If you have a tendon that will not settle or a muscle strain that keeps coming back, someone has probably mentioned BPC-157 or TB-500. Neither has a completed placebo-controlled trial for any sports injury in people. Below is every healing peptide in our database, ranked by the strongest human evidence, with the injury models each one was actually tested in.
Pulled live from the peptide database. The left column has at least some human data; the right column has only animal or cell studies. A high grade means people were tested, not that the result was positive, so read the note under each one.
Tested in people for: Stroke, brain injury and dementia (dozens of RCTs, mixed).
Grade reflects trial volume. Independent reviews found no fewer deaths after stroke.
Approved outside USTested in people for: Obesity pill trials (failed); never for joints.
Its randomized trials were for weight loss, and they failed. Joint claims are rabbit data.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedTested in people for: Small-fiber nerve loss and nerve pain (4 small RCTs).
Repeated positive randomized trials for nerve damage, all small, short and run by the developer.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedTested in people for: Topical gel for foot and leg ulcers (larger trials negative), skin creams.
Grade comes from topical ulcer trials. Injected GHK-Cu has no human data.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedTested in people for: Topical treatment for leg and foot ulcers (larger trial negative).
Grade comes from topical ulcer creams. Injected LL-37 has no human data.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedTested in people for: Growth hormone release and single-dose heart pumping.
Human studies measured hormone release and single-dose heart function.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedTested in people for: Growth hormone release tests only.
Human studies measured growth hormone release, not healing.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedTested in people for: Ulcerative colitis (1 trial, no clear effect), knee pain and bladder pain (uncontrolled).
One small colitis trial with no clear effect, plus uncontrolled reports.
In clinical trials WADA prohibitedThese have never been shown to do anything in a person. Some have never been given to a person in a published study at all.
Claimed from animal work: Faster growth in rats, not better muscle protection.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedClaimed from animal work: Heart protection in sheep and mice; muscle cell data mixed.
Research chemical WADA prohibitedClaimed from animal work: Wound closure in mice, with full-length thymosin beta-4.
In clinical trials WADA prohibitedEach card is one published study, tagged by the model it ran in. None of the four classic sports injuries (tendon, ligament, muscle, bone) has a randomized human trial for any peptide.
Bottom line: Only rat data. No peptide has been tested on a human tendon injury in a published trial.
35 animal studies pooled in a systematic review
Rats healed better in structure and strength across muscle, tendon, ligament and bone, but the reviewers found no clinical safety data in people.
Read the sourceRats with a cut Achilles tendon
Treated rats had stronger tendons, better walking scores and smaller defects over 14 days than rats given saline.
Read the sourceHealing runs in overlapping stages: bleeding stops, inflammation clears debris, new vessels and cells move in, and collagen fills the gap. Each peptide is tied to one or more of these steps. A solid pill means the peptide has been tested for a healing outcome in a randomized human trial; an outlined pill means the link rests on animal or cell work.
An injury heals only as fast as blood reaches it. These peptides raised vessel growth signals in cells and animals.
Repair cells crawl into the gap by building actin filaments. Thymosin beta-4 holds loose actin and changes how fast that happens.
Fibroblasts lay down collagen to close the gap. GHK-Cu raised collagen output in fibroblasts at tiny concentrations.
ARA-290 activates a tissue-protection receptor built from the EPO receptor and CD131, without raising red blood cells.
The same studies as the injury selector, plotted by year and by the kind of study. Human trials sit on the top two rows. Filter to one peptide to see how far its evidence has climbed.
The human trials cluster in skin ulcers, nerves and stroke. Every tendon, ligament and bone study here is a rat study.
132 patients with aphasia after a left-brain stroke
At day 90 the Cerebrolysin group scored 14.8 points higher than placebo on a standard language test.
Read the sourceWhat each was tested for in people, what is claimed from animal work, and where it stands legally and in sport.
| Peptide | Evidence | Tested in people for | Claimed from animal work | Status | WADA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cerebrolysin | Grade A | Stroke, brain injury and dementia (dozens of RCTs, mixed) | Nerve growth signaling | Approved outside US | Not listed |
| AOD-9604 | Grade B | Obesity pill trials (failed); never for joints | Knee cartilage repair in rabbits | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| ARA-290 | Grade B | Small-fiber nerve loss and nerve pain (4 small RCTs) | Kidney, heart and brain protection in rodents | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| GHK-Cu | Grade B | Topical gel for foot and leg ulcers (larger trials negative), skin creams | Collagen build-up in rat wounds | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| LL-37 | Grade B | Topical treatment for leg and foot ulcers (larger trial negative) | New blood vessel growth in rabbits and mice | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| Hexarelin | Grade C | Growth hormone release and single-dose heart pumping | Heart protection and less scarring | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| GHRP-6 | Grade C | Growth hormone release tests only | Gut, liver, heart and nerve protection | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| BPC-157 | Grade C | Ulcerative colitis (1 trial, no clear effect), knee pain and bladder pain (uncontrolled) | Tendon, ligament, muscle, bone and gut healing in rats | In trials | Prohibited |
| IGF-1 LR3 | Grade D | Never | Faster growth in rats, not better muscle protection | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| PEG-MGF | Grade D | Never | Heart protection in sheep and mice; muscle cell data mixed | Research chemical | Prohibited |
| TB-500 | Grade D | Never. Human trials used full-length thymosin beta-4 for ulcers and dry eye | Wound closure in mice, with full-length thymosin beta-4 | In trials | Prohibited |
Want two or three side by side in more detail? Open the compare tool.
Two BPC-157 trials were registered in 2026, one for hamstring strains and one after rotator cuff surgery. Neither has results.
A 2025 systematic review counted 35 animal studies relevant to sports injuries and 1 clinical study, and found no clinical safety data in humans.
The combination sold as a healing stack has no controlled study in animals or people. The only human data is 4 knee patients in an uncontrolled phone survey.
BPC-157 and LL-37 grow new blood vessels in animals. Whether that matters for an existing or undiagnosed tumor has not been studied in people.
GHRP-6 and hexarelin reliably raise growth hormone in people. No human study has measured whether that speeds recovery from an injury.
One seized IGF-1 LR3 vial turned out to be a lab-reagent version with a protein tag. Research-label products are not made under drug manufacturing rules.
Three separate questions get mixed up here. Approval means a regulator reviewed trial data and allowed a drug to be sold for a condition. Compounding means a licensed pharmacy may make a version from a bulk ingredient, which requires the ingredient to be on an FDA list. Research use only is a label on products sold online that are not made or tested as drugs.
For BPC-157 and TB-500 the 2026 timeline is easy to misread. In April FDA took both off its list of ingredients with safety concerns because the nominations were withdrawn. That did not approve them or make them legal to compound. In July an FDA advisory committee voted 8 to 6 to recommend adding both to the list pharmacies can compound from, against FDA staff, who found no human data for TB-500. The vote is advisory. As of October 2026 no proposed rule had been published.
Read the full legal status guideEach peptide profile has a table of the doses used in published trials and on approved labels, with route, duration and source. They open with a free account. They record what researchers gave, not what anyone should take.
Create a free accountThe first placebo-controlled healing trials of BPC-157 and TB-500 are running now. We send one email when a trial reads out or the FDA acts on a peptide, checked against the source.
This is educational information, not medical advice. Talk to a qualified healthcare professional before changing your treatment, medication, or supplement routine, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or managing a health condition.
Staate does not sell peptides and does not link to sellers. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to use any compound. Evidence reviewed October 2026.