The marketing of what are loosely referred to as “regenerative peptides” including BPC-157 makes many health claims. Yet I can’t see that any have been conclusively proven to work in people.
Even so, RFK Jr. claimed that the FDA was suppressing useful peptides. He mentioned this along with supposed suppression of “stem cells”. So maybe he meant regenerative peptides?
Let’s fact-check BPC-157 and this peptide arena more generally.
What is BPC-157 | FDA & regenerative peptides | Warning letters | Risks | Regenerative peptides overall | Delivery & overall take-home | References
What is BPC-157
BPC-157 is a 15-amino acid peptide secreted in the GI tract. The name stands for “Body Protection Compound 157.”
The peptide sequence I’ve seen most often for it is Gly-Glu-Pro-Pro-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ala-Asp-Asp-Ala-Gly-Leu-Val.
It is widely available as a supplement and from compounding pharmacies as are other supposed regenerative peptides.
These peptides supposedly can do all kinds of good stuff. The marketing even sometimes claims BPC-157 and other peptides have beneficial effects on stem cells or regeneration.
Where are the data to back this stuff up? How about research papers?
As of early 2025, there are 192 papers on just BPC-157 on PubMed. The number surprised me. What I hadn’t realized is that research on BPC-157 has been ongoing for more than 30 years. Its popularity seems to have exploded recently though.
Professor and podcaster Andrew Huberman covered peptides including BPC-157 in a recent video. It’s a good resource, although I don’t place as much emphasis on anecdotes.
He also notes that there is almost zero human data on this peptide. I only found one trial on Clinicaltrials.gov and it’s not clear if any solid data were produced. A PubMed search limited to clinical trial pubs found no results.
The FDA on regenerative peptides
What about the FDA and regenerative peptides? Could they be drugs?
Only the agency makes such determinations, but some of the health claims combined with the nature of these peptides raise the question: could they cross the line from supplements into biological drug territory? Things are very gray on this at the moment.
An FDA bulletin, Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks, mentions BPC-157. From the bulletin:
“Compounded drugs containing BPC-157 may pose risk for immunogenicity for certain routes of administration and may have complexities with regard to peptide-related impurities and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) characterization. FDA has identified no, or only limited, safety-related information for the proposed routes of administration. Therefore, the agency lacks sufficient information to know whether the drug would cause harm when administered to humans.”
The agency has classified the product as 503A, a vague category for non-mass-produced compounded products.
FDA warning letters that mention BPC-157
I found three FDA warning letters mentioning this peptide.
- Warrior Labz SARMS
- Advanced Nutriceuticals, LLC dba The Guyer Institute of Molecular Medicine
- Predator Nutrition
The one to Warrior Labz says this:
“Your “RAD-140 Testolone,” “MK-677 Ibutamoren,” “MK-2866 Ostarine,” “LGD-4033 Ligandrol,” “19-Nor Andro,” “4-Andro,” “BPC-157,” “TB-500,” “Viagra-Max Sildenafil,” and “Cialis-Max Tadalafil” products are not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced uses and, therefore, are “new drugs” under section 201(p) of the FD&C Act, 21 U.S.C. 321(p). “
So maybe it can be a drug requiring premarket approval from the agency?
Part of the drug definition may relate to marketed uses in certain health conditions. Note that the FDA has approved many peptide drugs over the years more generally including insulin.
Now that Kennedy leads HHS, which oversees the FDA, how will the agency view these “regenerative” peptides moving forward? State that they aren’t drugs?
Possible BPC-157 risks including tumors
Taking these peptides will pose risks.
The USADA or anti-doping agency has banned BPC-157. The agency notes specific risks too. Some athletes have been banned for its use.
On the web, some users of this peptide have wondered about possible excess angiogenesis as a side effect. Since there is so much discussion of this peptide and angiogenesis, there could be increased cancer risk if this was taken regularly.
There are many other potential risks since this peptide has not been proven to be safe in humans.
Regenerative peptides in general
As a molecular biologist, I think of peptides broadly as any of potentially almost unlimited molecules consisting of various relatively short amino acid sequences. Of course, “peptides” have all kinds of activities. However, they aren’t necessarily good or bad. You have to do research to prove potential benefits and safety.
Despite the unknowns, regenerative peptides, sometimes just called “peptides” seem to be one of the hottest things out there among alternative health folks and unproven clinics. Maybe more popular than platelet-rich plasma or PRP. However, unlike these peptides, PRP has been studied extensively in humans and has a strong safety profile overall, although it’s not risk-free.
Interestingly, GHK-Cu, another peptide claimed to have regenerative properties and be light-inducible, is also on the FDA compounding list.
Delivery & overall take-home
These peptides are typically injected, either systemically or locally in muscle.
How systemic peptides could help a local injury is unclear.
Taking peptides orally such as in tablet form seems less likely to do much good. Some may be digested to inactivity, while others may just not be absorbed well.
What’s my overall fact-check and review of BPC-157? It’s too risky, especially given the lack of research in people. Anecdotes are not enough to support its use and could be swayed by the placebo effect. I feel the same about the other popular peptides out there.
Unfortunately, given the costs that go into clinical trials and the fact that potentially hundreds of thousands of people are already taking these peptides (so there’s already a market driving profit), there’s a strong possibility that a new robust clinical trial may never be done on BPC-157.
References
- The USADA or anti-doping agency statement
- FDA bulletin, Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks
- PubMed list of papers
- This is not medical advice. Talk to your physician before taking peptides or other biologics like PRP, stem cells, etc.
I have tried topical bpc 157 for recalcitrant tendinitis of my rotator cuff and my PT foot tendon. I must say I have excellent results in both, I work out and also have spoken with professional body builders and this is a well known and very well received modality for healing injuries. However they use the injectable and in conjunction with TB500.
Does the topical product have something in it to get the bpc through the skin into the tissue?
This is purely speculative, but I’m finding some patterns here. It appears the traditional thought of “proven” is failing regenerative medicine. Why? Because proven, at least from a drug standpoint, requires 100s of millions if not billions to fund a clinical trial per drug.
That process is well-thought out over generations to keep patients safe, it’s a good thing.
However, the only companies that can afford this are going to be big pharma manufacturers. And they’re happy to shell that out, because that drug can then be patented, and they make more than their money back.
You can’t patent an umbilical cord, and although BPC 157 isn’t a naturally occurring sequence, I don’t think it’s patentable outside of innovating the manufacturing process. You can certainly dish out a billion dollars to study these things, and that’d be amazing, but if there’s no upside, there’s no motivation to do so. If company A does this, company B will use that study to sell virtually the same product, without a billion dollar investment.
On the other side, for how popular it’s becoming and how many reputable doctors prescribe it and anecdotes there are about it’s magic healing powers, I don’t see why there aren’t 10-50 person case series’ at least. The cart is before the horse. Laziness? Pseudoscience? Something else?
It’s clear that patients are suffering and there aren’t answers. You can smell it in the demand for everything in this industry, but this traditional “proven” system IMHO hasn’t caught up to today’s technology, and it’s created a breeding ground for bad actors.
If my speculation is right, it’s all very odd. The more I learn, the more puzzled I become.