RU-486

noun

ˈär-ˌyü-ˌfȯr-ˌā-tē-ˈsiks 

: mifepristone

Examples of RU-486 in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Much of the donation was earmarked for advocacy on behalf of mifepristone, also known as RU-486, which terminates pregnancies by blocking the hormone progesterone and is often taken with the drug misoprostol. —Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 28 June 2023

His idea came to fruition in 1980, when a French drug company created mifepristone, then called RU-486. —The Week Staff, The Week, 7 May 2023

In September 1988, the French authorities approved RU-486. —Pam Belluck, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2023

During the 1980s and '90s, the U.S. banned the importation or manufacture of RU-486. —The Week Staff, The Week, 7 May 2023

But the fight to bring the drug to America began after the FDA banned the import of RU-486 in June 1989, due, in part, to pressure from conservative lawmakers. —Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2023

The agency’s 2000 approval of mifepristone, also known as RU-486, was controversial at the time and came after years of public debate over the drug, which had already been approved and in use in Europe. —Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2023

Étienne-Émile Baulieu, the primary developer of RU-486, which is better known as mifepristone, was even more hopeful. —Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 9 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Roussel-UCLAF, the drug's French manufacturer + 486, laboratory serial number

First Known Use

1982, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

RU-486

noun

ˌär-(ˌ)yü-ˌfō(ə)r-ˌāt-ē-ˈsiks 

: mifepristone