Is ______ Peptide Legal?

Three Categories Reviewed:

1. Approved for Compounding

These are active ingredients in FDA-approved drugs or have a recognized monograph, making them legal for pharmacies to compound.

First 5 are for weight loss:

  • Liraglutide
  • Semaglutide
  • Sermorelin
  • Tesamorelin
  • Tirzepatide

——-

  • GHK-Cu (skin benefits – approved for Topical only)
  • NAD+ – mitochondria / energy / inflammation

2. Legal to Purchase / Not allowed for Compounding

See Update 4/15/26 below, peptides removed from Category 2 are crossed out below.

This category is legal to purchase for research purposes but have not been approved for compounding in a pharmacy.

What it typically means is they don’t have enough information or that no application has been made.

The reason you may see a few of them available at compounding pharmacies is likely because they are operating under State-level interpretations, but they are not Federally approved for compounding.

  • 5-Amino-1MQ – Fat cell metabolism / energy / mitochondria
  • AOD-9604
  • ARA-290 – Nerve pain & regeneration
  • BPC-157
  • CJC-1295
  • Dihexa
  • DSIP – Delta Sleep Inducing Peptide
  • Epitalon – anti-aging / circadian rhythm
  • GHK-Cu (Injectable)
  • Ipamorelin
  • KPV – anti inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial, mast cell calming
  • Larazotide
  • LL37
  • Melanotan I & II
  • MOTS-c (we prefer NAD+)
  • P-21
  • PEG-MGF
  • Selank – anti anxiety
  • Semax
  • Thymogen Alpha 1 – immune system regulation
  • Thymosin Alpha-1
  • TB4 Frag / Thymosin Beta-4 / TB-500 – tissue healing
  • Organ Bioregulators (Adrenals, Bladder, Blood Vessels, Bone Marrow, Brain, Cartilage, Eyes, Heart, Kidneys, Liver, Lungs, Muscle, Ovaries, Pancreas, Parathyroid, Pineal Gland, Prostate, Retina, Stomach, Testes, Thymus, Thyroid)
  • Other Peptides not listed but mentioned on this page

3. FDA Banned / Illegal to Purchase

These are specific investigational or counterfeit substances that the FDA has targeted with Import Alerts or Warning Letters, making their sale illegal even when labeled for research.

  • Retatrutide
  • Cagrilintide
  • Counterfeit GLP-1s (Any generic version of a patented drug sourced from unverified foreign suppliers)

April 2026 Update:

On April 15, 2026 the FDA updated the 503A Categories list – removing all of the below peptides from Category 2:

BPC-157, KPV, TB-500, MOTS-c, DSIP, Semax, Epitalon, GHK-Cu (injectable), LL-37, Dihexa, PEG-MGF, and Melanotan II.

• Does this mean we can more openly discuss them on Social Media?

We’ll have to wait and see – it will require the platforms updating their algorithms. 🙏🏼

March 2026 Update:

As of March 3, 2026, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 14 of the 19 peptides currently on the FDA Category 2 list (prohibited for compounding) will be moved to Category 1 (allowable) in the coming weeks.

While the official FDA list is still pending finalization, industry experts and reports from the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding identify the following as the primary candidates for re-approval:

  1. BPC-157
  2. CJC-1295
  3. Ipamorelin
  4. Thymosin Alpha-1
  5. Thymosin Beta-4 (TB-500)
  6. AOD-9604
  7. Sermorelin
  8. GHK-Cu
  9. PT-141 (Bremelanotide)
  10. MK-677 (Ibutamoren)
  11. Epitalon
  12. Kisspeptin-10
  13. KPV
  14. Dihexa

For ALL Peptide Content, see the contents on our Resources Page: