Cardarine (GW-501516) UK
4 products from 3 brands · free UK delivery · EU 3–7 days
Every Cardarine (GW-501516) listing compared
Last reviewed · prices and listings checked by Free Muscle
Strength and pack size as stated by each manufacturer. Total milligrams = strength per capsule multiplied by capsules per pack. Price per milligram is calculated from the current price. A dash means the manufacturer does not state that figure.
| Brand | Listing | Strength | Pack | Total | Price | £ per capsule | Per mg | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeMuscle | Cardarine GW-501516 — 10mg · 60 Capsules | 10mg | 60 capsules | 600mg | £39.99 | £0.67 | £0.067 | In stock |
| FreeMuscle | Cardarine GW-501516 — 5mg · 60 Capsules | 5mg | 60 capsules | 300mg | £29.99 | £0.50 | £0.100 | In stock |
| Thoroughbred Labs | Cardarine GW-501516 | 10mg | 60 capsules | 600mg | £29.99 | £0.50 | £0.050 | In stock |
| iMuscle | Cardarine GW-501516 — 60 caps, 10mg | 10mg | 60 capsules | 600mg | £35.99 | £0.60 | £0.060 | In stock |
Cardarine, also known as GW-501516, GW501516, GW1516 and Endurobol, is a synthetic agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARδ), a nuclear receptor that regulates fat oxidation in muscle. It is often sold alongside SARMs but is not one. Its clinical development was halted after long-term rodent studies found cancers. This page lists every brand of Cardarine stocked at Free Muscle and compares them on strength per capsule, capsules per pack and batch testing.
What is Cardarine?
GW-501516 was developed in the 1990s and 2000s by GlaxoSmithKline in collaboration with Ligand Pharmaceuticals as a potential treatment for dyslipidaemia and metabolic disease. It activates PPARδ, which switches on genes for fatty acid uptake and oxidation in skeletal muscle and changes the handling of HDL and triglyceride-rich lipoproteins. It is not a SARM: it does not bind the androgen receptor at all. The two are grouped together in this market only because they are sold to similar buyers.
The compound reached Phase 2 human trials and was then abandoned. In its 2013 alert to athletes, WADA stated that the developer had withdrawn GW-501516 from research when serious toxicities were discovered in pre-clinical studies, and that clinical approval has not been and will not be given. A peer-reviewed mouse study points the same way: ApcMin mice, a strain that develops intestinal polyps, grew more and larger polyps on GW-501516, and polyps over 2 mm became five times as common (Gupta 2004). No regulator has ever approved it. WADA added GW-501516 to the Prohibited List in 2009 and issued that public warning in 2013.
Identifiers (PubChem, checked October 2026): CAS 317318-70-0, molecular formula C21H18F3NO3S2, molecular weight 453.5 g/mol, PubChem CID 9803963. The Free Muscle 5 mg listing sets them out in a table for checking a certificate.
What the published research reports
A 2007 study gave healthy volunteers GW-501516 or placebo for two weeks while they were hospitalised and sedentary. HDL cholesterol rose and serum fat clearance after a fat meal improved in the treated groups, with a two-fold rise in ABCA1 expression in muscle cells in vitro; the trial involved 24 people and lasted only a fortnight (Sprecher 2007). A 2008 two-week study in moderately obese men reported reductions in fasting triglycerides, apolipoprotein B, LDL cholesterol and liver fat, with six participants per group (Risérus 2008). The largest and longest published trial was placebo-controlled and ran for 12 weeks in 268 people with low HDL cholesterol: HDL cholesterol rose by up to 16.9%, while LDL cholesterol fell by 7.3%, triglycerides by 16.9% and apolipoprotein B by 14.9% (Olson 2012). It measured blood lipids, not clinical outcomes or long-term safety.
In mice, a 2008 study reported that GW-501516 combined with exercise training increased running endurance and shifted muscle fibre gene expression, while in that study four weeks of the drug alone changed gene expression in sedentary mice but not running performance (Narkar 2008). A 2017 study revisited the question with longer treatment: sedentary mice given GW-501516 for eight weeks ran about one and a half hours longer than untreated controls, an effect the authors linked to sparing of blood glucose and which was absent in mice lacking muscle PPARδ (Fan 2017). Both are mouse findings and say nothing about people.
A 2014 review of PPAR agonists records that development of GW-501516 had been abandoned because of safety issues (Sahebkar 2014). Outside trials, a 2021 case report concerned a 43-year-old man hospitalised with massive rhabdomyolysis and serious liver-cell damage after, by his own account, taking GW-501516 with ostarine for some days; he had fully recovered six weeks later, and a single case involving two compounds cannot establish cause (Kintz 2021). Van Wagoner and colleagues, testing 44 products bought online as SARMs in 2017, found GW-501516 among the unapproved drugs present (Van Wagoner 2017). The human studies lasted at most 12 weeks, and none addressed long-term safety. None of the above is a claim about any product on this page.
Brands of Cardarine we stock
- Free Muscle Cardarine GW-501516, 10mg, 60 capsules. Free Muscle brand, 10mg per capsule, 60 capsules, 600mg in the pack. Every batch is assayed by Janoshik Analytical and the certificate for your batch is sent on request.
- Free Muscle Cardarine GW-501516, 5mg, 60 capsules. Free Muscle brand, 5mg per capsule, 60 capsules, 300mg in the pack. Janoshik batch-tested, certificate on request.
- iMuscle Cardarine GW-501516, 10mg, 60 capsules. 10mg per capsule, 60 capsules, 600mg in the pack. A COA is shown where iMuscle supplies one for the batch we hold.
- Thoroughbred Labs Cardarine GW-501516. 60 capsules. Thoroughbred Labs states 10 mg per capsule, which is 600 mg per pack. A COA is shown where Thoroughbred Labs supplies one for the batch we hold.
How to compare them
Multiply strength per capsule by capsules per pack: 10mg by 60 is 600mg, 5mg by 60 is 300mg. Divide the price by total milligrams to get cost per milligram, and note that a lower strength is rarely proportionally cheaper. In every case, check that the batch number on the certificate matches the pack you receive. Our guide to price per milligram sets out the arithmetic.
Batch testing and certificates of analysis
A certificate of analysis (COA) is a laboratory report tied to one manufactured batch. It records the identity of the compound tested (usually by HPLC or LC-MS against a reference standard) and the purity found, and it carries the batch number, the test date and the name of the laboratory that ran the assay. Every Free Muscle-brand batch is assayed by Janoshik Analytical, an independent laboratory, and we will send the certificate for the batch you hold if you email us with the batch number from the label. For the other brands on this page (iMuscle and Thoroughbred Labs) a COA is shown only where the manufacturer has supplied one for the specific batch we hold, and we leave the field blank rather than imply a test that does not exist.
A generic PDF with no batch number, no date or no named laboratory is not a batch certificate, whatever it is called. Match the batch number on the certificate to the number on your pack before relying on it. Our lab tests page explains what to look for.
Where to buy Cardarine in the UK: how to check a supplier
Whichever shop you buy Cardarine from, check these five points before you order:
- A batch number and a certificate for that batch. The pack should carry a batch number, and the seller should be able to show a certificate of analysis for that same batch from a named laboratory, with the test date. Every Free Muscle-brand batch is assayed by Janoshik Analytical, and we send the certificate for your batch on request. For iMuscle and Thoroughbred Labs, a certificate is shown where the brand supplies one for the batch we hold.
- The strength per capsule and the capsule count. With both figures you can work out the total milligrams in the pack and the price per milligram; the comparison table above does this for every listing here that states both. If a listing does not state one of them, ask the seller before you order.
- Research-use labelling and an age check. A research compound should be sold for laboratory research use only, not for human consumption, to adults aged 18 or over, with no dosing or usage advice. That is how every listing here is sold.
- Prices in pounds sterling and tracked UK dispatch. UK delivery from us is free and tracked on every order, with no minimum spend, and usually arrives 2-3 working days after dispatch; orders placed before 2pm Monday to Friday are processed the same working day.
- A clear returns policy. Unopened items can be returned to us within 30 days.
Brands on this page: Free Muscle, iMuscle and Thoroughbred Labs. The UK supplier checklist and how we test go into more detail.
Legal status in the UK
Cardarine is not a licensed medicine in the UK and has no MHRA marketing authorisation. It is not an authorised food supplement and may not be sold for human consumption. It is supplied for laboratory research to adults aged 18 and over. It is not a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. In sport it is prohibited at all times: the 2026 WADA Prohibited List names it, as GW1516 and GW501516, among the PPARδ agonists in section S4.4.1 (metabolic modulators, class S4), and substances in that section are non-Specified. For context on how SARMs and related research compounds are treated in UK law, read our SARMs research guide.
Storage and handling
Keep the container sealed, in a cool, dry place away from direct light, and return it there each time the container has been opened. Do not decant into unlabelled containers. Keep out of the reach of children and animals. Handle in line with ordinary laboratory good practice, with gloves and a clean work surface, and dispose of unwanted material through an appropriate waste route rather than down the sink.
Delivery and returns
Free Muscle is the trading name of FreeMuscle, a business registered in Andorra, with UK operations and dispatch in Scunthorpe. Every order ships with free tracked UK delivery in plain packaging with nothing on the outside to say what is inside. Orders placed before 2pm Monday to Friday are processed the same working day. EU delivery takes three to seven working days. Unopened items can be returned within 30 days. Customers must be 18 or over. Full details are on our shipping page and our guarantee page.
Related reading
- Cardarine (GW-501516): why development stopped and what the data show
- What are SARMs? The 2026 research guide
- SR9009 (Stenabolic): REV-ERB research and the bioavailability problem
- SLU-PP-332 and 5-Amino-1MQ: what the mouse data show
- How to read a certificate of analysis
- SR9009 (Stenabolic), all SARMs, metabolic support and SLU-PP-332
References
- Sprecher DL, et al. Triglyceride:high-density lipoprotein cholesterol effects in healthy subjects administered a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor delta agonist. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2007;27(2):359-365. PMID: 17110604.
- Risérus U, et al. Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)delta promotes reversal of multiple metabolic abnormalities, reduces oxidative stress, and increases fatty acid oxidation in moderately obese men. Diabetes. 2008;57(2):332-339. PMID: 18024853.
- Olson EJ, et al. Lipid effects of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-δ agonist GW501516 in subjects with low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol: characteristics of metabolic syndrome. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2012;32(9):2289-2294. PMID: 22814748.
- Narkar VA, et al. AMPK and PPARdelta agonists are exercise mimetics. Cell. 2008;134(3):405-415. PMID: 18674809.
- Fan W, et al. PPARδ Promotes Running Endurance by Preserving Glucose. Cell Metab. 2017;25(5):1186-1193.e4. PMID: 28467934.
- Gupta RA, et al. Activation of nuclear hormone receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta accelerates intestinal adenoma growth. Nat Med. 2004;10(3):245-247. PMID: 14758356.
- Sahebkar A, Chew GT, Watts GF. New peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor agonists: potential treatments for atherogenic dyslipidemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2014;15(4):493-503. PMID: 24428677.
- Kintz P, et al. Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Delta Agonist (PPAR-δ) and Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator (SARM) Abuse: Clinical, Analytical and Biological Data in a Case Involving a Poisonous Combination of GW1516 (Cardarine) and MK2866 (Ostarine). Toxics. 2021;9(10):251. PMID: 34678947.
- Van Wagoner RM, et al. Chemical Composition and Labeling of Substances Marketed as Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators and Sold via the Internet. JAMA. 2017;318(20):2004-2010. PMID: 29183075.
- Thevis M, et al. Characterization of two major urinary metabolites of the PPARdelta-agonist GW1516 and implementation of the drug in routine doping controls. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2010;396(7):2479-2491. PMID: 19946680.
- Sobolevsky T, et al. Detection of PPARδ agonists GW1516 and GW0742 and their metabolites in human urine. Drug Test Anal. 2012;4(10):754-760. PMID: 22977012.
Last reviewed: October 2026.
Research compounds sold by Free Muscle are supplied for laboratory research use only and are not for human consumption. They are not authorised as medicines by the MHRA, EMA or FDA, are not food supplements, and are sold only to adults aged 18 or over. Nothing on this page is medical or dosing advice.
Research guides
Frequently asked questions
Is Cardarine legal in the UK?
Purchase and possession for research are lawful in the UK, since GW-501516 is not a controlled drug. Selling it as a medicine or for human consumption is not, because it has no MHRA licence and is not an authorised food supplement. That is why it is supplied here solely for laboratory research to adults aged 18 and over. In sport it is prohibited at all times under WADA class S4 as a PPARδ agonist.
Is Cardarine a SARM?
No. Cardarine (GW-501516) is a PPARδ agonist, acting on a nuclear receptor that regulates fat oxidation. It does not bind the androgen receptor, which is what defines a SARM. It is sold alongside SARMs because it reaches the same buyers, but pharmacologically it belongs to a different class altogether.
Why was Cardarine development stopped?
According to WADA's 2013 alert, the developer withdrew GW-501516 from research when serious toxicities were discovered in pre-clinical studies, and clinical approval has not been and will not be given. The compound had reached Phase 2 human trials. In a separate peer-reviewed study, it increased the number and size of intestinal polyps in mice prone to them (Gupta 2004). No regulator has approved it.
How does Cardarine differ from SR9009?
The two are often confused because they are sold to the same buyers, but they act on different receptors. Cardarine is a PPARδ agonist with a small amount of short human trial data. SR9009 is a Rev-Erb agonist with no human trials at all. Both are named in section S4.4.1 of the 2026 WADA Prohibited List, among the metabolic modulators.
Is Cardarine detectable in sport drug tests?
Yes. WADA has listed GW-501516 since 2009, and in 2013 it said there had already been a number of positive cases. Doping-control work characterised its main urinary metabolites, a sulfone and a sulfoxide, as screening targets (Thevis 2010). In a controlled excretion study the sulfone could still be detected as late as day 40 after one oral administration, while the unchanged compound was measurable only briefly (Sobolevsky 2012). For anyone competing under anti-doping rules, detection should be treated as a certainty rather than a risk.
How do I verify the batch of Cardarine I receive?
It depends on the brand. Both Free Muscle Cardarine strengths are tested at Janoshik Analytical, and the certificate for your specific batch is sent by email when you quote the batch number from the label. iMuscle and Thoroughbred Labs Cardarine show a manufacturer's certificate on the listing only if one exists for the batch we hold. Whatever the source, read the batch number, purity figure and laboratory name on the document and compare them with your pack.
Should I choose 5mg or 10mg Cardarine?
We do not recommend one strength over another, because Cardarine is supplied for laboratory research and we do not advise on selection or use. What we can state is arithmetic: 60 capsules at 10mg contain 600mg of compound and 60 capsules at 5mg contain 300mg, so cost per milligram follows from the price of each pack. Both Free Muscle strengths are Janoshik batch-tested.
What side effects have been reported with Cardarine?
Development stopped after serious toxicities appeared in pre-clinical studies (WADA, 2013), and in mice prone to intestinal polyps the compound increased polyp number and size (Gupta 2004). In a 2021 case report, a man who reportedly took it with ostarine was admitted with severe liver injury and rhabdomyolysis and had recovered six weeks later (Kintz 2021). The human trials lasted between two and 12 weeks and measured blood lipids, not long-term safety.
Where can I buy Cardarine in the UK?
On this page you can compare every Cardarine listing we stock, from Free Muscle, iMuscle and Thoroughbred Labs. Every UK order ships free with tracking, with no minimum spend, and usually arrives 2-3 working days after dispatch. Everything here is supplied for laboratory research use only, not for human consumption, to adults aged 18 or over.
How fast is UK delivery?
UK delivery is free and tracked on every order, with no minimum spend, and usually arrives 2-3 working days after dispatch. Faster tracked UK delivery costs £6 and usually takes 1-2 working days. Orders placed before 2pm Monday to Friday are processed the same working day.
Do you deliver to Romania and the rest of the EU?
Yes. Orders to Romania and other EU countries travel by our paid, tracked international service and usually arrive 3-7 working days after dispatch; delivery to the rest of the world usually takes 5-14 working days. Prices are in pounds sterling (GBP). Rules differ in other countries, so check local law before ordering for delivery abroad.
Can I return an order?
Yes: unopened items can be returned within 30 days. Our guarantee page has the full policy.
Is there a discount when I buy more than one?
Yes, on Free Muscle-brand products: 5% off automatically when your cart holds 2 of them and 10% off with 3 or more, applied in the cart. The offers do not combine. Products from the other brands on this page are not included.