Overview

BPC-157 is a lab-made chain of 15 amino acids based on part of a protein found in human stomach juice. It is popular in sports and wellness circles because many animal studies suggest it helps tendons, muscles, gut lining and other tissues heal. Human research is very thin: a few tiny pilot studies and no completed controlled trials.

How it works

Proposed, not established in humans. Animal and cell studies link BPC-157 to increased new blood vessel growth (VEGFR2 signaling), effects on the nitric oxide system (eNOS), activation of cell-migration pathways (FAK-paxillin) in tendon cells, and increased growth hormone receptor expression in tendon fibroblasts ¹. Reviewers note these findings come largely from one research group and that the pro-angiogenic activity is also a theoretical safety concern ¹².

What research shows

Hundreds of rodent studies, mostly from the Zagreb group, report faster healing of tendon, ligament, muscle, bone, gut and other injuries; independent replication is limited ¹².
Retrospective chart review of knee pain (17 treated, 16 reached for follow-up; mostly one 4 mg intra-articular injection, first 4 patients also got thymosin beta-4): 14 of 16 reported improvement; no control group, subjective outcomes, so effects can't be attributed to BPC-157 ³².
Uncontrolled pilot in interstitial cystitis (n=12 women who had failed pentosan polysulfate; 10 mg total injected into the bladder wall during one cystoscopy): 10 of 12 reported full symptom resolution and no adverse events were reported; no placebo group, single private clinic ⁴.
IV safety pilot (n=2 healthy adults; infusions at doses up to 20 mg): no adverse effects were reported; far too small to establish safety ⁵².
Phase I NCT02637284 (oral tablets, 2015) has no posted results and its registry status is not current; a phase II hamstring-strain trial (NCT07437547) was reportedly registered in February 2026 with no results yet ⁶⁷.

Doses studied in people

Study or label	Dose used	Source
Retrospective knee-pain case series (n=16; uncontrolled)	Single intra-articular knee injection, typically 4 mg (some patients 2-4 mg combined with thymosin beta-4)	³
Uncontrolled pilot, interstitial cystitis (n=12 women)	10 mg total, injected into the bladder wall during a single cystoscopy	⁴
IV safety pilot in healthy adults (n=2)	Intravenous infusion at doses up to 20 mg	⁵

Only tiny uncontrolled pilot studies report human doses; no dose has been shown safe or effective in a controlled trial, and doses circulating online come from rodent extrapolation.

Read this first: these are the amounts given to participants in published studies or written on official prescribing labels, reported for reference. They are not recommendations. Trial doses were chosen for specific patients under medical supervision, and a dose that is safe in one person can be harmful in another.

Weekly protocol

How the schedule looks week by week. Each chart says where it comes from: a prescribing label, a clinical trial, or a protocol commonly reported online.

Commonly reported injection protocol

Commonly reported, not studied

One week

D1D2D3D4D5D6D7

Once daily · Subcutaneous injection

Syringe units (U-100)

Vial Water added

Dose by week

200 mcgwk 1–2

400 mcgwk 3–4

600 mcgwk 5–8

Supplies for one course (estimate)

Counts only. This site does not sell or link to supplies.

Course: 8–12 weeks (some extend to 16)
Note: Not based on human trials; doses are extrapolated from animal studies. Other public guides list 250–500 mcg once or twice daily for 4–6 weeks.
Source: PeptideDosages.com: BPC-157 (5 mg vial) dosage protocol
Also: Peptide Protocol Wiki: BPC-157 dosing protocols

Reference only, not a recommendation. Charts marked "commonly reported" describe what public sources say people use. They have not been tested in trials, and their safety and effect are unknown. Label and trial schedules were set for specific patients under medical supervision. Use the calculator only to understand the arithmetic.

Vial math

Many research vials hold 5 or 10 mg of powder. This table shows how much ends up in each mark on a U-100 insulin syringe for common amounts of added liquid. It is arithmetic only, not a dose.

Vial	Liquid added	Concentration	Per unit (0.01 mL)
5 mg	1 mL	5 mg/mL	50 mcg	Open in calculator
5 mg	2 mL	2.5 mg/mL	25 mcg	Open in calculator
5 mg	3 mL	1.67 mg/mL	16.7 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	1 mL	10 mg/mL	100 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	2 mL	5 mg/mL	50 mcg	Open in calculator
10 mg	3 mL	3.33 mg/mL	33.3 mcg	Open in calculator

More sizes: all vial sizes · How this works: Syringes and units · Reconstitution guide.

Safety

Long-term safety in humans is unknown; the published human exposure is a few dozen people in uncontrolled studies ¹².
FDA has flagged possible immunogenicity (immune reactions) for some routes and says it has little or no safety information for the routes people use ⁸.
Because it promotes blood-vessel growth in animals, reviewers call a tumor-promoting effect a plausible, untested hazard ²; FDA has cited contamination, allergic reaction and tumor-growth concerns ¹³.
FDA reviewers said they could not adequately characterize what "BPC-157" products actually contain, and reviewed three adverse event reports with unclear causation ¹¹.
Gray-market products are sold as "research chemicals" with no quality control; contents and purity are not assured ¹³.

Report side effects of any drug or product to the FDA through MedWatch. For a possible poisoning in the US, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.

Legal status

FDA: Not FDA-approved for any use ¹².
Compounding: Placed in 503A Category 2 (significant safety risks) in 2023; removed from Category 2 around April 22, 2026 after the nomination was withdrawn. Removal does not make it legal to compound under 503A ⁹. On July 23, 2026 FDA's Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted 8-6 (1 abstention) to recommend adding it to the 503A bulks list (reviewed for ulcerative colitis), against FDA staff advice; this is advisory only and rulemaking is required ¹⁰¹¹¹². An "interim access policy" (likely enforcement discretion) was sent to the White House/OMB in mid-October 2026 and had not been issued as of this check ¹²¹³. Update: on October 28, 2026 HHS issued an interim enforcement discretion policy covering BPC-157: HHS does not intend to take action against 503A pharmacies, federal facilities or physicians that compound it under set conditions (patient-specific prescription, FDA-registered ingredient source with a certificate of analysis, single ingredient, adverse-event reporting), limited to injection under the skin or into muscle, by mouth, or on the skin. This is not FDA approval, is non-binding, and applies only until a final rule on the 503A bulks list ¹⁷¹⁸.
Sports (WADA): Prohibited at all times; named as an example under S0 (Non-Approved Substances) on the 2026 list ¹⁴.
Other: Not a DEA-controlled substance. Some state pharmacy boards (e.g. Ohio) have taken enforcement action over compounded BPC-157 ¹⁰.

Rules change often. See Legal status of peptides for how these categories work.

History

Developed by Predrag Sikirić and colleagues at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, from the early 1990s. The drug company Pliva tested it as PL 14736 for inflammatory bowel disease in the early 2000s; only brief abstracts report phase I safety data ². A phase I trial of oral BPC-157 tablets (PCO-02/bepecin) registered in 2015 (NCT02637284) never posted results; reviewers describe it as cancelled ²⁶. FDA placed it in 503A Category 2 in 2023, then moved it off that list in April 2026 after the nomination was withdrawn ⁸⁹.

Common questions

Is BPC-157 FDA-approved?

No. It is not FDA-approved for any use ¹².

Can pharmacies legally compound BPC-157?

FDA moved it off its Category 2 safety-risk list in April 2026, but that removal did not make it legal to compound ⁹. In July 2026 an FDA advisory committee voted 8-6 to recommend allowing it, against FDA staff advice, but the vote is advisory and rulemaking is still required ¹⁰¹¹¹². Update: on October 28, 2026 HHS issued an interim, non-binding policy saying it does not intend to take action against licensed pharmacies, federal facilities or physicians that compound BPC-157 under set conditions, including a patient-specific prescription. This is not FDA approval, and it applies only until a final rule on the 503A bulks list ¹⁷¹⁸.

What does the research on BPC-157 show?

Hundreds of rodent studies, mostly from one group in Zagreb, report faster healing of tendons, muscle, gut and other tissues, with limited independent replication ¹². Human data are limited to a few tiny uncontrolled pilot studies, and a 2015 phase I trial never posted results ³⁴⁵⁶.

What doses were used in human studies?

In uncontrolled studies, a knee-pain case series mostly used one 4 mg knee injection, a bladder study used 10 mg injected once into the bladder wall, and a two-person IV pilot gave up to 20 mg ³⁴⁵. None of these doses has been shown safe or effective in a controlled trial ¹².

What are the safety concerns with BPC-157?

Long-term human safety is unknown, and FDA has flagged possible immune reactions and contamination, allergic reaction and tumor-growth concerns ¹⁸¹³. Because it boosts blood-vessel growth in animals, reviewers call tumor promotion a plausible but untested risk ².

Is BPC-157 banned in sport?

Yes. WADA prohibits it at all times and names it as an example under S0 (Non-Approved Substances) on the 2026 list ¹⁴.

Sold in blends and stacks

BPC-157 + TB-500 GLOW blend KLOW blend Tri-Heal blend

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