BPC-157
Also known as BPC 157, PL-14736, PL 14736, PLD-116, PL-10, Bepecin, pentadecapeptide BPC 157
A 15-amino-acid fragment of a gastric juice protein, studied mostly in rats for tendon and muscle healing. No randomised trial has shown a benefit in people.
BPC-157 is a chain of 15 amino acids corresponding to a partial sequence of a protein found in human gastric juice. It is not an approved medicine in any country. FDA records that BPC-157 is a common name rather than a United States Adopted Name, and that the naming conventions used for it do not follow INN, IUPAC or USAN standards.
What exists in people
No randomised controlled trial has shown that BPC-157 benefits anyone. Two randomised human studies are on record, and only one of them measured whether the compound worked.
That one was reported in 2005 in 53 people with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, using a two-week course of an 80 mg daily enema. The mean change in disease activity index was -3.2 points (95 percent confidence interval -5.58 to -0.82) with BPC-157 and -1.6 points (95 percent confidence interval -3.86 to 0.67) with placebo, an estimated between-group difference of 1.6 points with a confidence interval from -4.84 to 1.62, which crosses zero. It was published only as a conference abstract, it is not indexed in PubMed, and it could be read here solely through FDA's account of it.
The other was a placebo-controlled phase 1 tolerability and pharmacokinetic study reported in 2002 and 2003, with 32 people randomised and 24 given BPC-157 by enema. Headache and flatulence were the most frequent adverse events, with no obvious difference in frequency or severity between BPC-157 and placebo. That study is also an unindexed meeting abstract, read here only through the same FDA document.
Three uncontrolled reports have been published, with 31 participants between them: 17 given an injection into the knee, 12 given injections around the bladder during a single cystoscopy for interstitial cystitis, and 2 given intravenous infusions. All three come from private clinics in Florida, all appeared in the same journal, and all share an author. Each is carried above as a claim at the tier an uncontrolled report can support. The intravenous report concluded that BPC-157 showed no adverse effects and was well tolerated, and that its results showed the safety of BPC-157 in humans. Two people cannot show that.
Four trials are registered on ClinicalTrials.gov and none has posted results: a phase 1 pharmacokinetic study (NCT02637284) whose record has not been updated since December 2015, a phase 2 trial in acute hamstring strain (NCT07437547) recruiting 120 participants with primary completion estimated for February 2027, a phase 1 study in rotator cuff repair (NCT07803250) not yet recruiting, and a completed single-group study of peptide gummies (NCT07752381) with no randomisation and no placebo.
No human pharmacokinetic data exist for the oral, subcutaneous, nasal or transdermal routes, and in both human studies that sampled blood after rectal administration BPC-157 was not detected in plasma.
Where the evidence comes from
A PubMed search on 1 October 2026 returned 231 records for BPC-157, of which 175 list the same author. Most of the healing findings above therefore rest on one research group, and independent replication of the core results has not been published. The work on growth hormone receptors in cultured tendon cells is one of the exceptions. The only systematic review of this literature from an orthopaedic perspective included 36 studies, of which 35 were preclinical and one was the uncontrolled knee report.
On the safety record, FDA states that it identified no case reports associated with BPC-157 published in the literature, and a PubMed search for indexed case reports returned none on 1 October 2026.
On anti-doping status, BPC-157 is named in section S0 of WADA's Prohibited List, the class covering substances with no current approval by any regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use, and it is prohibited at all times rather than in competition only. A 2025 review states in passing that it is not currently listed. The list names it.
What the research shows
Each statement below is labelled with the strongest kind of study supporting it, and links to that study.
- Human case reportInsufficient evidence / Very low confidence
Intra-articular BPC-157 was followed by self-reported improvement in knee pain in a small uncontrolled chart review.
Of 16 patients reached by telephone 6 to 12 months after an injection at one clinic, 14 said their knee pain had improved. There was no comparison group and no objective measurement.
One or a few individual cases. Cannot show whether an effect is general.
- n=17, no control group, no blinding and no objective endpoint.
- Improvement was recalled 6 to 12 months afterwards.
- The only systematic review of this literature reports this study as 7 of 12 patients relieved for more than 6 months, where the paper itself reports 11 of 12 improving in the group given BPC-157 alone. Those may not be the same quantity: the paper asked how long relief lasted, so the review's figure may be the subset passing six months. The full text is paywalled and the point cannot be settled from the abstracts.
- Four of the patients also received thymosin beta-4, so the two cannot be separated.
- Single clinic, and shares an author with the other two published human reports.
- Human case reportInsufficient evidence / Very low confidence
In a single-arm pilot in 12 women with interstitial cystitis who had not responded to pentosan polysulfate, all 12 reported improvement after one set of BPC-157 injections around the bladder.
Twelve women were injected around the inflamed area of the bladder during a single cystoscopy. Ten reported complete resolution of symptoms and two reported about a fifth of their symptoms remaining. With no control group and a condition known for a large placebo response, this cannot show that BPC-157 caused the change.
One or a few individual cases. Cannot show whether an effect is general.
- n=12, single arm, unblinded, one subjective questionnaire.
- Interstitial cystitis has a large documented placebo response.
- Follow-up duration is not stated.
- Same author group as the knee pain and intravenous reports.
- Human case reportInsufficient evidence / Very low confidence
Two adults given intravenous BPC-157 infusions at a private clinic had no change in the blood markers measured, and neither reported a symptom when questioned.
In the only report of intravenous use, two people were infused on two consecutive days and their heart, liver, kidney, thyroid and glucose markers did not change. The authors concluded that this showed the safety of BPC-157 in humans, which two people cannot establish.
One or a few individual cases. Cannot show whether an effect is general.
- n=2, no control group and no blinding.
- Both participants had received intravenous BPC-157 before the study, so neither was a first exposure.
- Markers were measured over three days, which says nothing about longer exposure.
- Single private clinic, and shares an author with the knee pain and interstitial cystitis reports.
- Animal researchSupportive / Low confidence
In rats with a surgically transected Achilles tendon, BPC-157 improved biomechanical, functional, macroscopic and microscopic measures of healing compared with controls.
Wistar rats whose Achilles tendons were cut surgically healed better on every type of assessment used. Nothing equivalent has been measured in a person.
Observed in animals. Animal results frequently fail to replicate in humans.
- Wistar rats, not humans.
- Single laboratory. No independent group has published a replication of the transected-tendon result.
- Animal numbers per group are not stated in the abstract, and the full text was not retrievable.
- Surgical transection is not a model of the overuse tendinopathy most readers are asking about.
- Animal researchSupportive / Low confidence
In rats with a transected medial collateral ligament, BPC-157 improved functional, biomechanical, macroscopic and histological healing over 90 days.
Ligament healing improved in rats given BPC-157 by three different routes. The effect size was similar at doses 1000-fold apart, which argues that the dose-response relationship is not established.
Observed in animals. Animal results frequently fail to replicate in humans.
- Wistar rats, not humans.
- Same research group as most of the BPC-157 literature.
- Equivalent effects were reported at 10 micrograms/kg and at 10 ng/kg, a 1000-fold difference that FDA cites as evidence that dose-response has not been established.
- Animal researchSupportive / Low confidence
In rats with a standardised gastrocnemius crush injury, BPC-157 improved macroscopic, microscopic, functional and serum-enzyme measures of muscle healing over 14 days.
Crushed calf muscle in rats recovered better on several measures. Muscle crush injury in a rat is a controlled laboratory wound, not a sports injury.
Observed in animals. Animal results frequently fail to replicate in humans.
- Wistar rats, not humans.
- Same research group as most of the BPC-157 literature.
- Group sizes are not stated in the abstract.
- Animal researchSupportive / Moderate confidence
In rats and beagle dogs, intact BPC-157 is eliminated with a half-life of under 30 minutes, and its bioavailability after intramuscular injection differs sharply between the two species.
The elimination half-life of the intact peptide was under 30 minutes in both species. Mean absolute bioavailability after intramuscular injection was about 14 to 19 percent in rats and about 45 to 51 percent in dogs.
Observed in animals. Animal results frequently fail to replicate in humans.
- Rats and beagle dogs, not people.
- A four-fold difference in bioavailability between two animal species is a reason not to extrapolate either figure to humans.
- No equivalent measurement exists in people by any route.
- Animal researchMixed / Moderate confidence
BPC-157 was negative in standard genotoxicity tests, and FDA identified no carcinogenicity study of either BPC-157 free base or BPC-157 acetate.
Ames, chromosome aberration and mouse micronucleus assays were all negative. FDA identified no study of whether BPC-157 affects cancer risk, which is a different question from genotoxicity.
Observed in animals. Animal results frequently fail to replicate in humans.
- Genotoxicity and carcinogenicity are different questions, and a negative result on the first says little about the second.
- The negative genotoxicity results come from a single study programme.
- In-vitroSupportive / Moderate confidence
BPC-157 increases growth hormone receptor expression in tendon fibroblasts taken from rats and grown outside the body.
In fibroblasts isolated from rat Achilles tendon, BPC-157 raised growth hormone receptor levels in a dose- and time-dependent way, and adding growth hormone then increased cell proliferation. This is cells in a dish, not a healing outcome.
Observed in cells or tissue outside a living organism.
- Cultured rat cells, not a living animal and not a person.
- A change in receptor expression is not a clinical outcome.
- Published independently of the group that produced most of the BPC-157 literature, which counts in its favour.
- In-vitroSupportive / Moderate confidence
BPC-157 accelerated the outgrowth of tendon fibroblasts from rat tendon explants, and increased the survival and migration of those cells in culture.
In explants and cultures taken from rat Achilles tendon, BPC-157 sped up fibroblast outgrowth and improved cell survival and migration. In the same experiments it did not increase the proliferation rate of the cultured cells.
Observed in cells or tissue outside a living organism.
- Rat tendon explants and cultured rat cells.
- Cell outgrowth and migration in a dish are not a healed tendon in a person.
- In-vitroSupportive / Moderate confidence
BPC-157 promotes new blood vessel formation in laboratory assays, associated with increased VEGFR2 expression and internalisation.
In chick membrane assays and human umbilical vein endothelial cells, BPC-157 increased vessel formation, and the effect was associated with the VEGFR2 pathway. This mechanism is the basis both of the healing hypothesis and of the theoretical concern about tumour growth.
Observed in cells or tissue outside a living organism.
- Chick chorioallantoic membrane and cultured human endothelial cells.
- The same paper reports a rat hind-limb ischaemia arm, which is animal evidence rather than evidence in people.
- Pro-angiogenic activity cuts both ways and is not a benefit on its own.
Reported and theoretical risks
- Case reportunknown
Adverse event reports submitted to FDA's FAERS database, including one case that recurred on rechallenge
FDA retrieved three FAERS reports, all for injected BPC-157: injection-site redness and swelling, shortness of breath leading to an emergency room visit, and diffuse hyperpigmentation with gingival darkening that reproduced when the person restarted the product. All three are confounded, and FAERS cannot establish cause.
- Animalunknown
Changes in blood clotting time in animals, in opposite directions in two species
Across 28 days of intramuscular dosing in Sprague-Dawley rats and beagle dogs, FDA records aPTT shortening in rats and aPTT prolongation in dogs, and treats both as clinically relevant signals of altered clotting properties. The two directions point to opposite risks in people, clotting and bleeding. The size of either change could not be verified here, because the toxicology full text was not retrievable and FDA does not restate the figures.
- Animalunknown
Liver-associated laboratory signals in rats given BPC-157 for 28 days
FDA lists increased serum ALT, glucose and triglycerides in rats dosed intramuscularly for 28 days among the clinically relevant safety signals from the repeat-dose toxicology, alongside the clotting changes. The study authors read their findings as incidental; FDA did not adopt that reading. The individual magnitudes could not be verified here, because the full text was not retrievable.
- Mechanismmoderate
The identity and purity of products sold as BPC-157 are not established
FDA found that one common name covers several salts and derivatives with different active moieties, that the nomination packages contradicted themselves about which substance was being nominated, and that certificates of analysis supplied for BPC-157 were in fact for BPC-157 acetate. It concluded that inconsistent naming is itself a safety risk.
- Mechanismtheoretical
Immunogenicity has never been formally studied
Peptides can provoke immune responses, injected and nasal routes carry more of that risk than oral or rectal ones, and aggregation adds to it. FDA identified no study that formally investigated the immunogenicity of BPC-157 products, so this is reasoning from peptide chemistry rather than an observed harm.
- Mechanismtheoretical
Pro-angiogenic activity raises an untested question about tumour growth
BPC-157 increases blood vessel formation in laboratory assays, and solid tumours require new blood vessels to grow. No study in any species has tested whether BPC-157 affects tumour growth or incidence, so this is an inference from a demonstrated mechanism and not a reported harm.
- Mechanismunknown
No carcinogenicity study of BPC-157 exists
FDA stated that neither the nominators nor its own review identified any carcinogenicity study of BPC-157 free base or BPC-157 acetate. This is an absence of evidence rather than evidence of safety.
- Mechanismunknown
No long-term safety data exist in animals or people
The longest animal exposure in the toxicology package was 28 days and the longest human exposure on record is two weeks. FDA noted that longer repeat-dose studies were unavailable to show whether further safety signals emerge with longer treatment.
- Mechanismunknown
Reproductive toxicity has been tested only across a narrow window in rats
The available package covered gestation days 6 to 15 in rats. FDA noted the absence of studies covering a complete reproductive cycle, from conception through to reproductive capacity in later generations, and of effects on development around and after birth.
- Mechanismunknown
No toxicology study used the routes by which people actually take it
All of the animal toxicology was intramuscular. FDA found no acute, repeat-dose, reproductive or pharmacokinetic study by the oral, rectal, subcutaneous, transdermal or nasal routes, and said that bioavailability by those routes is unknown, so the intramuscular safety margins cannot be carried across to them.
Regulatory status
Status differs by country and changes over time. Each entry is dated and sourced.
USFDAnot approved
Never approved as a drug. In 2026 FDA evaluated BPC-157 free base and BPC-157 acetate for the 503A Bulk Drug Substances List, for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, and proposed not adding either, citing physicochemical characterisation, historical use, lack of evidence of effectiveness and safety information. The matter went to the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee on 23 July 2026 and no vote or final determination is published. BPC-157 is listed by FDA under bulk drug substances nominated but withdrawn, and is not on the Category 2 list it is often said to be on.
As of 11 May 2026. Source
EUEMAnot approved
No marketing authorisation exists. This rests on FDA's statement that there is no approved product containing BPC-157-related substances in any country, and that neither form appears in the European Pharmacopoeia 11th Edition. Nothing could be retrieved from EMA directly, so this entry is sourced from a second regulator's account and needs confirmation against EMA before publication.
As of 4 December 2025. Source
internationalWADAbanned in sport
Named explicitly in section S0, non-approved substances, which covers any pharmacological substance with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use. Prohibited at all times, in competition and out of it, and classed as a Specified Substance. Read from WADA's published list on 2 October 2026. A 2025 review states in passing that BPC-157 is not currently listed as banned; the list itself names it.
As of 2 October 2026. Source
Research and analysis
Related peptides
- TB-500A seven-amino-acid fragment of thymosin beta-4, not the protein itself
Sources
- 1. Staresinic M et al. Gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 accelerates healing of transected rat Achilles tendon and in vitro stimulates tendocytes growth. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2003. PubMed 14554208
- 2. Cerovecki T et al. Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 (PL 14736) improves ligament healing in the rat. Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 2010. PubMed 20225319
- 3. Novinscak T et al. Gastric pentadecapeptide BPC 157 as an effective therapy for muscle crush injury in the rat. Surgery Today. 2008. PubMed 18668315
- 4. Chang CH et al. Pentadecapeptide BPC 157 enhances the growth hormone receptor expression in tendon fibroblasts. Molecules. 2014. PubMed 25415472(open access)
- 5. Chang CH et al. The promoting effect of pentadecapeptide BPC 157 on tendon healing involves tendon outgrowth, cell survival, and cell migration. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2011. PubMed 21030672
- 6. Hsieh MJ et al. Therapeutic potential of pro-angiogenic BPC157 is associated with VEGFR2 activation and up-regulation. Journal of Molecular Medicine. 2017. PubMed 27847966
- 7. Lee E, Padgett B. Intra-Articular Injection of BPC 157 for Multiple Types of Knee Pain. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2021. PubMed 34324435
- 8. Vasireddi N et al. Emerging Use of BPC-157 in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine: A Systematic Review. HSS Journal. 2025. PubMed 40756949
- 9. Lee E, Walker C, Ayadi B. Effect of BPC-157 on Symptoms in Patients with Interstitial Cystitis: A Pilot Study. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2024. PubMed 39325560
- 10. Lee E, Burgess K. Safety of Intravenous Infusion of BPC157 in Humans: A Pilot Study. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2025. PubMed 40131143
- 11. He L et al. Pharmacokinetics, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of body-protective compound 157, a potential drug for treating various wounds, in rats and dogs. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2022. PubMed 36588717(open access)
- 12. Xu C et al. Preclinical safety evaluation of body protective compound-157, a potential drug for treating various wounds. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. 2020. PubMed 32334036
- 13. FDA Briefing Document, Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee Meeting, July 23-24, 2026: Evaluation of BPC-157-Related Bulk Drug Substances (BPC-157 (Free Base) and BPC-157 Acetate) for Inclusion on the 503A Bulk Drug Substances List. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2026. View source(open access)
- 14. FAERS adverse event reports for BPC-157, retrieved and summarised by FDA's Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology (database search through December 4, 2025), in the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee briefing document. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2026. View source(open access)
- 15. Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 2026. View source(open access)
- 16. The Prohibited List, World Anti-Doping Agency. World Anti-Doping Agency. 2026. View source(open access)