What it is
BPC-157 is a short chain of 15 amino acids (a peptide). It was cut from a larger protein. Researchers said they found that protein in human stomach juice. That is where the name comes from: “Body Protection Compound”. The BPC-157 sold today is made in a lab. Nobody takes it from stomachs.
Most of what is known comes from animal tests, mostly in rats. The rats got it as a shot or by mouth after different injuries. These included cut tendons and muscles, stomach ulcers, damaged blood vessels, and organs harmed by chemicals. Almost all of these tests come from one research group in Croatia. No approved medicine anywhere in the world contains BPC-157. Very little has been published 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
Predrag Sikirić and his team first described it in the early 1990s. They work at the University of Zagreb medical school in Croatia. The same team has since published several hundred animal papers on it. That is a strength, because there is a lot of data that agrees. It is also a weakness, because almost no other groups have checked the results.
In 2015, a Croatian company called PharmaCotherapia listed a small safety study in Mexico. People took it by mouth. The study has never shared results. In 2026, the University of Arkansas listed a small trial for people after shoulder surgery. Another 2026 listing is for pulled hamstring muscles. But the company behind it has another listing that calls itself a made-up (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 these animals, BPC-157 was reported to help cut tendons, muscles and ligaments heal faster. It was also reported to protect the stomach lining from ulcers caused by some drugs and alcohol. And it seemed to lower organ damage from different poisons. The rat doses were usually 10 micrograms or 10 nanograms per kilogram of body weight. These doses do not carry over directly to people.
In people, no full report of a controlled trial has been published. In 2026, the FDA looked for human data. It found only a short summary from a 2005 meeting. That study gave 53 people with ulcerative colitis (a bowel disease) an enema for two weeks. Some got BPC-157 and some got a dummy treatment (placebo). The FDA said the data were too thin to show if it works or is safe. A 2015 safety study in healthy people who took it by mouth never shared results. A trial in Arkansas after shoulder (rotator cuff) surgery had not started taking people when this was written. There is no reliable data 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
There are three separate points here.
First, approval. The FDA has not approved any medicine with BPC-157. No other regulator has either.
Second, compounding (when a pharmacy mixes its own version of a drug). In September 2023, the FDA put BPC-157 in “Category 2”. This is a group of substances the FDA said raise serious safety risks. Pharmacies that used it could face action from the FDA. The FDA said there was not enough safety data in people. By April 2026, the FDA page said BPC-157 had been taken out of that group by the people who first put it forward. In July 2026, an FDA expert panel voted by a small margin. It voted to recommend adding BPC-157 to the list of allowed compounding ingredients. The FDA does not have to follow that vote. It had not made a final decision when this was written.
In October 2026, the US health department (HHS) announced a draft policy. It said it does not intend to take enforcement action against licensed pharmacies or doctors who make single-ingredient BPC-157 products, as long as they follow set conditions, while the FDA writes its final rule. The policy is not binding, and it is not FDA approval. BPC-157 is still not on the official list of allowed ingredients. Comments on the draft are due in mid-November 2026. This page will be updated when a final policy is published.
Third, enforcement. Some FDA warning letters to sellers have mentioned BPC-157. One example is a 2020 letter about products sold 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 compounded products do not meet section 503A(b)(1)(A)(i) on that basis. 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 restricted.
On 2026-10-30 HHS published a notice of availability of a draft interim Enforcement Discretion Policy (docket HHS-OASH-2026-0496) covering 503A compounding of BPC-157 and five other peptides. HHS states it does not intend to take enforcement action against state-licensed pharmacies, federal facilities or licensed physicians compounding single-active-ingredient products from bulk substance sourced from an FDA-registered manufacturer with a certificate of analysis, dispensed on patient-specific prescriptions with MedWatch adverse-event reporting, pending rulemaking (the list of peptides and these conditions are taken from the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding’s summary, because the HHS appendices could not be retrieved for this article). The notice says it is not binding and does not add BPC-157 to 21 CFR 216.23; 503B outsourcing facilities and products sold for “research use” are outside it. FDA staff had recommended against listing. Comments are due about 2026-11-13; no final policy had been published when this was written.
Sport: since 2022 the WADA Prohibited List has named BPC-157 as an example under S0, non-approved substances, prohibited at all times.
