Plain-English summaries of peptide research, cited to the study, plus clinics and online programs across the United States. We do not sell anything.

A modern white and glass laboratory building on the FDA's White Oak campus, photographed from the plaza against a clear sky.

Photo: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Public domain

Guide

Are peptides legal? Approved drugs, compounding, and 'research use only' in 2026

Three legal categories that get lumped together: FDA-approved peptide drugs, compounded peptides prescribed under section 503A, and research chemicals sold 'not for human use.' What changed in 2026, what FDA is enforcing, and why the answer depends on the compound.

Read the guide

Guide
Peptides for weight loss: what the trials actually measured
Semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide, and cagrilintide have large randomized trials. Most other 'weight loss peptides' do not. Here is what each trial enrolled, dosed, and found, including what happens after stopping.
Photo: Integrity Bio · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lyophilization of Pharmaceuticals in Vial by Integrity Bio, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Guide
How lyophilized peptides are reconstituted, and where it goes wrong
The freeze-dried powder, the diluent, the math, and the failure modes: contamination, wrong diluent, unit confusion, and degradation. Technique only; no doses.
Guide
How much does peptide therapy cost?
Brand-name GLP-1s, compounded prescriptions through a telehealth program, in-person clinics, and research-chemical vendors sit at very different price points, for very different things. What drives the numbers and what the trials say about how long treatment lasts.

New studies, summarized

Every weekday we check the medical literature and write up what each study did and found.

See all summaries

New study
CagriSema rat study reports weight loss driven mainly by reduced energy intake, regain after stopping
In male diet-induced obese rats, indirect calorimetry over 6 weeks of CagriSema treatment and 4 weeks after discontinuation showed weight loss attributed mainly to lower energy intake, with rapid regain once treatment stopped.
New study
Narrative review: BPC-157 musculoskeletal evidence is mostly small-animal, one human case series
A narrative review in The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons searched three databases through June 2026 and reports that direct musculoskeletal evidence for BPC-157 is predominantly small-animal work, with human data limited to one uncontrolled case series.
New study
Narrative review groups BPC 157 with cytoprotective liver agents across preclinical injury models
A narrative review in Pharmaceuticals surveys cytoprotective approaches to liver injury, comparing BPC 157 with agents such as N-acetylcysteine and melatonin, and states that experimental evidence does not establish clinical efficacy.
New study
CagriSema meta-analysis of six trials reports larger weight loss than semaglutide in type 2 diabetes
A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis of six randomized trials in people with type 2 diabetes reports large HbA1c and body-weight differences versus placebo, with a smaller and uncertain HbA1c advantage over dose-matched semaglutide.

What we cover

Nine groups of compounds, and what the research on each is actually about.

Every compound, A to Z

GLP-1 and related metabolic peptides
Semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide, cagrilintide: incretin-pathway compounds studied for weight and glucose.
Growth hormone secretagogues
Sermorelin, tesamorelin, CJC-1295, ipamorelin: compounds studied for their effect on growth hormone release.
Tissue repair and recovery
BPC-157, TB-500, KPV: compounds studied mostly in animal models of injury and inflammation.
Cognitive and mood
Semax, Selank, DSIP: compounds studied for cognition, anxiety, and sleep, largely outside the U.S.
Skin and hair
GHK-Cu and related copper peptides studied in dermatology and wound care.
Mitochondrial and metabolic
MOTS-c, SS-31, NAD+, 5-amino-1MQ: compounds studied for cellular energy and metabolism.
Sexual health
PT-141 (bremelanotide) and kisspeptin: compounds studied for sexual function and reproductive signalling.
Blends
Marketed combinations such as GLOW, KLOW, and the Wolverine stack: no trials study the blend itself.

Structure: PubChem CID 9941957, public domain
Compound profile
BPC-157
BPC-157 is a synthetic pentadecapeptide described as a partial sequence of a compound isolated from human gastric juice. Nearly all published evidence is preclinical: rat models of tendon, muscle, gut and skin injury. Human data are limited to a few small uncontrolled pilot reports, and randomized trials are only now registered. It is not an FDA-approved drug.
Peptide7 human studies
Structure: PubChem CID 171397054, public domain
Compound profile
Cagrilintide
Cagrilintide is a long-acting amylin analogue studied as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection for weight management, alone and coformulated with semaglutide as CagriSema. A phase 2 dose-finding trial reported greater weight loss than placebo, and phase 3 REDEFINE and REIMAGINE trials reported large weight and HbA1c reductions with the combination. Gastrointestinal adverse events were common. Cagrilintide is not an FDA-approved drug.
Peptide15 human studies

Clinics near you

We list clinics in 708 cities across 46 states.

Browse every state

Photo: NuYou Medical Aesthetics · via Google
Miami, FL
NuYou Medical Aesthetics
888 Biscayne Blvd Ste 505, Room 532, Miami, FL 33132
Photo: Ways2Well - Austin · via Google
Austin, TX
Ways2Well - Austin
8226 Bee Caves Rd, Austin, TX 78746
Photo: Suddenly Slimmer Med Spa · via Google
Phoenix, AZ
Suddenly Slimmer Med Spa
3313 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85018
Photo: Cienega Medical · via Google
Los Angeles, CA
Cienega Medical
375 N La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048
Photo: Healor Primary Care Clinic Las Vegas · via Google
Las Vegas, NV
Healor Primary Care Clinic Las Vegas
3900 W Charleston Blvd Ste 170, Las Vegas, NV 89102
Photo: Gleam Medical Spa · via Google
Denver, CO
Gleam Medical Spa
300 S Jackson St Suite 100, Denver, CO 80209

Listings and photographs come from public business data. A listing is not an endorsement, and we do not verify licensure or pricing.

Where people actually get it

Two different things get called buying peptides. One runs through a prescriber and a licensed pharmacy. The other does not.

Programs that prescribe after an online visit

Online program
Hone Health
Hone Health is a lab-first longevity and hormone platform. Every patient begins with a $65 biomarker panel of more than 50 markers, drawn at a partner lab or by a mobile phlebotomist, followed by a telehealth consult with a licensed physician who builds a plan. Medications are then shipped as part of a monthly membership.
Online program
Live Vital
Live Vital, at livevital.io, is a peptide-focused telehealth practice run by a single physician, Patrick Taylor, MD, who the site says reviews every intake personally. Its treatment directory lists BPC-157, TB-500, the blends Wolverine (BPC-157 / TB-500), Glow (GHK-Cu / BPC-157 / TB-500) and Klow (GHK-Cu / KPV / BPC-157 / TB-500), GHK-Cu, CJC-1295/ipamorelin, tesamorelin, MOTS-c, NAD+ and glutathione.
Online program
Midi Health
Midi Health is a women's telehealth practice focused on perimenopause and menopause, with weight management as one of its care tracks. Its clinicians are nurse practitioners and physicians, visits are in-network with many insurers, and the company states that it is available in all 50 states with self-pay options.

Compare all 9 programs

Sellers of research-use-only material

Research vendor
Biotech Peptides
Biotech Peptides is a United States research-chemical storefront that has operated since 2019 according to its own homepage. Its product sitemap listed 89 items on 2026-09-16 and covers most of the compounds tracked here. Every page carries the line that products are sold for research, laboratory or analytical purposes only and are not for human consumption.
Sold for research only — not for human use
Research vendor
CertaPeptides
CertaPeptides is a European supplier shipping from Romania to 31 countries, and it is not a United States seller. For a reader in the United States that is the first relevant fact; for a reader in Europe it is the reason the vendor exists, since most of the storefronts in this section ship domestically within the United States only.
Sold for research only — not for human use
Research vendor
Core Peptides
Core Peptides is a United States storefront selling lyophilised research peptides, described on its own pages as sold for research, laboratory or analytical purposes only and not for human consumption. Its public product sitemap listed 105 items when we read it on 2026-09-16, including most of the compounds this site tracks as well as bioregulators, topicals and growth-factor material we do not cover.
Sold for research only — not for human use

Read every vendor review

Start with the basics

All guides

Guide
KPV peptide: what the research found, and what it did not
KPV is the last three amino acids of alpha-MSH, and it has a real research literature: mouse colitis models, a rabbit cornea study, two cell lines and a skin-delivery experiment. What it does not have is a single trial in people, and the routes studied are mostly not the route it is sold for.
Guide
NAD injections and IV therapy: what the research actually shows
A PRISMA-guided systematic review published in 2026 searched fifteen years of studies and reported no outcome trials of intravenous or intramuscular NAD at all. The human evidence is about oral precursors, NR and NMN, which are different molecules given a different way.
Guide
GLOW, KLOW and Wolverine: what is actually in the peptide blends
Three product names, four ingredients, and no study of any of the mixtures. What each blend contains, what the research on GHK-Cu, KPV, BPC-157 and TB-500 actually found, and why a dosing chart for a blend is somebody's convention rather than a study-reported amount.
Photo: Michael Pereckas from Milwaukee, WI, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0
Peptide synthesizer by Michael Pereckas from Milwaukee, WI, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Guide
What are peptides? A plain-English explainer
Short chains of amino acids, from insulin to collagen powder to the injectables in the news. What the word covers, why the same word means very different things, and how to read a peptide study.
Guide
Peptides for weight loss: what the trials actually measured
Semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide, and cagrilintide have large randomized trials. Most other 'weight loss peptides' do not. Here is what each trial enrolled, dosed, and found, including what happens after stopping.
Photo: Wesalius · CC BY 4.0
Insulin syringe white background by Wesalius, CC BY 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Guide
Peptide injections: why peptides are injected, and what the trials report about it
Why almost every therapeutic peptide is a shot rather than a pill, what subcutaneous injection involves, the injection-site reactions trials recorded, and why sterility and dosing units are where real harm happens.
Photo: Integrity Bio · CC BY-SA 3.0
Lyophilization of Pharmaceuticals in Vial by Integrity Bio, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Guide
How lyophilized peptides are reconstituted, and where it goes wrong
The freeze-dried powder, the diluent, the math, and the failure modes: contamination, wrong diluent, unit confusion, and degradation. Technique only; no doses.
Guide
How much does peptide therapy cost?
Brand-name GLP-1s, compounded prescriptions through a telehealth program, in-person clinics, and research-chemical vendors sit at very different price points, for very different things. What drives the numbers and what the trials say about how long treatment lasts.
Photo: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration · Public domain
FDA Bldg 64 - Exterior (5161375466) by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Guide
Are peptides legal? Approved drugs, compounding, and 'research use only' in 2026
Three legal categories that get lumped together: FDA-approved peptide drugs, compounded peptides prescribed under section 503A, and research chemicals sold 'not for human use.' What changed in 2026, what FDA is enforcing, and why the answer depends on the compound.

Do the arithmetic

All calculators

Calculator
Reconstitution calculator
How many syringe units equal a given amount, from the milligrams in the vial and the liquid added.
Calculator
Units converter
Milligrams, micrograms, millilitres and U-100 syringe units, converted both ways.
Calculator
Study-dose calculator
Reproduces the arithmetic of a regimen a cited study actually gave its participants.

How to read this site

We show our sources: Every claim links to the study it came from, and each one says whether it was done in people or in animals, and how many took part.
We never tell you what to take: When you see an amount on this site, it is the amount a study gave its participants. It is not a suggestion for you. That decision belongs with your doctor.
We say when something is not approved: Most of these compounds are not approved medicines. Every profile says plainly what its legal status is and when we last checked.
We tell you how we make money: Some links are paid. They are labeled before you click, and they never change what we list or what the research pages say. Read how we make money.