Has BPC-157 been tested in humans?

Yes. It entered clinical development as PL-14736 for inflammatory bowel disease, a Phase 1 study was registered, and a Phase 2 trial is currently recruiting.

What does UNKNOWN status mean on a trial record?

That the sponsor has not verified the record recently. It is not a statement about outcome, and reading it as failure is a misinterpretation.

Is the preclinical work independently replicated?

Limited. A substantial share originates from one group at the University of Zagreb, which makes the evidence less independent than the volume suggests.

BPC-157 in the Published Literature

The short answer

The literature is dominated by preclinical work from the University of Zagreb group led by Predrag Sikirić, spanning gastrointestinal, tendon, ligament and vascular models. Clinical development occurred as PL-14736 for inflammatory bowel disease, and a Phase 2 trial is currently recruiting.

Key facts

Dominant source: Zagreb group (Sikirić and colleagues)
Evidence type: Predominantly rodent models
Clinical development: As PL-14736, for IBD
Phase 1: NCT02637284, 42 healthy volunteers
Phase 2 now: NCT07437547, 120 participants, recruiting
Independent replication: Limited

The shape of the evidence

Three tiers. A large preclinical literature, overwhelmingly in rats, covering gastrointestinal lesions, tendon and ligament models, vascular effects and more. An earlier clinical development programme under the code PL-14736. And one registered, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial currently recruiting. Most research peptides have only the first tier; BPC-157 has all three, which is unusual.

The concentration of authorship

A substantial share of the preclinical literature originates from one group at the University of Zagreb. As with Pickart and GHK-Cu, this should be said clearly: sustained single-group work produces depth and preserves knowledge, and it also means the evidence is less independent than the paper count suggests, because shared methods and assumptions propagate through it. Independent replication is what converts findings into established results, and here it is limited.

Research material referenced

BPC-157 5mg, third-party HPLC tested

Buy BPC-157 · £15.99

What the clinical development tells you

A compound reaching Phase 1 and Phase 2 has passed the point where someone was willing to fund manufacturing to clinical standard, assemble a safety package and enrol human subjects under regulatory oversight. That is a meaningful filter. What it does not tell you is whether the compound works. Trials exist to answer that question, and the current one has not reported.

The status field worth reading correctly

NCT02637284, the Phase 1 study, carries status UNKNOWN on ClinicalTrials.gov. That means the record has not been verified by its sponsor recently; it does not mean the study failed, was withdrawn or found anything adverse. Reading UNKNOWN as a negative result is a common misinterpretation of registry data.

How to search it

PubMed indexes the field under BPC 157 and pentadecapeptide BPC. The development codes PL-14736 and PLD-116 surface the clinical literature that the compound name misses, just as thymosin beta-4 surfaces what TB-500 misses. ClinicalTrials.gov should be searched directly rather than relied on through secondary sources, because trial status changes.

Frequently asked questions

Has BPC-157 been tested in humans?: Yes. It entered clinical development as PL-14736 for inflammatory bowel disease, a Phase 1 study was registered, and a Phase 2 trial is currently recruiting.
What does UNKNOWN status mean on a trial record?: That the sponsor has not verified the record recently. It is not a statement about outcome, and reading it as failure is a misinterpretation.
Is the preclinical work independently replicated?: Limited. A substantial share originates from one group at the University of Zagreb, which makes the evidence less independent than the volume suggests.

Extended research context

The BPC-157 (Pentadecapeptide) deep dive

Deep dive: the pentadecapeptide sequence

BPC-157 is a synthetic pentadecapeptide with the sequence Gly-Glu-Pro-Pro-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Ala-Asp-Asp-Ala-Gly-Leu-Val. It is derived from a fragment identified in human gastric juice by the Zagreb research group (Sikirić and colleagues), whose body of published work spans three decades and covers models ranging from tendon repair to gut integrity. The 'BPC' initials stand for 'body protection compound', the group's original characterisation term.

Two forms: acetate salt vs arginate

BPC-157 is supplied most commonly as an acetate salt; a small subset of suppliers offer the arginate form, which has slightly different solubility and stability properties. For research reproducibility, keep the salt form consistent across a study and confirm which form the CoA specifies (mass ± counterion changes the reading).

Reading a BPC-157 CoA

A trustworthy BPC-157 CoA lists HPLC purity (target ≥98% area), mass-spec confirmation (~1,419 Da for the free peptide), water content (Karl Fischer), acetate content, and residual solvents. Some batches also include endotoxin data. Any missing category is a red flag for a compromised supply chain.

Research applications

▸Cell-culture models of gut epithelial integrity
▸Tendon fibroblast migration and collagen-synthesis assays
▸Angiogenesis models involving VEGF and NO signalling
▸Stability studies comparing acetate vs arginate salt forms
▸Analytical reference for pentadecapeptide HPLC methods

Handling checklist

✓Store lyophilised vial at −20 °C long-term (2–8 °C short-term)
✓Reconstitute with bacteriostatic water; a 5 mg vial dissolves cleanly
✓Aliquot reconstituted solution; keep refrigerated 2–8 °C, use within 28 days
✓Protect from light and repeated warming
✓Verify CoA: HPLC ≥98%, mass ~1,419 Da, salt form declared

Common research-handling mistakes

Learnt from thousands of researcher orders across our UK labs.

✗ Mixing acetate and arginate BPC-157 across a study

Fix: Choose one salt form and stay with it. Different masses and solubility.

✗ Assuming stability at room temperature

Fix: Refrigerate reconstituted solution; discard after 28 days.

✗ Buying without a CoA

Fix: Only source from suppliers that publish batch HPLC + mass-spec data.

Continue researching

Peer-reviewed guides, comparators and matched reference materials.

Primary sources & clinical trials

Peer-reviewed research and registered trials from PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, PubChem, FDA and NIH. All links open in a new tab and point to the primary source, so every claim can be verified at origin.

UKP

Written and reviewed by

The UK Peptides Editorial Team · Research library, UK Peptides

The editorial team is responsible for supplier selection, batch release decisions and the content published in this research library. Every article here is sourced to primary literature and every product page to a signed third-party certificate. Corrections are made in place and the review date updated.

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