus is titrated from 2 mg to 6 mg a week over about three months, ending at 6–8 mg at the prescriber’s discretion.

Why is blood work required?

Rapamycin can raise blood lipids and glucose and affect blood counts, so a baseline panel shows whether it is appropriate and follow-up panels show how you are responding. AgelessRx will not consider a prescription without baseline labs and stops refills if ongoing labs or check-in questionnaires are missed. Its price includes the blood work.

What are the common side effects?

Mouth ulcers (stomatitis) are the most common at longevity doses, followed by nausea and diarrhoea. Most are mild and settle within a week or two. Because rapamycin affects the immune system, a persistent infection or a mouth ulcer that will not heal should go straight to a clinician.

Who should not take rapamycin?

Anyone pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to be; anyone with major surgery, chemotherapy or transplant immunosuppression planned within six months; and anyone with a chronic infection, immune deficiency or an allergy to sirolimus. It also interacts with drugs and foods that act on CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein, including ketoconazole, fluconazole, rifampin, ritonavir, cyclosporine and grapefruit juice.

How much does rapamycin cost online?

AgelessRx lists rapamycin from $65 for a one-month supply, with 30-day and 90-day options, and the prescription includes initial and ongoing blood work. The medical evaluation and shipping are free. Confirm the current price and your state before you start — AgelessRx does not serve New York, New Jersey or Rhode Island.

Best Rapamycin Providers of 2026

Online rapamycin (sirolimus) programmes for longevity, compared on blood work, dosing, eligibility and what a month actually costs.

Licensed Prescriber Review
Blood Work Included
Once-Weekly Dosing
Transparent Monthly Pricing

AgelessRx

9.60

Excellent

4,326 user votes

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Once-weekly rapamycin with blood work included, from $65/month.

From $65 for a 1-month supply, 30- or 90-day options
Initial and ongoing blood work included with the prescription
One dose a week on a prescriber-guided titration plan

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Which Rapamycin Programme Is Right for Me?

Every programme here prescribes the same molecule. What differs is how much monitoring sits inside the price, how the dose is built up, which formulation you get and what else is prescribed alongside it. Whether rapamycin is appropriate for you at all is a question for a licensed prescriber with your full history and your labs.

Labs-included protocols

Baseline blood work before the first dose and repeat panels after it, priced into the monthly figure. Rapamycin can move lipids, glucose and blood counts, so this is the model to look for rather than a premium extra.

On this page: AgelessRx includes initial and ongoing blood work with the prescription, from $65/month.

Prescriber-guided titration

A starting dose that steps up over the first months rather than a fixed dose from week one. Titrating lets the prescriber watch side effects and labs at each step before the next.

On this page: AgelessRx titrates generic sirolimus from 2 mg to 6 mg a week over about three months, ending at 6–8 mg.

Compounded vs generic sirolimus

Generic sirolimus is the same FDA-approved molecule sold as Rapamune. Compounded rapamycin is prepared by a pharmacy against your prescription and is not an FDA-approved product. Absorption can differ between the two, which is one reason dosing is set per patient.

On this page: AgelessRx offers both, sourced from a certified US-based pharmacy.

Rapamycin within a wider protocol

Some platforms prescribe rapamycin alongside other off-label longevity drugs such as metformin or acarbose, or next to NAD+ therapy. Bundling can be convenient, but each drug still needs its own reason and its own monitoring.

On this page: AgelessRx also lists metformin and acarbose from $18/month and a supplement packet from $65/month.

What rapamycin for longevity is not

Rapamycin is FDA-approved for transplant medicine, not for aging. Longevity use is off-label, the human evidence is early, and compounded rapamycin is not an FDA-approved product. No provider on this page, and not this page, can tell you it will extend your life or healthspan. Disclose every medication and supplement you take at intake.

How We Evaluate Rapamycin Providers

This is a documentary review of what each provider publishes, checked against its own site. We do not run trials, test medication or collect patient outcomes, so there are no efficacy scores or success rates on this page.

Clinician oversight

Whether a licensed prescriber reviews your history and labs before prescribing, and stays reachable to adjust the dose after that.

Blood work

Whether baseline and ongoing labs are required, and whether they are inside the price or billed on top.

Dosing approach

Weekly intermittent dosing with a titration plan, rather than a fixed dose or daily dosing borrowed from transplant medicine.

Pharmacy and formulation

Whether the pharmacy is named and US-based, and whether you can choose generic sirolimus or compounded rapamycin.

Pricing transparency

Whether the monthly figure is published before intake, and what the 30-day and 90-day supplies actually cost.

Eligibility and state availability

Age limits, health requirements and the states a provider does not serve, stated before you start an intake.

Editorial scores and reader vote counts on the cards reflect ExploreTreatments’ own assessment and votes cast on our longevity pages. They are not clinical ratings. Provider details change often, so confirm current pricing, eligibility and state availability on the provider’s site before you buy.

The Complete Guide to Rapamycin for Longevity in 2026

What rapamycin is and how it works

Rapamycin, sold generically as sirolimus, was discovered in soil bacteria on Easter Island and approved by the FDA to help prevent organ rejection after a kidney transplant. It works by inhibiting mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin), a protein complex that tells cells whether to grow and build or to slow down and recycle their own worn-out components.

That second state, cellular clean-up known as autophagy, is why the longevity field is interested. Turning mTOR down has extended lifespan in yeast, worms and flies, and in 2009 a National Institute on Aging programme found that rapamycin fed late in life extended lifespan in genetically diverse mice. It was the first drug shown to do that in mammals, and the result has since been repeated.

What the evidence does and does not show

The animal data is strong. The human data is early. The largest controlled trial so far is PEARL, a 48-week, double-blind study in which healthy adults took placebo, 5 mg or 10 mg of compounded rapamycin once a week. Its published results found adverse events similar across all three groups and blood markers within normal ranges. The primary outcome, visceral fat, did not change. Women on 10 mg gained lean mass and reported less pain, and the 5 mg group reported better emotional well-being and general health.

Two caveats belong next to that. PEARL was run by AgelessRx, and its authors are company employees and shareholders. And a year of safety data from one modest trial is not evidence that rapamycin slows human aging. Nobody has shown that yet. A 2023 survey of 333 off-label users points the same way: it looks tolerable at longevity doses, but efficacy is still an open question.

Weekly longevity dosing vs transplant dosing

The same drug is used in two very different ways. Transplant patients take it daily to keep the immune system suppressed. Longevity protocols take it once a week so blood levels fall between doses, aiming to inhibit mTOR in pulses rather than continuously:

	Transplant use	Longevity use
Frequency	Daily	Once weekly
Typical dose	Set to a target blood level	2 mg rising to 6–8 mg a week (AgelessRx)
Goal	Continuous immune suppression	Intermittent mTOR inhibition
Approval status	FDA-approved	Off-label
Monitoring	Drug blood levels and labs	Baseline and periodic labs

What to check in a rapamycin programme

Rapamycin is a real immunomodulating drug, so the monitoring matters more than the headline price. Before you pay anyone, check these:

Baseline blood work is required before a prescription, and repeat panels follow. A provider that skips labs is skipping the safety net.
The dose is titrated up from a low start, and the prescriber can change it based on your labs and side effects.
The pharmacy is named and US-based, and you know whether you are getting generic sirolimus or compounded rapamycin.
The monthly price is published and says what it includes: evaluation, labs, shipping.
Eligibility and excluded states are stated before the intake, not at checkout.

What rapamycin costs online

AgelessRx lists rapamycin from $65 for a one-month supply, with 30-day and 90-day options. The price includes initial and ongoing blood work, and the medical evaluation and shipping are free. Refills depend on keeping to the lab schedule. The programme is not available in New York, New Jersey or Rhode Island.

Many people add rapamycin to a longevity protocol they already run. Our NAD+ provider comparison and glutathione comparison cover the two therapies most often run alongside it. If you want your numbers before a prescriber sees them, our at-home biomarker test comparison covers the panels.

Side effects, interactions and who should not take it

At longevity doses the most common side effects are mouth ulcers (stomatitis), nausea and diarrhoea, usually mild and gone within a week or two. Rapamycin affects the immune system, so an infection or ulcer that will not heal needs a clinician.

Do not take it if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to be.
Do not start if major surgery, chemotherapy or transplant immunosuppression is planned within six months.
Not for anyone with a chronic infection, an immune deficiency or an allergy to sirolimus.
It interacts with CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein drugs, including ketoconazole, fluconazole, posaconazole, rifampin, ritonavir, cyclosporine, and with grapefruit juice.

How to get started

Complete a free online visit covering your health, history and medications.
Get baseline blood work drawn at a local lab. No prescription is considered without it.
A licensed prescriber reviews your labs and history and prescribes only if appropriate.
Follow the weekly titration plan printed on your bottle, and report side effects rather than adjusting the dose yourself.
Keep up with ongoing labs and check-in questionnaires, which are required for refills.

Before you start treatment

Rapamycin is not FDA-approved to treat, prevent or slow aging, and compounded rapamycin is not an FDA-approved product. Individual response varies and no outcome is promised here. Speak with a licensed clinician before starting, particularly if you manage a chronic condition, take other prescription drugs, or have surgery coming up.

More longevity guides

Rapamycin for Longevity FAQs

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