What it is
BPC-157 is a short chain of 15 amino acids. It was cut out of a larger protein that researchers reported finding in human stomach juice, which is where the name comes from: “Body Protection Compound”. The version sold today is made synthetically in a lab; nobody extracts it from stomachs.
It is best known from animal experiments, mostly in rats, where it has been injected or given by mouth after various kinds of injury: tendon and muscle cuts, stomach ulcers, damaged blood vessels, and chemical poisoning of organs. Those experiments come almost entirely from one research group in Croatia. There is no approved medicine containing BPC-157 anywhere in the world, and very little published data on what it does in people.
BPC-157 is a linear pentadecapeptide (Gly-Glu-Pro-Pro-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ala-Asp-Asp-Ala-Gly-Leu-Val, C62H98N16O22, 1419.5 g/mol) described as the active fragment of a gastric-juice protein designated BPC. It is reported to be stable in human gastric juice for over 24 hours, which is unusual for a peptide and is the basis for the oral dosing used in much of the rodent work.
No receptor has been identified. Proposed mechanisms in the preclinical literature include up-regulation of VEGFR2 and activation of the VEGFR2–Akt–eNOS pathway, modulation of the nitric-oxide system, interaction with the dopamine and serotonin systems in the brain–gut axis, and increased expression of growth-hormone receptor and early growth response gene-1 (EGR-1) in fibroblasts. These are hypotheses drawn from animal and cell studies and have not been tested in humans. Human pharmacokinetics (absorption, half-life, metabolism) have not been published.
Who made it and when
The peptide was first described in the early 1990s by Predrag Sikirić and colleagues at the University of Zagreb medical school in Croatia. The same group has since published several hundred animal papers on it, which is both a strength (a large body of consistent data) and a weakness (almost no independent replication). A Croatian company, PharmaCotherapia, registered a small oral safety study in 2015 in Mexico that has never reported results. In 2026 the University of Arkansas registered a small trial after shoulder surgery. A second 2026 registry entry, for hamstring strains, comes from a sponsor whose other entries include one that calls itself a fictional example, so it is not counted as a trial here.
Sikirić et al. reported BPC and its 15-residue fragment in 1993 (J Physiol Paris; Life Sciences), framing it within a “stomach–stress–organoprotection” hypothesis. Development codes in the literature include PL 14736 and PLD-116; “bepecin” appears as a name in PubChem. Reviews by Seiwerth et al. (2018) and Gwyer et al. (2019) summarise the animal evidence, the latter as a systematic review of musculoskeletal soft-tissue healing that notes the absence of human data. No compound patent held by a pharmaceutical developer could be verified for this article, so none is listed. The 2015 PCO-02 tablet study (NCT02637284) is the only human pharmacokinetic study registered before 2026. A 2026 Phase 2 entry for hamstring strain (NCT07437547) is sponsored by Hudson Biotech, whose TB-500 entry NCT07487363 describes itself as “a fictional study”; it is not listed as a trial on this page.
What the data say
Almost everything published is from rats and mice. In those animals, BPC-157 has been reported to speed the healing of cut tendons, muscles and ligaments, protect the stomach lining from ulcer-causing drugs and alcohol, and reduce organ damage from various toxins. The doses used in rats (typically 10 micrograms or 10 nanograms per kilogram) do not translate directly to people.
In humans, no controlled trial has been published in full. The FDA’s 2026 review found only a short 2005 conference summary of a two-week, placebo-controlled enema study in 53 people with ulcerative colitis, which it judged too thin to show whether the peptide works or is safe. A 2015 oral safety study in healthy volunteers never reported results, and a trial after rotator-cuff surgery in Arkansas had not started recruiting when this was written. No reliable data exist on side effects in people.
Animal data: rodent models report accelerated healing of transected Achilles tendon, quadriceps muscle and medial collateral ligament, with histological and functional endpoints; gastroprotection against NSAID-, ethanol- and stress-induced lesions; and attenuation of hepatic, renal and cardiac toxicity. Typical regimens were 10 µg/kg or 10 ng/kg intraperitoneally, or the same dose dissolved in drinking water. Independent replication outside the Zagreb group is limited. In-vitro work reports increased fibroblast migration and EGR-1/NAB2 expression.
Human data: FDA’s 2026 briefing identified one randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, reported only as a meeting abstract (Ruenzi et al., 2005): 53 people with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis received an 80 mg BPC-157 (PL 14736) enema or placebo daily for two weeks, and FDA judged the data inadequate on efficacy and safety. NCT02637284 (Phase 1, oral tablets, n=42 planned) has no posted results and its status is unknown. NCT07803250 (Phase 1, subcutaneous once daily for 90 days, n=30, rotator-cuff repair, UAMS) is not yet recruiting. No full efficacy or safety report in humans has been published. FDA’s 2023 assessment stated it had identified “no, or only limited, safety-related information” for the proposed routes.
Regulatory picture
Three separate facts. First, approval: no medicine containing BPC-157 is approved by the FDA or any other regulator. Second, compounding: in September 2023 the FDA put BPC-157 in “Category 2”, the group of substances it said raise significant safety risks, so pharmacies compounding with it could face FDA action; it cited a lack of human safety data. By April 2026 the FDA’s page listed BPC-157 as withdrawn from that category by whoever had nominated it, and in July 2026 an FDA advisory committee voted narrowly to recommend adding it to the list of allowed compounding ingredients. That vote does not bind the FDA, which had not made a final decision when this was written. Third, enforcement: FDA warning letters to sellers have mentioned BPC-157, for example a 2020 letter over products marketed with COVID-19 claims.
Approval: none. No IND-stage programme with a US sponsor could be verified; the 2026 trials are investigator- or small-company-sponsored.
Compounding: BPC-157 was placed in Category 2 of the interim 503A bulks policy on 2023-09-29 with the stated concern of immunogenicity for certain routes and impurity/API-characterisation complexity. FDA’s safety-risk page, updated 2026-04-22, now lists it among substances “previously in category 2 of the interim policies [that] were withdrawn by the nominators”. Withdrawal removes the Category 2 designation but does not place a substance on the 503A bulks list in 21 CFR 216.23, so its status is neither permitted nor formally prohibited. On 2026-07-23 the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee reviewed BPC-157 free base and acetate for the proposed use of ulcerative colitis and voted narrowly in favour of inclusion; FDA rulemaking would be required to add it. This article records the compounding status as unknown pending that decision.
Sport: since 2022 the WADA Prohibited List has named BPC-157 as an example under S0, non-approved substances, prohibited at all times.
