BPC-157
Body Protection Compound 157
A synthetic peptide sold for healing and recovery, with thin human data.
BPC-157 is the face of the peptide grey market. It is sold worldwide "for research" for tendon, gut and injury recovery, but it is not an approved drug anywhere and the human evidence is very limited. The US treats it as an unapproved drug that is not a lawful dietary ingredient and has kept it off the positive list of substances allowed in compounded medicines. Australia went further and made it a prescription-only medicine. It is banned in sport at all times under the World Anti-Doping Code.
Where it stands, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
United States
Unregulated, unregulated, sold anywayDecided on: Precaution, Contested
Not FDA-approved and not a lawful dietary ingredient, since it was first studied as an investigational new drug. The FDA placed it in category 2 of the 503A bulk drug substances review in 2023 (substances raising significant safety concerns), removed it from category 2 in April 2026, and took it to the Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee on 23 to 24 July 2026, where the agency proposed NOT adding it to the positive 503A bulks list. It remains off that list, so there is no lawful supplement, drug or compounding route, yet it is sold heavily "for research use only."
European Union
Unregulated, unregulated, sold anywayDecided on: Precaution
No EMA marketing authorisation and no approved medicinal, food or supplement status anywhere in the EU. Where it is sold at all, it moves through the same "research chemical" grey channel rather than any lawful retail or pharmacy route. It is also prohibited in sport at all times under the World Anti-Doping Code, which the EU follows through national anti-doping bodies.
Australia
Unregulated, unregulated, sold anywayDecided on: Precaution
Australia added BPC-157 to Schedule 4 (Prescription Only Medicine) of the Poisons Standard (SUSMP), effective 1 June 2024, after 48 border referrals for imported product. It remains an unapproved therapeutic good with nothing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, so it can only be accessed by prescription through pathways such as compounding or the Special Access Scheme, and it cannot be sold over the counter or as a supplement. Prohibited in sport at all times under the World Anti-Doping Code, enforced by Sport Integrity Australia.
Regulatory positions change, sometimes quickly. Check the date on a source before relying on it.