Evidence and safety.
What “research use only” means. Everything on this site is sold as a research chemical. Here is what that means in practice.
Six things to know
A research label is not a medicine standard
“Research use only” does not establish that a product has the identity, strength, purity or manufacturing controls expected of an approved medicine. FDA has described peptide-impurity and characterization concerns for some ingredients proposed for compounding. FDA safety review.
A COA answers only the tests it reports
A batch report may document identity or chemical purity, but those results alone do not establish sterility, endotoxin level, correct amount, or suitability for people. Read what was tested, by whom, and for which batch.
Animal and cell results are early evidence
They can help researchers decide what to study next. They cannot show that a peptide benefits people or establish its safety in people.
FDA concerns are substance and route specific
FDA describes potential risks and missing safety information for some peptide ingredients proposed for compounding. These reviews do not establish the safety of a seller’s product or a different route of use. Read FDA’s current page.
Check the current sport rules
WADA’s 2026 list names BPC-157 under S0 and lists several growth-hormone releasing peptides under S2. Prohibition depends on the listed substance and sport rules; athletes should check the current list and therapeutic-use rules. WADA 2026 Prohibited List.
Approval belongs to a specific product and use
Some peptide compounds are active ingredients in prescription medicines. Approval applies to the named pharmaceutical product, its labeled use and route—not automatically to a research vial or another use. How FDA approval works.
What a certificate of analysis tells you
A certificate of analysis (COA) is a lab report on a sample. Check whether it names the batch, identifies the laboratory, and states the methods and results. Identity, chemical purity, amount, sterility and endotoxin are separate questions; a report only answers the tests it documents. Even a batch-specific COA cannot establish that a product is suitable for human use.
How this site rates evidence
Every compound carries a broad evidence category: FDA-approved, approved abroad, human trials, limited human data, animal and laboratory studies, or little research. These categories combine regulatory context with study type; they do not rank effectiveness across compounds or guarantee benefit or safety. Read the source briefing for the exact molecule, route and population. FDA approval applies to a product under its labeled conditions; approved medicines can still have serious risks.
Five questions for each claim
- Identity: Which exact substance and formulation?
- Evidence type: Human trial, observational study, animal/cell experiment, mechanism or unverified report?
- Finding: What outcome changed, against which comparator? Was the main result positive, negative or inconclusive?
- Applicability: Which population, model and route? Does a related-molecule study apply?
- Unknowns: What design limitations, missing data or integrity notices remain?
Regulatory status is recorded separately and is specific to product, indication and jurisdiction. It is not the top rung of an evidence meter. Claim sources and dated corrections appear on compound pages. Review method and limits.
Mixing and measuring
Some products are supplied in vials that require measuring. FDA has documented dosing errors, including hospitalizations, with compounded semaglutide vials; that alert concerns those products and does not describe every peptide. Read the FDA alert. The Measurement basics and calculator page separates arithmetic from historical handling notes. Correct arithmetic does not establish a safe preparation.
How to read the 3D pictures
Each peptide’s page has a Structure section with a real 3D picture, and it says what kind it is. An experimental structure is the peptide itself, measured in a lab. A related structure is a close relative (the natural hormone a drug is copied from, say, or the same molecule inside an enzyme), and the page says in its own sentences how it differs. A computed model is a shape calculated by software, not measured. Where nothing has been measured, the page says so instead of drawing something.
The pictures are drawn here from public data, and nothing is added by hand: a part the experiment could not resolve, such as a drug’s fatty-acid chain, stays missing. Water, ions, lipids and other molecules that were in the experiment but are not the subject are left out so the peptide can be seen, and each picture is framed close to the peptide, so a large protein around it runs off the edge. A structure is one moment in a lab’s artificial conditions. It does not show how a peptide behaves in a body, and it says nothing about whether a peptide works.
Credits. Experimental and related structures come from the RCSB Protein Data Bank (PDB), the free archive of structures measured in experiments (its data are free to use, CC0). Each picture names its entry and links to the paper that reported it. Computed models are 3D conformers from PubChem, each linked to its record. Every picture is drawn with Mol*, free software (MIT license). The two citations the sources ask for:
Berman, H.M., Westbrook, J., Feng, Z., Gilliland, G., Bhat, T.N., Weissig, H., Shindyalov, I.N., Bourne, P.E. The Protein Data Bank. Nucleic Acids Research 28, 235–242 (2000). doi:10.1093/nar/28.1.235 (opens in a new tab)
Sehnal, D., Bittrich, S., Deshpande, M., Svobodová, R., Berka, K., Bazgier, V., Velankar, S., Burley, S.K., Koča, J., Rose, A.S. Mol* Viewer: modern web app for 3D visualization and analysis of large biomolecular structures. Nucleic Acids Research 49, W431–W437 (2021). doi:10.1093/nar/gkab314 (opens in a new tab)
If you are considering any of these
Talk to a physician first.
Some compounds in the catalog are active ingredients in FDA-approved prescription products. Approval covers the labeled product, use and route; FDA also monitors drug safety after approval. A clinician can help you understand whether an approved treatment fits your situation.
See which have an approved medicine