Unapproved research chemicalNo human evidenceProhibited in sport

BPC-157

Also referred to as Body Protection Compound 157, PL 14736, Pentadecapeptide BPC 157

One of the most discussed compounds in this category and one of the least supported by human evidence. The published record is overwhelmingly animal work.

Molecule class: Synthetic pentadecapeptide derived from a gastric protein sequence
Category: Repair
Last evidence review: 2026-08-24

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Human studies

Animal / in vitro

Graded claims

—

Participants

Mechanism

What is being studied

Proposed mechanisms include modulation of angiogenic signalling (VEGFR2), effects on nitric-oxide pathways, and interaction with growth-factor signalling in injury models. These are proposed mechanisms from animal work, not established human pharmacology.

Evidence

Claims, graded individually

Each statement below carries its own evidence level, its own confidence rating, and its own account of what remains unestablished. A compound does not have a single grade.

Musculoskeletal Recovery Research

DPreclinicalLow confidenceNo human evidence

BPC-157 has been reported to accelerate repair endpoints in rodent tendon, ligament, and gastrointestinal injury models.

What is not established

No adequate human efficacy trials exist. Findings are concentrated within a limited number of research groups. Animal quantities do not translate to humans.

Supporting sources (3)

Pharmacokinetic studyHumanIdentifier pending verification

Phase 1 pilot study in healthy volunteers to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics of PCO-02, whose active ingredient is BPC-157

PharmaCotherapia d.o.o. · Not published · 2015 · n = 42

Population: Healthy volunteers, single site, Hospital Angeles, Tijuana
Endpoint: Safety and pharmacokinetics
Route: Oral
Quantity as reported: Single administrations of 1, 3 or 6 tablets, each containing 1 mg; the repeated-dose phase used 3 tablets every 8 hours
Frequency: Single, then every 8 hours
Duration: 2 weeks

Result. No results have been posted. The registry status is Unknown and the trial has not been published.

Adverse events. Not reported.

Limitations. This is the entire registered human record for BPC-157, and it is an oral formulation with no posted results. It is not evidence that injected BPC-157 works, and it is frequently cited as though it were.

NCTNCT02637284

Animal studyAnimalNo verified identifier on file

Preclinical literature on BPC-157 and tendon, ligament, and gastrointestinal repair

Multiple research groups (predominantly Sikiric and colleagues) · Various preclinical journals · 2023

Population: Rodent injury models (tendon transection, ligament, colitis, and others)
Endpoint: Histological and functional repair endpoints in animal injury models
Route: Intraperitoneal, intragastric, and topical in animal models
Quantity as reported: Reported in animal models as µg/kg body weight — not translatable to humans
Frequency: Varies by model

Result. Consistent positive findings across rodent models. Reporting is heavily concentrated in a small number of research groups.

Adverse events. Not systematically characterised in humans.

Limitations. No adequate published human efficacy trials. Concentration of findings within a limited set of groups reduces independent replication. Animal dosing does not translate to human quantities.

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Systematic reviewHuman Identifier verified

Peptide therapeutics in musculoskeletal medicine: a review of the evidence

Multiple · American Journal of Sports Medicine · 2026

Population: Review of the published literature on peptides marketed for musculoskeletal use
Endpoint: State of the evidence for musculoskeletal indications

Result. Concludes that no clinical data support the use of GHK-Cu for musculoskeletal conditions, that CJC-1295 and ipamorelin synergy data is murine only, that tesamorelin has no supporting orthopaedic evidence, and that for the class generally the indications, amounts, frequency and duration of treatment remain unknown.

Adverse events. Not an outcome of the review.

Limitations. A narrative review, not a meta-analysis. It is catalogued because it is the most recent peer-reviewed statement of how thin this evidence base is, and because it is the counterweight to every vendor page that implies otherwise.

PMID41476424 DOI10.1177/03635465251357593

Last evidence review: 2026-08-23

Musculoskeletal Recovery Research

XInsufficient / conflictingVery low confidenceNo human evidence

Human safety of BPC-157 is not characterised.

What is not established

This is an absence of data. Absence of reported harm in an unstudied compound is not evidence of safety.

Last evidence review: 2026-08-23

Human evidence

2 human studies catalogued

Human and non-human evidence are kept strictly separate. They are never pooled, averaged, or presented as a single body of support.

Pharmacokinetic studyHumanIdentifier pending verification

Phase 1 pilot study in healthy volunteers to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics of PCO-02, whose active ingredient is BPC-157

PharmaCotherapia d.o.o. · Not published · 2015 · n = 42

Population: Healthy volunteers, single site, Hospital Angeles, Tijuana
Endpoint: Safety and pharmacokinetics
Route: Oral
Quantity as reported: Single administrations of 1, 3 or 6 tablets, each containing 1 mg; the repeated-dose phase used 3 tablets every 8 hours
Frequency: Single, then every 8 hours
Duration: 2 weeks

Result. No results have been posted. The registry status is Unknown and the trial has not been published.

Adverse events. Not reported.

NCTNCT02637284

Systematic reviewHuman Identifier verified

Peptide therapeutics in musculoskeletal medicine: a review of the evidence

Multiple · American Journal of Sports Medicine · 2026

Population: Review of the published literature on peptides marketed for musculoskeletal use
Endpoint: State of the evidence for musculoskeletal indications

Adverse events. Not an outcome of the review.

PMID41476424 DOI10.1177/03635465251357593

Preclinical evidence

Animal and in-vitro research

Kept separate deliberately. Most preclinical findings do not translate to humans, and animal quantities expressed per kilogram do not convert to human quantities by simple arithmetic.

Animal studyAnimalNo verified identifier on file

Preclinical literature on BPC-157 and tendon, ligament, and gastrointestinal repair

Multiple research groups (predominantly Sikiric and colleagues) · Various preclinical journals · 2023

Population: Rodent injury models (tendon transection, ligament, colitis, and others)
Endpoint: Histological and functional repair endpoints in animal injury models
Route: Intraperitoneal, intragastric, and topical in animal models
Quantity as reported: Reported in animal models as µg/kg body weight — not translatable to humans
Frequency: Varies by model

Result. Consistent positive findings across rodent models. Reporting is heavily concentrated in a small number of research groups.

Adverse events. Not systematically characterised in humans.

Search PubMed for this literature →

Pharmacology

Reported parameters

Half-life

Not characterised

Human pharmacokinetics are not adequately characterised in the published literature. Any specific half-life figure circulating online should be treated with scepticism.

Routes studied

Intraperitoneal (animal)
Intragastric (animal)
Topical (animal)

Evidence from one route does not transfer to another. Topical, oral, and injected administration can produce entirely different exposure from the same quantity.

Regulatory status

Not approved for human use in the United States. The regulatory position moved twice in 2026 and neither move is an approval. FDA removed BPC-157 from the Category 2 list (substances raising significant safety risks) effective 22 April 2026, after the original nominators withdrew their nominations. On 23-24 July 2026 the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee then voted favourably, by a narrow margin and over the objection of FDA's own reviewers, to include it on the 503A bulks list. FDA is not bound by that vote and has not acted on it. The practical effect is a compound that is no longer flagged as a significant safety risk, is not authorised for compounding, and remains unapproved. Material sold as 'research use only' is not a compounded product and this history does not apply to it.

Storage as documented

No approved labelling exists. Handling guidance in circulation is not from a regulatory source.

Safety

Signals reported in the literature

This lists what has been reported. It is not a complete safety profile, and for several compounds in this catalogue no systematic safety surveillance exists at all.

Human safety is not characterised — this is an absence of data, not a finding of safety
No systematic adverse-event surveillance exists for non-clinical use

Interactions

Register entries involving this compound

bpc-157 ↔ any medication

Interaction cannot be meaningfully assessed for a compound whose human pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and elimination pathways are not established. No qualifying interaction evidence exists in either direction.

Limitations. The absence of documented interactions here reflects an absence of study, not an absence of risk.

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Limitations

What the evidence cannot tell you

Given as much prominence as the findings, because for most compounds in this category it is the more important half.

No adequate published human efficacy trials
Findings concentrated within a limited number of research groups, reducing independent replication
Animal quantities in µg/kg do not translate to human quantities
Oral, injected, and topical routes are not equivalent and are frequently conflated

Reference

Evidence grading key

AStrong

Multiple high-quality human trials, or strong systematic-review or meta-analytic evidence.

BModerate

Human controlled evidence exists, but replication or sample size is limited.

CPreliminary

Small human studies, observational evidence, or early-phase clinical work.

DPreclinical

Predominantly animal or in-vitro evidence. No adequate human outcome data.

EMechanistic

Biological plausibility or mechanistic reasoning without adequate outcome evidence.

XInsufficient / conflicting

Evidence is absent, irreconcilable, or too weak to support any directional statement.

Other compounds studied in the same research areas

TB-500 / Thymosin beta-4

Frequently marketed as interchangeable with thymosin beta-4. It is not. TB-500 is a fragment, and most of the research concerns the full-length protein.