BPC-157_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as Body Protection Compound 157, Pentadecapeptide BPC 157, PL 14736, BPC-157 with Arginine Salt, BPC-157 Arginine Salt
A popular healing peptide for injuries, gut, and joint or tendon pain.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is BPC-157?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It seems to speed up your body's own repair signals. That is true especially for blood vessels and connective tissue, which is why people use it after injuries. Almost all of the evidence is from animals.
BPC-157 is a synthetic chain of 15 amino acids based on a protective protein found in stomach acid.
What it's used for
A popular healing peptide people use to bounce back faster from injuries, gut problems, and joint or tendon pain. It is a favorite for recovery.
How does BPC-157 work?
What it does in the body, and where.BPC-157 is a 15-amino-acid chain based on a protective protein found in stomach acid. It is one of the most widely used peptides here and one of the least studied in humans.
- 01It appears to promote new blood vessel growthMore blood supply to an injured area means more oxygen and more of the material repair requires.
- 02Repair signaling steps upIn animals it accelerates healing in tendon, muscle, gut lining, and nerve, which is a broader range than most repair compounds.
- 03Almost all of this is from ratsThe healing figures quoted online come from rodent studies. There is no completed human trial establishing that any of it transfers.
What else is it used for?
Each group carries its own evidence level.Approved means regulators have cleared it for that purpose. Investigational means it is in trials. Early research means it is being studied and is not established.
Tendon, muscle, and bone healing
Research only- Animal studyIn rats with a surgically cut Achilles tendon, healing was faster and the repaired tendon was mechanically stronger.
- Animal studyIn rats, it improved reattachment of tendon to bone on functional, mechanical, and microscopic measures.
- Lab studyIn lab dishes, it sped the outgrowth of tendon cells and increased their migration in a dose-dependent way.
- Lab studyIn cultured rat tendon cells it increased growth-hormone-receptor expression, which is the proposed mechanism.
Gut healing
Research only- human-earlyA related compound (PL 14736, also called PL-10 and PLD-116) was studied in early human trials for inflammatory bowel disease in the early 2000s. The phase II ulcerative colitis results were presented at a conference in 2005 but never published as a full paper, and the company dropped the program.
- No dataThe version sold online has no completed published human efficacy trials for any use.
Croatian PL 14736 / PL-10 / PLD-116 programme. Phase 1 abstract, Gut 2003;51 Suppl III:A309. Phase II ulcerative colitis enema abstract, Gastroenterology 2005;128:A584. Neither was published in full.
Research origin
Research only- No dataA 2026 review counted authorship across the BPC-157 literature and found that more than 80% of published studies trace to a single university group in Croatia.
The tendon-healing claims you see everywhere trace back to rat studies, not human trials. No completed human efficacy trial has been published for any use.
Pharmaceutics 2026, 18(5):625.
The published record
Papers and trials about BPC-157
Searched: BPC-157, Body Protection Compound 157, Pentadecapeptide BPC 157, PL 14736.
58 papers tagged human · 24 not reviews or lab · 0 clinical trial publications
4 registered trials · none with posted results
Furthest stage reached: Phase 2, under way
Compare this against the whole library →
Use evaluated: ulcerative colitisRegulatorsCounted from Europe PMC indexing, not read by a person; a human tag can land on reviews, commentary or lab papers; clinical trial publications is the narrower count.
At a glance
Four things to know about BPC-157
Evidence
Category
Healing and recovery
Common vial
10 mg
Half-life
About 8 to 30 minutes in rats
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.0.25 up to 0.5 mg per dose (start low, increase slowly), 1-2x daily. Commonly run in 4 to 8 week blocks around an injury, then stopped Community practice
The block length is a community convention tied to how long a soft-tissue injury takes to settle. No human study has tested a duration, and none has looked at what long-term use does, so there is no evidence either that a break is needed or that it is safe to skip one.
About 8 to 30 minutes in ratsAnimal study
No human half-life has been published. The figures repeated online come from rat studies given intravenously and intramuscularly.
Not yet traced to a primary source.
You can compare this against the whole library to see where it sits.
How do I dose and price it?
Enter your vial and your dose. Pick a mix. We show the draw and the cost.The vial holds a fixed amount of drug. Adding more water does not make more drug, it just spreads it thinner, so you draw a bigger number on the syringe for the same dose.
Choose your mix
Measuring the water1 mL = one full 100-unit syringe.
BPC-157 starts at $17.04 across 191 vendors, typically $3.50 – $9.99 per mg.
584 listings, last read Oct 24, 2026. Shipping and card fees are not included.
How do you store it?
Before mixing, and after.Dry powder in the freezer or fridge. Once mixed, fridge, and use within about a month.
Unmixed lyophilized BPC-157 keeps for a long time cold. Once you add water the clock starts: most reconstituted vials hold up for roughly 28 to 30 days at fridge temperature. Keep it out of light, and do not freeze it after mixing.
What are the side effects and cautions?
Known cautions and warnings for this compound.Our mood guide examines reports of anxiety and low mood.
Solubility, computed: 40% charged residues, 53% hydrophobic. Water usually sufficient.
A first-pass rule from peptide manufacturers' guidance. It does not account for disulfide bridges, salt form or how the powder was dried, and it predicts what should be easy rather than what will happen in your vial.
Who should avoid it
- Active cancer, as a precaution given that it promotes new blood-vessel growth
- Pregnancy
- Banned in drug-tested sport
Stop and get help
- Signs of an allergic reaction
- New lumps or masses
Common effects
- Generally well tolerated in the limited data that exists
- Injection-site reactions
- Almost all evidence is from animals, so the human profile is not established
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is BPC-157 approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.No. BPC-157 is not approved for any use, anywhere. It is sold labeled for laboratory research only, and there is no legal route to buy it for human use.
Our news guide explains whether pharmacies can compound it and what the reported stopgap would mean.
- Approval statusResearch only
- RouteUnder the skin, into muscle, or by mouth
- Checked9 October 2026
- DoseFrom community reports. No regulator or trial established this dose.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- Sources
What has happened recently
Not eligible for compounding under Section 503A: no monograph, not a component of an approved drug, not on the Bulks List. Previously in Category 2; the nomination was withdrawn. An FDA advisory committee recommended inclusion on July 23-24, 2026; that recommendation is non-binding and no rule has taken effect. The use the FDA evaluated: Ulcerative colitis. Evaluation is not approval; if listed, the listed use would define what a pharmacy could compound it for.
What regulators say
From official documentsFDA staff proposed not adding to the 503A bulks list
Free base and acetate. The nomination had been withdrawn; FDA elected to present it to the committee anyway
Checked 22 September 2026FDA: FDA Briefing Document, Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting of July 23 to 24, 2026: introduction and FDA proposalsNo USP or NF drug substance monograph; not a component of an approved drug
FDA also stated the nomination lacked information on critical attributes for proposed dosage forms including transdermal cream, oral capsule and rectal suppository, and on the container closure system for the nasal spray
Checked 22 September 2026FDA: FDA presentation to the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee, July 23, 2026: BPC-157-related bulk drug substancesConsidered at the July 23, 2026 session
Checked 22 September 2026FDA: July 23 to 24, 2026 meeting of the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee: meeting materialsNominated but withdrawn; previously category 2 (503A)
Placed in category 2 September 29, 2023; nomination later withdrawn. FDA still lists an immunogenicity risk and no or limited safety information. Not in category 1: not eligible for 503A compounding
Checked 11 September 2026FDA: Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks (category 2 and withdrawn nominations), current as of April 22, 2026Use evaluated: ulcerative colitis
Checked 22 September 2026FDA: Federal Register notice of April 16, 2026: Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting, bulk drug substances nominated for the 503A listProhibited at all times, in and out of competition. S0 Non-approved substances: named as an example. Specified Substance.
Checked 12 September 2026WADA: The 2026 Prohibited List (in force 1 January 2026)
Banned in drug-tested sport. Most research peptides are prohibited under WADA's S0 category, which covers any substance with no approval from any regulatory authority for human use. That means a compound can be banned without ever being named on the prohibited list. Check with your own anti-doping authority rather than assuming absence from the list means permitted.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like BPC-157?
Others in Healing and recovery, side by side.If you're weighing BPC-157, it's worth reading TB-500 / Thymosin Beta-4, KPV, and BPC-157 + TB-500 in the same class.
A popular healing peptide for injuries, gut, and joint or tendon pain.
- Dose
- 0.25 up to 0.5 mg per dose (start low, increase slowly)
- How often
- 1-2x daily
A recovery peptide for healing muscle and tendon, often paired with BPC-157.
- Dose
- 2 up to 2.5 mg per injection (start low, increase slowly)
- How often
- Twice a week
A tiny anti-inflammatory peptide for gut and skin, with no tanning effect.
- Dose
- 0.2 up to 0.5 mg per day (start low, increase slowly)
- How often
- Daily, 4-8 wk courses
The two best-known healing peptides in one shot, at a ratio that changes by vendor.
- Dose
- 0.25 up to 0.5 mg BPC-157 per day (the TB-500 follows your ratio)
- How often
- Varies
Compared with
Both are sold for tendon and muscle repair. BPC-157's human trials were enemas for ulcerative colitis, and TB-500's trials did not even use TB-500.
Read comparison →BPC-157's Phase 2 results were never published. KPV has no human trial; neither was tested as an injection for the uses it is sold for.
Read comparison →Guides for this compound
- How to Reconstitute a Peptide
Mix peptide powder with bacteriostatic water, step by step.
- How to Read an Insulin Syringe
Read the units, convert to millilitres, and draw the exact dose.
- mcg vs mg: The Peptide Dosing Mistake to Avoid
Your vial says mg and your protocol says mcg. Here is the conversion and how to check it.
- What Is the Wolverine Stack?
The two-compound blend, the four-patient case series, and what sellers charge.
- BPC-157 and TB-500: What the Healing Pair Actually Is
They are different molecules, taken on different schedules, and one of them is not the molecule its research belongs to.
Sources
- FDA, bulk substances that may present significant safety risks(2026)FDA list of substances flagged as possible safety risks for compounding.
- FDA, bulk drug substances used in compounding under 503A(2026)FDA overview of substances permitted in pharmacy compounding.
- Rat tendon-to-bone study, PubMed, 2006
- Tendon fibroblast mechanism, Journal of Applied Physiology
- FDA, Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee meeting, July 23-24, 2026(2026)FDA meeting page listing the bulk drug substances reviewed and the uses considered.
Beyond these, 244 records are indexed. Browse the records
For oral products, see capsules and the salt forms, including what sellers disclose about arginate and acetate.
Read our guide to the UCLA review of BPC-157 evidence and the registered trials.
Sold with TB-500? See why it is sold with TB-500.