Octreotide (Sandostatin)_Dosage, benefits & legal status
Also known as Sandostatin, Sandostatin LAR, Mycapssa, Bynfezia, SMS 201-995, octreotide acetate
An approved hormone blocker since 1988: it lowers growth hormone instead of raising it.
Common vial size is what vendors typically sell, not a recommendation. Enter your own vial in the calculator.
What is Octreotide (Sandostatin)?
Plain language first. The technical label stays, but it never stands alone.Overview
It lowers growth hormone and IGF-1 in acromegaly, and it calms the flushing and diarrhoea caused by some hormone-secreting tumours. It comes as a short-acting injection, a monthly depot and, since 2020, an oral capsule.
Octreotide is a synthetic eight-residue ring peptide that copies somatostatin, the body's off-switch for several hormones. Sandoz first described it in 1982 as SMS 201-995; it was FDA-approved in 1988 as Sandostatin and is now made by many generic manufacturers.
What it's used for
A prescription hormone blocker for acromegaly and for carcinoid and VIPoma tumour symptoms. It suppresses growth hormone, the opposite of the GH-boosting peptides.
How does Octreotide (Sandostatin) work?
What it does in the body, and where.Octreotide is a cut-down, ring-shaped copy of somatostatin that lasts about 1.7 hours in the blood, against 1 to 3 minutes for the natural hormone.
- 01Somatostatin receptorsIt binds subtype 2 most tightly (IC50 about 0.4 nM), subtypes 5 and 3 more weakly, and subtypes 1 and 4 hardly at all, according to a binding table in a Novartis trial protocol.
- 02Growth hormone switched offGrowth hormone cells in the pituitary carry these receptors, so growth hormone release falls and IGF-1 falls with it. The label calls it an even more potent inhibitor of growth hormone, glucagon and insulin than somatostatin itself.
- 03Gut hormones and blood flowIt also cuts serotonin, gastrin, VIP and other gut hormones and reduces blood flow to the gut. This is why it eases tumour-driven flushing and diarrhoea.
A schematic of the compound's mechanism, not a diagnostic image.
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.
Acromegaly
FDA-approved- Human trialTwo long-term depot trials (88 completers) and a 122-person trial: growth hormone below 2.5 ng/mL in 47 to 69% and IGF-1 normal in 41 to 67%, with the depot and the injection performing similarly.
- Human trialIn open-label studies of newly diagnosed patients, median pituitary tumour volume fell 20.6 to 24.5% at 24 weeks and 36.2% at 48 weeks.
- Human trialOral capsules (OPTIMAL, 56 people already controlled on injections): 58% stayed controlled over 9 months against 19% on placebo; a quarter needed rescue injections.
Tumour symptoms and growth
FDA-approved- Human trial93 people with carcinoid syndrome over 6 months: daily stools fell from about 4 to 5 to under 3 and flushes from about 6 to 1 on the depot. 35 to 40% each month needed extra short-acting injections.
- Human trialPROMID, 85 people with midgut tumours: time to progression 14.3 months against 6 on placebo. Survival benefit was not confirmed.
- RegulatoryThe US labels say tumour shrinkage was not shown in trials. Slowing tumour growth is an EU indication, not a US one.
Weight loss
tested-and-failed- Human trial172 adults with obesity on the depot for 6 months lost under 2% more than placebo, and the share losing 5% did not differ from placebo.
- Human trial18 children with obesity after brain injury: weight rose 1.6 kg on octreotide against 9.1 kg on placebo over 6 months. This is less weight gain in a rare condition, not weight loss.
It is sometimes grouped with growth hormone peptides as if it raised growth hormone. It does the reverse: the label calls it an even more potent inhibitor of growth hormone than somatostatin, the pharmacological opposite of sermorelin, tesamorelin, ipamorelin and MK-677. It is not a weight-loss drug: the best adult trial found under 2% placebo-adjusted loss. The US labels do not claim it shrinks tumours; PROMID showed slower progression in midgut tumours, and that indication exists in the EU, not the US. Mycapssa is approved only for acromegaly maintenance, not tumour symptoms. Bynfezia's 2020 approval was rescinded, and the current approval dates from September 2024.
The published record
Papers and trials about Octreotide (Sandostatin)
375 papers tagged human · 212 not reviews or lab · 44 clinical trial publications
327 registered trials · 25 with posted results
Furthest stage reached: Approved in the US
Counted 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. 499 papers and 100 trials indexed in detail.
At a glance
Four things to know about Octreotide (Sandostatin)
Evidence
FDA-approved
Category
Sexual and hormonal
Common vial
Varies
Half-life
About 1.7 to 1.9 hours (injection)
How much, and do you cycle it?
The range, and whether you take breaks.50 to 500 mcg three times daily, or a 10 to 40 mg monthly depot (label), two to four times daily, or every 4 weeks (depot). Continuous, set by the prescription FDA label
Taken long term as prescribed. The label's one planned break is for people who had pituitary radiation: they stop for about four weeks each year to check whether they still need it.
About 1.7 to 1.9 hours (injection)FDA label
Longer in older adults (up 46%), kidney impairment (2.4 to 3.1 hours) and cirrhosis (3.7 hours). Its action lasts up to 12 hours. The oral capsule's half-life is 2.7 hours in healthy people and 3.2 to 4.5 hours at steady state in acromegaly. The monthly depot releases slowly and plateaus at 2 to 3 weeks.
Source: Sandostatin prescribing information section 12.3 (2024); Mycapssa prescribing information section 12.3
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.
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 Octreotide (Sandostatin) 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.Solubility, computed: 38% charged residues, 62% 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
- Known sensitivity to octreotide or any ingredient, the only contraindication on the injection label (the depot label lists none)
- Children under 2: low oxygen, necrotising enterocolitis and deaths have been reported
- Existing gallbladder disease, since most long-term users develop gallbladder changes
- Slow heart rate or heart conduction problems, especially with IV use
- Use to suppress growth hormone without a diagnosed condition: no trial supports it, and the side effects below still apply
Stop and get help
- Severe pain under the right ribs, fever or yellowing skin, possible gallstone complications
- Severe stomach pain spreading to your back, since pancreatitis has been reported
- Fainting, dizziness or a very slow pulse
- Shakiness, sweating and confusion (low blood sugar), or great thirst and frequent urination (high blood sugar)
Common effects
- Diarrhoea, loose stools, nausea or stomach discomfort in 34 to 61% of acromegaly patients on the injection, and 5 to 10% in tumour patients
- Gallbladder changes in 63% of acromegaly patients on long-term injections, including gallstones in 27%
- Heart rate below 50 in 25% of acromegaly patients
- Raised blood sugar in 16% and low thyroid in 12%
- Pain at the injection site in 14% on the monthly depot
Where this page says nothing is established, that means nobody has studied it, not that a compound is safe.
Is Octreotide (Sandostatin) approved?
And where the numbers on this page come from.Yes. Octreotide (Sandostatin) is FDA approved and available on prescription in the United States. It is approved in European Union, but not in the United States.
- Approval statusFDA-approved
- RouteUnder the skin or into a vein, a monthly depot into muscle, or by mouth
- Checked11 October 2026
- Approved outside the USEuropean Union: Sandostatin LAR is authorised in EU countries through national procedures, with indications harmonised in June 2014: acromegaly, symptoms of hormone-secreting gut tumours, advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumours and TSH-secreting pituitary tumours. Also approved in the US.This does not change the United States position above.
- DoseFrom the drug label. The manufacturer tested this range and a regulator reviewed it.
- Vial sizeFrom what vendors typically list; not a recommendation.
- SourcesSandostatin injection prescribing information (2024)Sandostatin LAR Depot prescribing information (2024)Mycapssa prescribing information (2024)FDA, Bynfezia other action lettersFDA GSRS codes, octreotide (UNII RWM8CCW8GP)Rinke A et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology 2009 (PROMID)Lustig RH et al., International Journal of Obesity 2006EMA, Sandostatin LAR referral
What has happened recently
FDA-approved on 21 October 1988 as Sandostatin injection (NDA 019667). The monthly Sandostatin LAR Depot followed on 25 November 1998, and Mycapssa oral capsules on 26 June 2020 for acromegaly maintenance only. Bynfezia Pen was approved in January 2020, had that approval rescinded on 19 May 2021, and was approved again on 27 September 2024. Generic injections come from about a dozen makers, and generic depots from Teva (December 2023) and Mylan (December 2025). Mycapssa's EU licence was withdrawn at the holder's request in February 2025.
You can compare this against the whole library, or read how to check a seller.
What else is like Octreotide (Sandostatin)?
Others in Sexual and hormonal, side by side.If you're weighing Octreotide (Sandostatin), it's worth reading PT-142, Terlipressin (Terlivaz), and Toremifene in the same class.
An approved hormone blocker since 1988: it lowers growth hormone instead of raising it.
- Dose
- 50 to 500 mcg three times daily, or a 10 to 40 mg monthly depot (label)
- How often
- Two to four times daily, or every 4 weeks (depot)
A Palatin-style code number with no published compound behind it.
- Dose
- Research only
- How often
- Not established
A hospital-only vasopressin analogue for hepatorenal syndrome, with a boxed warning for fatal respiratory failure.
- Dose
- 0.85 to 1.7 mg every 6 hours (label)
- How often
- Every 6 hours for up to 14 days
A SERM with a boxed warning for a heart rhythm that can kill.
- Dose
- 60 mg per day
- How often
- Daily
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.
Sources
- Sandostatin injection prescribing information (2024)(2024)Indications, dosing, warnings and pharmacokinetics: half-life 1.7 to 1.9 hours; gallbladder abnormalities 63%, bradycardia 25%, hyperglycaemia 16%, hypothyroidism 12% in acromegaly. Tumour benefit not shown in clinical trials.
- Sandostatin LAR Depot prescribing information (2024)(2024)Acromegaly trials: growth hormone below 2.5 ng/mL in 47% and 66%, IGF-1 normal in 51% and 67% on the depot. Carcinoid trial of 93 patients: stools and flushing fell; 35 to 40% a month needed extra short-acting injections.
- Mycapssa prescribing information (2024)(2024)Oral capsule for acromegaly maintenance, 40 to 80 mg a day. OPTIMAL trial: IGF-1 kept normal in 58% against 19% on placebo over 9 months (56 patients). Half-life 2.7 hours oral.
- FDA, Bynfezia other action letters(2025)January 2020 approval rescinded on 19 May 2021, with a complete response letter citing manufacturing facility deficiencies. Approved again on 27 September 2024.
- FDA GSRS codes, octreotide (UNII RWM8CCW8GP)(2026)INN octreotide, CAS 83150-76-9, ATC H01CB02. Free peptide C49H66N10O10S2.
- Rinke A et al., Journal of Clinical Oncology 2009 (PROMID)(2009)Depot 30 mg monthly against placebo in midgut neuroendocrine tumours, 85 patients: median time to progression 14.3 against 6 months (HR 0.34).
- Lustig RH et al., International Journal of Obesity 2006(2006)172 adults with obesity, depot 20 to 60 mg against placebo for 6 months: placebo-adjusted weight change about -2% at most; 5% responders not significantly different from placebo.
- EMA, Sandostatin LAR referral(2014)Nationally authorised in the EU; indications harmonised in June 2014, including advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumours and TSH-secreting pituitary adenomas.
Beyond these, 599 records are indexed. Browse the records